The Jewish Cookbook

Great book

Leah Koenig did a remarkable job on this one. Different style than her previous books -- this one has a TON of background history and information to go with each recipe. There are TONS of photos. And recipes from restuarant chefs. The recipes span the globe and offer so many different flavors, customs, cultures -- all in one book! It will quickly become a go-to in the kitchen. GREAT starter book for anyone beginning their kosher kitchen adventures. The recipes and ingredients list are not daunting, while still being creative. My copy just came and is already filled with dozens of post-its for the recipes I want to try. A total winner. It's a beautiful book. I've already purchased another copy for a friend.

A thumbs up all around! Between my partner and me we have one cook (them) and one Jew (me). They've been very interested in cooking more Jewish cuisine and I didn't want a book that would just give us the same old noodle kugel and kasha varnishes--there's more to Jewish cuisine than that! So we bought this one, not even knowing that the author is apparently renowned in culinary circles. The good: The book is so cool! So many recipes from Jewish cultures around the world, and each one tells you where they're from and a bit of context (eg. "This is traditionally eaten in Moroccan Jewish communities after Passover ends"). We've only tried a handful of recipes, but they've all been good so far. The bad: I kind of wish there were more pictures, but I guess if there were it would drive the price up. It'd be cool if there were a qr code you could scan that would show you pictures of the recipes and maybe more about their history. But you can only ask so much. The ugly: our babka dough didn't rise :( but we made it into basically cinnamon rolls but with chocolate, and they were still tasty.

This is a big book, part of a series of books with similar cover designs. I've also got the Greek cookbook of this set. Very comprehensive, so far as I am aware (I'm not an authority on either cuisine, just an enthusiastic amateur cook and serious eater). 😉

This book is such a treasure. I have been reading through it every night since it arrived. There are so many recipes for all the Jewish holidays as well as plenty of everyday recipes that are ripe with social and global history. It's also delightfully easy to follow. I wanted to challenge myself this weekend so I decided to make two recipes I've never made, babka and moussaka. Two pretty complicated and time consuming recipes, but the ingredients list and the instructions made me believe I could do it. The three loaves I made were a HUGE hit with my family, coworkers and friends and the moussaka was so unbelievably warming and tasty! I think my main take-a-way about The Jewish Cookbook is that the descriptions of the food and the ease of the recipes are so welcoming to people who love to cook but also might be intimidated. I definitely recommend this cookbook.

There is a lot of good about this cookbook. I love the short intro paragraphs to the recipes and how comprehensive it is. This is one of the only cookbooks I have not written by someone Israeli that includes hamentashen and rugelach recipes that are similar to my grandmother’s (ie yeast based). I also really appreciate that it is up to date—matzo crack and cholent are equally as Jewish! A number of recipes in here are recipes I make normally. (For example, it wasn’t until I received this cookbook that I learned that carrot ring is a Jewish food!) I turn to this cookbook before each Jewish holiday, and many other times throughout the year. That being said, I’ve come to view it more as an encyclopedia than a useful cookbook. The font used in the cookbook is *very* small. And I’m only 29 (for one more month)! There is absolutely no way my grandmothers could read anything in here. I don’t think my parents could. I often rewrite the recipe on an index card before starting. On the same front, it would be helpful if the cookbook could lay flat open. The recipes could also be more clearly written. For example, the sesame seed cookie rings (of 354) says you need 3 eggs in the ingredients, but you only add two to the dough—the third is for an egg wash. The small text makes this hard to see. Something like “3 eggs (2 for dough, 1 for egg wash)” would be helpful. This is the same for the challah recipe (though I have my own recipe) and it departs from the norm for Jewish cookbooks with regard for egg washes. In the Passover Blintzes recipe, page 32, the ingredients list doesn’t include the 1 cup water you whisk the potato starch into, it is listed in the first paragraph. (same for passover noodles on of 226) This makes it hard to mis en place. I feel like everything that requires a measurement (even water) should be in the ingredients. I won’t critique the recipes directly because everyone cooks differently. My family puts raisins in charoses and doesn’t put sugar in cinnamon raisin kugel and that doesn’t make us not Jewish or this cookbook wrong. However because this cookbook is equally a reference and a cookbook, I’ll note a few things: - mandelbrot (pg 334) (and kamishbrot) are supposed to be made with oil, not butter. That is what keeps them soft and distinct from biscotti! - I’ve never known anyone to actually make, culturally, black and whites. It would have been a good addition to note what foods are Jewish *deli* foods and what were traditionally made in the home. - an explanation of how to swap in cottage cheese in blintzes and other cheese stuffed would be appropriate - egg challah often uses potato water and saffron, neither of which are mentioned in the recipe. I’ll also note a few recipes that would have been nice to be included: - kamishbrot. Yes this is mandelbrot without almonds but with walnuts but it is a distinct food imo. - at least one recipe for brisket for how it’s made by so many people (lipton’s soup mix, condensed tomato soup, etc.) or maybe a compilation of various versions. It’s a huge part of modern Jewish cuisine. These are referenced but not included, and they aren’t any less gourmet than matzo coffee… - there seem to be a lack of recipes from southern California Finally, and I’m being persnickety here, but the doro wat picture on page 275 is nauseating—the sauce looks like blood—and looks nothing like the doro wat my partner and I regularly make or the doro wat we regularly eat at Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants in DC. If I’m not the only one with this issue I encourage people who haven’t tried doro wat before to still try it!! It is my favorite chicken dish. In fact, it is the one dish that got me to try any form of meat again after almost 20 years!

This cookbook is beautiful on the inside and out. A modern cookbook filled with history and a nuanced understanding of the diverse culinary traditions of the world's Jews: from Ethiopia, to Yemen, to India, Europe, Canada and everywhere in between. The book itself is beautiful (I'm a sucker for a cloth covered book!),there's a bookmark ribbon which I'm definitely going to get a lot of use out of, and so many recipes, I'm having trouble deciding which I want to cook next. Everything I have made so far has been great (OMG, that cauliflower!), and it's been exciting to see my instagram feed filling up with other folks delighting in the recipes they are cooking. This also makes a great gift (I've given two away already!).

After a recent vacation in Isreal I was looking for new cooking inspirations and Leah's Jewish Cookbook was a perfect choice. It takes you for a journey around the world. I found many dishes that I remember from my Motherland, Poland and dishes that I know from other countries and craved cooking and eating them! Thank you for such an amazing collection of recipes and stories Leah!

Preso per un regalo, ha avuto un grande successo. Il libro è abbastanza voluminoso, in inglese, con tante ricette divise in sezioni, cenni di cultura e storia del cibo e della sua preparazione. Le sezioni non sono scontate, ce ne sono di dedicate alla colazione ma anche al pane, ai dumplings, alle insalate, ai vegetali. Ci sono anche tantissime immagini relative ai piatti preparati. Gli ingredienti della cucina ebraica sono molto simili a quelli della tradizione mediterranea, quindi non sarà troppo difficile seguire le ricette. Lo consiglio agli appassionati di cucina, così come tutto il resto della collana Phaidon Cookbook, che ha volumi meravigliosi.

Such an amazing assembly of wonderful recipes in one place. It's a wonderful cookbook! A must have! I feel like a gut kokhn itst!!

Jüdische Kultur kulinarisch dargestellt, schön zu lesen und zu kochen. Unbedingt empfehlenswert!

Questo libro tratta tutta la vasta gamma della cucina ebraica : sefardita, ashkenazita, mizhrah e quella israeliana moderna. Avrei messo un apparato fotografico maggiore. Gli ingredienti sono facilmente reperibili