Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World [Hardcover]

Gil Marks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 2004

"A land of wheat and barley, of grape vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey . . . you shall eat and be satisfied."?—Deut. 8:8-10

A Celebration of Classic Jewish Vegetarian Cooking from Around the World

Traditions of Jewish vegetarian cooking span three millennia and the extraordinary geographical breadth of the Jewish diaspora—from Persia to Ethiopia, Romania to France. Acclaimed Judaic cooking expert, chef, and rabbi Gil Marks uncovers this vibrant culinary heritage for home cooks. Olive Trees and Honey is a magnificent treasury shedding light on the truly international palette of Jewish vegetarian cooking, with 300 recipes for soups, salads, grains, pastas, legumes, vegetable stews, egg dishes, savory pastries, and more.

From Sephardic Bean Stew (Hamin) to Ashkenazic Mushroom Knishes, Italian Fried Artichokes to Hungarian Asparagus Soup, these dishes are suitable for any occasion on the Jewish calendar—festival and everyday meal alike. Marks's insights into the origins and evolution of the recipes, suggestions for holiday menus from Yom Kippur to Passover, and culture-rich discussion of key ingredients enhance this enchanting portrait of the Jewish diaspora's global legacy of vegetarian cooking.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“…doesn’t shy away from recognising the cultural, historical, and religious relevance of traditional foods” (Jewish Tribune, 14th October 2004)

From the Inside Flap

For more than three millennia, vegetarian cooking has been a central component of the rich fabric of Jewish culinary tradition around the world. Olive Trees and Honey is a tribute to this vital realm of Jewish heritage, showcasing an authentic collection of vegetarian dishes that have graced Jewish tables across the ages from Alsace to Uzbekistan, and are still very much alive today—at holidays, rituals, festivals, and everyday meals alike.

In virtually any kitchen today, cooks need to possess a broad repertoire of vegetarian dishes for themselves or their guests—for health, theological, philosophical, or other reasons. In Olive Trees and Honey, eminent Jewish cooking expert Gil Marks presents a magnificent treasury of meatless fare suitable for any table: 300 simple, enticing recipes that accentuate signature flavors of time-honored dishes. The classics here—soups, salads, pastas, legumes, vegetable stews, egg dishes, and more—represent every part of the menu from an expansive global palette.

From savory pastries like Syrian Miniature Lentil Pizzas to hearty entrées such as Moroccan Mashed Potato Casserole, nourishing Romanian vegetable stews to wholesome legume dishes like Tunisian Chickpeas with Greens, Marks brings the world of Jewish vegetarian cooking to the home kitchen. For those observing kosher laws, each recipe is labeled as Dairy or Pareve. Many recipes include tips and variations for years of fresh, inventive meals.

Through brief chronicles of the Jewish diaspora's vegetarian legacy in diverse corners of the world and sidebars woven throughout the book, Marks sheds light on the origins and evolution of cuisines and dishes—and of the communities that created them. There are chapters on suitable recipes for key Jewish holidays and on essential ingredients and seasonings. Maps in each chapter chart the paths of several unique gustatory traditions through history.

Perfect for the vegetarian kitchen or as a complement to meat-based menus, the exquisite dishes in these pages will enrich any diet and bring warmth to any table. At once a practical guide to Jewish vegetarian cooking and an illuminating portrait of its journey across continents and centuries, Olive Trees and Honey is a celebration of this enduring global mosaic.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764544136
• ISBN-13: 978-0764544132
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Special Diet > Kosher

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Don't Have to be a Vegetarian, November 14, 2004

By 

Sharon Boorstin "Author of Cookin' for Love" (L.A,) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World (Hardcover)

I was introduced to this wonderful book as a resource for an article that I'm writing about Sepharidic dishes for "Jewish Woman" Magazine. What a treasure trove! Not just of vegetarian Jewish recipes, but of the lore behind them. Marks talks about the history of cooking among Jews from Italy to Uzbekistan, and explains the "why" and "how" of typical ingredients from anise to yogurt. This is one of those rich, evocative cookbooks that you'll want to read in bed, like a good novel.

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vegetarian recipes with "meaty" prose, September 7, 2005

By 

Ruhama "Bibliophilia" (Houston) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World (Hardcover)

Having endured a rather bland week of institutional vegetarian menus, I returned home from a Jewish gathering eager to follow "eco-kashrut" but unwilling to eat one more bite of tofu. I immediately began searching for vegetarian recipes that might actually have some zest and pizzazz, and found that this book fills the bill. Olive Trees and Honey offers time-tested (some, over millenia) kosher vegetarian recipes from the Greater Mediterranean region, served with a rich fare of agricultural and social history. Learning the paths that various ingredients have taken around the globe is fascinating, and definitely fun to share with Sabbath dinner guests.

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, December 23, 2005

By 

Evelina (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World (Hardcover)

I think this book amazing, it is definitely my favorite vegetarian cook book. I've tried about 10 recipes from it, and all of them turned out absolutely amazing, getting great reviews from my family. The Syrian spinach soup is my favourite so far. My dad isn't too much into spinach, but after trying this soup, he has changed his mind and has asked me to make it over and over again. The dishes offered by Gil are very versatile and diverse, coming from all corners of the world where Jewish people have lived and traveled through the ages. I was very impressed to find Bukharan and Georgian recipes -- two cuisines that haven't got much exposure in the western world.

You can tell that Gil has put a lot of thought into every single recipe, he puts some variations after every recipe, as well as the history behind it. I'm really looking forward to trying out more recipes from this book.

A plus for vegans -- every recipe is marked with either D for dairy-containing dishes or P for non-dairy (although they might have eggs). That said, Gil offers non-dairy alternatives for most of the dairy recipes.

Thanks Gil for the great book! :0)