The New York Times Jewish Cookbook: More than 825 Traditional & Contemporary Recipes from Around the World (Hardcover)

~ Linda Amster (Editor), Mimi Sheraton (Introduction) "THE YIDDISH WORD FORSHPEIZ, "BEFORE FOOD," IS THE KEY HERE, FOR APPETIZERS ON THE JEWISH MENU, AS ON ALL OTHERS, ARE meant to whet the..." (more)
Key Phrases: cup matzoh meal, mediumlow heat, cup instant couscous, The Best of Craig Claiborne, The New York Times Heritage Cookbook, The New York Times International Cookbook (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite coming from the prolific New York Times stable of books, this volume may prove a disappointment to those with some knowledge of Jewish cuisine. Sheraton's introduction points out that "Jewish food is the world's oldest fusion cuisine," but the book appears to apply a thin definition of what makes each dish Jewish. With such a vast number of recipes, time-honored dishes are well represented, including the ubiquitous Classical Gefilte Fish, Kasha Varnishkas and Cholent Brisket, although the latter is not fully represented compared to the numerous tagines included. While drawing on many traditional dishes that will be immediately recognized by Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews, many recipes rely on just one or two ingredients for their Jewishness, such as chickpeas in the Warm Chickpeas with Lemon and Olives or honey in David Bouley's Fava Beans with Honey, Lime and Thyme. Despite the lack of clarification for their inclusion, the sheer volume of recipes means that there is something for everyone-from the more traditional to something modern to expand the repertoire.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The New York Times Jewish Cookbook anthologizes recipes that have appeared over the years in the newspaper's pages and in some of the cookbooks it has published. The resulting cookbook features recipes from all Jewish cooking traditions: Ashkenazic, Sephardic, and the new Israeli cuisine. Some recipes come from restaurants, even from nonkosher chefs such as Mario Batalli and James Beard. A host of recipes reflects standard Jewish fare, such as long-cooking cholents that include a tender casserole aptly named Spoon Lamb. Recipes are clearly labeled with respect to meat or dairy classifications. A curious afterword reprints a nineteenth-century article from the Times on Jewish cooking that seems hopelessly condescending by today's standards. The Times' authority and the book's comprehensiveness make this a necessary purchase for cookery collections. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (September 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312290934
• ISBN-13: 978-0312290931
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #71,144 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Big Collection of Published Recipes. Nothing Else, January 5, 2004

By	B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The best and worst thing one can say about this book is that it is just a very large collection of ancient and modern recipes whose ingredients and preparation conform to at least conservative Jewish dietary laws. It is very similar to a collection of all English Language published sonnets ranging from Shakespeare to the little old lady in Nebraska who publishes in her local newspaper. Everything has been published and everything follows certain rules, but all connections between the collected items ends there.

This is not an unworthy book. It sort of reminds me of the old Palgraves Golden Treasury of English Poetry, which collected works according to little rhyme or reason, except that the authors were English and wrote in English.

This book has three things going for it.

First is its size. With 825 recipes, someone looking for a recipe to accomplish a particular objective within the kosher rules, they have a good chance of finding one.

Second is the fact that all recipes have been published, but not all have been published in the pages of the New York Times. Some come from recently published books such as Marcus Samuelsons Aquavit. This means that each one has been editorially reviewed by one or more of professional editorial eyes.

Third is the obvious love and care with which the editor(s) have assembled the material. The introductory essays by Mimi Sheraton and Joan Nathan are informative and endearing.

Unfortunately, all sense of cohesiveness stops on the first page of Appetizer recipes. There is no trace of any scholarship which would help sort out the recipes by whether the originating tradition was, for example Ashkanazy or Sephardic.

The Chapters dividing the recipes are:

Appetizers
Soups
Fish
Poultry
Meat
Vegetables
Grains, Legumes, and Pasta
Salads
Light Fare for Brunch and Lunch
Trimmings, Savory and Sweet
Breads, Rolls, Bagels, and Matzohs
Desserts

There is no sense in which Jewish traditional food forms a cuisine in the same sense that Morocco or Turkey or Iran have a distinctive cuisine. Jewish food is an overlay on the existing cuisine of the region.

This is a very worthy book if you have few cookbooks and are in need of a more diverse selection of kosher recipes. It is interesting that there is no statement in the book saying that the validity of the kosher nature of the recipes has not been certified by any rabbinical authority. And note that a kosher recipe can easily be made non-kosher by using non-kosher ingredients. A reasonable price for a lot of recipes. If you want a more measured look at Jewish Cooking, check out Claudia Roden's book on the subject and her book on Middle Eastern food.

23 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars vicarious weight gain, September 7, 2003

By	C. D. Hoffman "hypercritical" (new york, ny United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I put on 8 lbs. just reading one chapter. Like most endeavors of the NYT, it is both authoritative and encyclopedic in scope. While it sticks maily to traditional Kosher and Jewish dishes, it shows some respect for Israeli cooking, usually given short shrift in "American Kosher" cookbooks.

It's failure, however, is one of overload, both in many of the recipies themselves, and in the number of inclusions. It gives insufficient weight to weight itself!! With so many of its readers and users in the constant battle of the waistline (and tushline), it provides little encouragement to minimalists and moderationists (new word, coined this morning).

Best read during the 2 hour break in services on Yom Kippur

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars L. Schler, January 9, 2007

By	Lauren K. Schler - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fabulous, I've tried a number of recipes all have been a hit. I highly recommend this cookbook.