Kugel

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GdnYluNMJrjwMuRGWsctNxSSWuNbPUva_fb4GibpzQ360HoFxyXWMVOykT-hpfo1SQnzage59a9MwEpz3-7p14nvcmrdG3id6QeOOPRnAN-WSJCHLDvY57C3GxHBXuZATvD0A3tBnEMm/s1600/challa-spinach-kugel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GdnYluNMJrjwMuRGWsctNxSSWuNbPUva_fb4GibpzQ360HoFxyXWMVOykT-hpfo1SQnzage59a9MwEpz3-7p14nvcmrdG3id6QeOOPRnAN-WSJCHLDvY57C3GxHBXuZATvD0A3tBnEMm/s1600/challa-spinach-kugel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Challah Kugel at kugel-making lesson, January 29,<br />Jewish Women's Circle</td></tr></tbody></table><span id="goog_2020017278"></span><span id="goog_2020017279"></span>Potato kugel. Lokshen kugel or noodle kugel. Challah kugel. Apple kugel. Yerushalmi kugel. Vegetable kugel. Rice kugel. What do they all have in common? As with almost any Jewish question, every suggested answer to this question has a sort of counter-answer. Yes, but… <br /><br />Kugel has always been a dish for the Jewish Sabbath, or Shabbat – at least it was so for Eastern Europen Jews and their descendants in many lands. Traditional Friday night Shabbat dinners often included kugel, as did the foods for Saturday midday meals. On Friday night and Saturday, observant Jews don’t light a fire and don’t prepare or reheat foods, so Shabbat dishes have to be made by Friday afternoon and kept warm on a low, unchanging flame. In other words, a traditional kugel had to be cooked for hours or even overnight without losing its flavor, often in a slow oven. <br /><br />Yes, but kugel now is also popular with many Jews who don’t observe these restrictions. They make kugel any time, for holidays or potlucks – their kugels most frequently are baked in a hot oven, and have to be taken out while still puffy. Lots of contemporary Jewish cooks would tell you that a kugel is a dish that’s baked, sort of like a casserole. <br /><br />Yes, but in the past, women made kugel in a frying pan or in a pot on top of the stove. For example, a woman described in a <i>New York Times</i> article a few years ago, “makes her potato kugel without matzo meal and in a pot rather than the usual Pyrex dish so it can finish cooking on the automatic flame.” <br /><br />In the still-more-distant past, kugels were steamed inside the pot that held the slow-cooked Sabbath stews, often called cholent (though the name varied depending on the time and place). Only slowly did kugel become a stand-alone dish. It seems, in fact, that way back in time there were essentially two types of slow-cooked dishes: cholent, or stew, and kugel, a more solid dish, basically made from a starch bound with eggs. <br /><br />Kugel could be a very simple dish. Shabbat potato kugel added an egg or two to the daily fare of potatoes and onions that a Jewish family in the shtetl could afford -- like other very poor rural and village people in Poland and Russia in the 19th century. Indeed, almost all kugel recipes include eggs. When people were really poor, putting scarce eggs into a starchy dish was a way to share a few eggs with a large family. So some people say that a kugel has to have eggs. Yes, but somehow the use of eggs doesn’t seem to define the dish, just to contribute to the flavor and texture. <br /><br />Yes, kugel is a dish for helping a poor family to share a few eggs. But rich people in those shtetls made rich kugels full of eggs. In America, everyone could eat like the rich people in the old world. Like so many foods in America, kugel got richer and richer, so now many American Jews eat kugels with many many eggs, cheese, lots of sugar, and a variety of fruit. While observant Jews distinguish between kugels that could be eaten with meat meals and those ok for dairy meals, that’s no longer important for many Jewish people today. