The World of Jewish Entertaining: Menus and Recipes for the Sabbath, Holidays, and Other Family Celebrations [Hardcover]

Gil Marks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 1998

In this beautiful new book, acclaimed author and chef Rabbi Gil Marks offers a complete guide to entertaining for Jewish holidays and other family celebrations.

From the time Abraham and Sarah entertained passing strangers in their simple tent, hospitality has been a significant aspect of Jewish life. For generations, Jewish parents have taught their children how to create a traditional home, passing down many lifetimes of accumulated wisdom along with their family recipes. But as the world changes, Jewish entertaining changes too. Modern Jews want to add exciting new dishes to their traditional menus and they want a practical guide to serving elegant meals whether for a large crowd or an intimate gathering. Now, in the only book of its kind, The World of Jewish Entertaining demystifies the experience of entertaining.

Marks presents a "Guide for the Perplexed Host," practical advice, easy-to-follow recipes for a wide variety of dishes from the most homey and traditional foods to haute cuisine, and complete menus for

a Sephardic Seder

a Baby-Naming Breakfast

an Eclectic Purim Feast

an All-Dessert Bar or Bat Mitzvah

a Middle Eastern Wedding Shower

an International Sabbath Dinner

a Healthy New Year Dinner

a Southern Jewish Family Reunion

and much more. In addition, he provides background information on all the events, putting them in a traditional Jewish context.

The World of Jewish Entertaining is the perfect cookbook for anyone looking for a fresh new perspective on entertaining.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Propelling Jewish cooking forever beyond brisket and the blintz, Marks continues the excellent work of his first cookbook, The World of Jewish Cooking (a James Beard Award finalist), with this innovative guide to celebrating Jewish holidays and occasions. The first of this book's many strengths is thoroughness. Marks, a rabbi, suggests menus for familiar Jewish holidays such as Hanukkah and Purim but also describes foods for Simchat Torah (Apple-Glazed Roast Turkey with Biblical Fruit Stuffing) and Lag b'Omer (Feather-Frosted Carob Brownies, because the holiday commemorates the death of Shimon ben Yochai, who was banished and is said to have survived on carob). Another strength is Marks's creativity: he bypasses more typical Sabbath dinner fare for an international dinner of Persian Meatball Soup and Indian Tomato Salad. A third strength is the recipes themselves. Cleverly, most of the recipes for large gatherings (a Pidyon Haben Luncheon featuring Barbecue Beef Brisket, for example) give measurements for both 10 servings and 80 servings. An extra section on baked goods is appropriate to any occasion, and a highly personal menu for a Southern Jewish family reunion successfully combines two seemingly disparate traditions in a menu that includes Lena's Matza-Breaded Fried Chicken with Honey-Pecan Sauce, Romanian Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Toni's Vegetable Slaw with horseradish. This most definitely is not your grandmother's cookbook.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Dupree (Nathalie Dupree Cooks Quick Meals for Busy Days, LJ 2/15/96) has been the host of numerous television cooking shows; this book is the companion volume to a PBS series starting this fall. Her intent is to make entertaining unintimidating, and she includes lots of useful material on planning, budgeting, presentation, and more, along with often-amusing anecdotes and cautionary tales from her own experiences. Menus range from Three Simple Suppers to an Eye-Popping Menu for Eight to a Buffet for 12 to 50 in Four Hours; surprisingly, the recipes within a particular menu don't always "match" in terms of number of servings. The true novice may find Elaine Corn's Now You're Cooking for Company (LJ 9/15/96) more helpful, but Dupree's more ambitious menus and informative text should appeal to many readers-and her new series is sure to be popular. [Good Cook/BOMC selection.] Marks's The World of Jewish Cooking (LJ 9/15/96) was a wide-ranging exploration of Jewish food, culture, and culinary history; now he has written a guide to Jewish entertaining equally broad in scope. Marks includes religious holidays rarely mentioned in similar cookbooks, and his family celebrations range from A Middle Eastern Wedding Shower to A Southern Jewish Family Reunion. Marks, both a rabbi and former editor of Kosher Gourmet, provides a lot of information in a straightforward, readable style, starting with "A Guide for the Perplexed Host." Chapter introductions, headnotes, and boxes cover religious as well as culinary history and include many suggestions to make entertaining easier. Recommended.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 16, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684847884
• ISBN-13: 978-0684847887
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #872,127 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes the guesswork out of cooking for large gatherings!, November 27, 2000

By 

Bibliophile Equestrienne (League City, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World of Jewish Entertaining: Menus and Recipes for the Sabbath, Holidays, and Other Family Celebrations (Hardcover)

Gil Marks has done a fine job in presenting a variety of menus for all occassions. The recipes are calculated for generous party size servings, making it easy to plan events and shopping lists. The recipes are clear, straight forward and tasty, the book layout very user friendly. This book might also be a good resource for caterers.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The cookbook that helps you plan, December 28, 2003

By 

Shari Marks (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World of Jewish Entertaining: Menus and Recipes for the Sabbath, Holidays, and Other Family Celebrations (Hardcover)

There have been so many times when I've had recipes that I've had to double or triple and here Gil has done it for us.
I love the new and different ideas he has for traditional meals.
Whenever I have an excess of a particular food item, I refer to this book and get so many options
Everything tastes yum from this book!