Pasta, Fried Rice, and Matzoh Balls: Immigrant Cooking in America (Cooking Through Time) [Library Binding]

Loretta Frances Ichord (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5 This title focuses on the food, culture, and traditions of various groups who came to America between 1565 and 1921, among them Spanish, French, Swedish, Portuguese, Italian, and Polish immigrants. Eight recipes are given from various cuisines, including Swedish meatballs and Portuguese sweet bread. The spot and full-page color illustrations are pleasing to the eye, as is the design of the book with its wide margin space. Readers also are introduced to the words for good appetite in various languages and to Jewish dietary laws. The appendix gives additional directions for classroom use of the dishes with 32 students and a teacher. Augusta R. Malvagno, Queens Borough Public Library, NY
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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Library Binding: 64 pages
• Publisher: Millbrook Press (April 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761329137
• ISBN-13: 978-0761329138
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,523,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Loretta Frances Ichord was born in San Francisco, California. She has a passion for writing, especially works for children. She enjoys weaving her other passions: history, cooking, and gardening into her texts. The senses of touch, smell, and taste play a large role in everything she writes. Her published works include numerous periodical articles; a short story; and five books for kids. She is presently working on fiction and non-fiction projects.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pasta, Fried Rice, and Matzoh Balls, March 13, 2007

By 

Jewish Book World Magazine (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pasta, Fried Rice, and Matzoh Balls: Immigrant Cooking in America (Cooking Through Time) (Library Binding)

This children's cookbook traces the foods introduced by immigrants to the U.S. during the time period 1565-1921 with nods to the Japanese and Chinese immigrants of the 1950's. The author discusses the cooking styles of numerous ethnic groups including the Swedes and the Greeks, the Jews and the Irish. She provides the historical background of each group, their timeframe of immigration, the specific foods favored and a cultural recipe. Ichord sprinkles her text with humor and food trivia, disclosing the inventor of pizza and teaching her readers how to say good appetite in a variety of languages. The section on Jewish immigrants details the laws of kashrut and introduces the cultural food differences of the Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews.
The illustrations by Ellis are engaging and descriptive. Favorite recipes from each culture are included varying from Italian gnocchi to Portuguese Sweet Bread. Ichord states that the recipes are classroom friendly but most are complex and require preparation and oven or stove time.
The overall extent of information would require strong readers in the third to fifth grade. The material jostles the history of various ethnic groups over centuries, the physical difficulties of immigration while establishing the concept of merging cooking skills, cultural habits and traditions in a new country.
For ages 8-12.
Reviewed by Christine C. Maasdam

5.0 out of 5 stars Text requires good reading skills but kids in grades 3-5 will find this unusual and intriguing, April 10, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pasta, Fried Rice, and Matzoh Balls: Immigrant Cooking in America (Cooking Through Time) (Library Binding)

Pasta, Fried Rice, And Matzoh Balls: Immigrant Cooking In America will prove an exciting, eye-opening blend of history and culinary comparison to any young picturebook reader who likes to cook. Jan Davey Elis provides lively and fun drawings to accompany the recipes and history, which use traditional immigrant dishes - Swedish Meatballs, German Potato Salad, Portuguese Sweetbread and more - to spice interest in immigrant food traditions. Text requires good reading skills but kids in grades 3-5 will find this unusual and intriguing.