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMM_zdm4EZy_resv3fG2VmOOzRCcUEmonALsN7nu6VoJ86eRFYr4kvdTwvw1-b6hL8ZKUkiy0piVwaYMB1Pe85AqMxjQNwC2mhaxDmzL6MoPIxWc8PiUrrms6we56G5M8MGGSLqvOkIKp/s1600/apple-kugel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMM_zdm4EZy_resv3fG2VmOOzRCcUEmonALsN7nu6VoJ86eRFYr4kvdTwvw1-b6hL8ZKUkiy0piVwaYMB1Pe85AqMxjQNwC2mhaxDmzL6MoPIxWc8PiUrrms6we56G5M8MGGSLqvOkIKp/s1600/apple-kugel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple Kugel at kugel-making lesson</td></tr></tbody></table>Yes, but now people are health-conscious, and they make new recipes to be healthy by modern standards – with vegetables. Broccoli. Spinach. Apple kugels made with a batter rather than noodles or potatoes are another variation – healthy or not? I don’t know. There are even gluten-free versions. <br /><br />Raisins were another frequent addition to Eastern European kugels. One bit of evidence for that is the history of Yerushalmi kugel – Yerushalmi means “from Jerusalem.” One story says that Jews who originally came from Lithuania began making it in Safed (Tzfat) in the early 19th century. Yerushalmi kugel is made from caramelized sugar and fine egg noodles, flavored with a strong dose of black pepper. No raisins, but that’s supposedly because they “couldn't afford raisins … so they browned sugar to make their kugels look dark.” Later these Jews were driven out of Safed and settled in Jerusalem where they kept making the kugel. As the name suggests, it’s still very popular in Jerusalem, especially in the Orthodox neighborhoods, where it’s eaten with a slice of pickle. <br /><br />Yes, but there’s another story: some attribute the Yerushalmi kugel recipe to Rivka Vinegarten, “the curator of Or Chaime Museum in old Jerusalem. Her father, Rabbi Avraham Mordechy Vinegarten, was the last rabbi of the old Jewish quarter at the outbreak of the 1948 war.” <br /><br />Some rabbis in the 19th century said it wouldn’t be Shabbat without kugel. They felt that kugel was a holy dish, perhaps because of its simple origins among poor people whose lives were seen as holy. Quite a few of these rabbis preferred potato kugel to any other kind. Noodle kugel, called lokshen kugel in Yiddish, was their other primary choice. There are those who limit their definition to just these two kinds of kugel. In any case, kugel was a strictly Jewish dish. <br /><br />Yes, but I have found so much else about kugel. And I’m going to stop now. <br /><br /><b>Sources: </b><br /><ul><li><i>Eat and Be Satisfied</i> by John Cooper (1993)</li><li>“Holy Kugel: the Sanctification of Ashkenazic Ethnic Foods in Hasidism” by Alan Nadler, in <i>Food & Judaism</i>, ed. Greenspoon, Simkins, and Shapiro (2005)</li><li>“<a href="http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Kugel%20yerushalmi%20(jerusalem%20lokshen%20kugel)">Kugel Yerushalmi (Jerusalem lokshen kugel)</a>”</li><li>“<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/04/dining/at-home-in-a-stranger-s-kitchen.html">At Home, in a Stranger's Kitchen</a>” by Alex Witchel, New York Times (April 4, 2001)</li><li>“<a href="http://www.jewishexponent.com/strike-while-the-kugel-is-hot">Strike While the Kugel is Hot</a>” by Rivka Tal (August 31, 2006)</li><li>“<a href="http://www.joyofkosher.com/2011/09/the-history-of-kugel/">The History of Kugel</a>” by Gil Marks (September 1, 2011)</li></ul>

Kugel

Challah Kugel at kugel-making lesson, January 29,Jewish Women's CirclePotato kugel. Lokshen kugel or noodle kugel. Challah kugel. Apple kugel. Yerushalmi kugel. Vegetable kugel. Rice kugel. What do they all have in common? As with almost any Jewish question, every suggested answer to this question h…

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Jewish-Style Polish Food, Krakow

We have now returned home from Poland, bringing memories and many photos, material for several follow-up blog posts. I'm starting with my most fascinating food experience, eating at the Ariel restaurant in the former Jewish quarter of Krakow. We traveled to Krakow from Warsaw Saturday morning on a very early train, and returned Saturday night.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqkF_hTKhAhyeAkWk_a3p_Z8Ewj-Qlo0xeAaxbi-IfnRAYNAGiqpWQniSYCJp0YeLNHb0n3Mttck5Xlw09w04CcGBIx7er_q9FzThQZRB9lc5jJxoE1uX6OLPB1XNRj0nNbBzt06vQY4x/s1600/ariel-restaurant7546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqkF_hTKhAhyeAkWk_a3p_Z8Ewj-Qlo0xeAaxbi-IfnRAYNAGiqpWQniSYCJp0YeLNHb0n3Mttck5Xlw09w04CcGBIx7er_q9FzThQZRB9lc5jJxoE1uX6OLPB1XNRj0nNbBzt06vQY4x/s640/ariel-restaurant7546.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhql2-kP9W6KeXUknPeGTsj4d_v4bITeA3rkKnbkiCvkM0GQynVDE_bt6OdZ8oM2-ukUf3_l2y6HcCXNI2tNGV1mZsPziplwpxo_kR7WWSSGm1akh2kGKDUCVG8sQZl7YhqBsjZ5TAtFAvu/s1600/ariel-restaurant4471.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhql2-kP9W6KeXUknPeGTsj4d_v4bITeA3rkKnbkiCvkM0GQynVDE_bt6OdZ8oM2-ukUf3_l2y6HcCXNI2tNGV1mZsPziplwpxo_kR7WWSSGm1akh2kGKDUCVG8sQZl7YhqBsjZ5TAtFAvu/s400/ariel-restaurant4471.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beetroot soup with dumplings</td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmOWahoJsOWEH4r6zARMH_O09RsYZUcwBzX3yQ6X5C6MavEf22xTXX1xic5Jc4ojA2yrOBxtcnwAclb-UkMocSKo4AdMqtGn7jfx7Rgth9d6kxC1q0_hdSP6nVTsDwxXTiB5tllIhDbr1/s1600/ariel-restaurant7542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmOWahoJsOWEH4r6zARMH_O09RsYZUcwBzX3yQ6X5C6MavEf22xTXX1xic5Jc4ojA2yrOBxtcnwAclb-UkMocSKo4AdMqtGn7jfx7Rgth9d6kxC1q0_hdSP6nVTsDwxXTiB5tllIhDbr1/s400/ariel-restaurant7542.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Len's photo of me taking a photo of Sara's soup</td></tr></tbody></table>The food was all delicious, and we were delighted to have a beautiful sunny day to sit outside. In a neighboring restaurant a band was playing a variety of music to set the mood for eating old-style Polish Jewish food. Of course there are very few Jews left in Krakow, and I think the cooks, servers, and singers are all non-Jews. The music is selected for the American and Israeli tourists, so they play a lot of selections from "Fiddler on the Roof," and old Jazz hits like "Bei Mir Bist Du Shoen."<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQH0NWX8YsheruiXUXlAyKojjdN81Aq4oRYI99kidxNN2bzw8jlLrIEcGYLbFUYy1S36QaFjVnG7FOsjFwoKPlR3TYjkJvRTjt9uQ88eJ4CDTWGpprXXg7Bqr_xdNM5U0g2Iv1GLa00coC/s1600/ariel-neck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQH0NWX8YsheruiXUXlAyKojjdN81Aq4oRYI99kidxNN2bzw8jlLrIEcGYLbFUYy1S36QaFjVnG7FOsjFwoKPlR3TYjkJvRTjt9uQ88eJ4CDTWGpprXXg7Bqr_xdNM5U0g2Iv1GLa00coC/s640/ariel-neck.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goose neck stuffed with liver. Side dish: kugel. <br />I have often read of this dish, a delicacy in prewar Eastern European Jewish cooking.<br />I had never tasted it before, and I loved every delicious bite! </td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ki8bp6wu_ikKkQhkgPuu56IzwOmdPGl6EHv1-OkRC2tg7zThIKT7CXV-ykVRJwvSAjRA7DaNxTOtC1uPn-CBxgYZK5R2XPdZDbE7rmDWSL3T4jhQy64DfuaU1uGI89Yw8EYKN82K3B_d/s1600/ariel-restaurant4474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ki8bp6wu_ikKkQhkgPuu56IzwOmdPGl6EHv1-OkRC2tg7zThIKT7CXV-ykVRJwvSAjRA7DaNxTOtC1uPn-CBxgYZK5R2XPdZDbE7rmDWSL3T4jhQy64DfuaU1uGI89Yw8EYKN82K3B_d/s400/ariel-restaurant4474.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were with a group of seven friends who had<br />been at the same conference as Len.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_CbMxXRbLgW3ZaR78miWz3N0KCYDS3mSU3rL4p5R7BAVZf0r-BNbPDyfTVH9Ko-7GXRCqfDnsPi6fP2AtOKirDHhSZjQhKt9YCa20bDQMB-gVTfaZWC41cQFGPuae-vSwwuDLKFnZKM_U/s1600/ariel-restaurant4478.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_CbMxXRbLgW3ZaR78miWz3N0KCYDS3mSU3rL4p5R7BAVZf0r-BNbPDyfTVH9Ko-7GXRCqfDnsPi6fP2AtOKirDHhSZjQhKt9YCa20bDQMB-gVTfaZWC41cQFGPuae-vSwwuDLKFnZKM_U/s400/ariel-restaurant4478.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And we enjoyed both the sunshine and animated conversation.<br />In green shirt: our host Michal.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicybFZ6lltWTl-JzXl-rKGMPcnMtX1vtIix_r2hypvcQUYWMhW78Wrqdgvx_3QrN1pmmRFF-BtrwW8x51oOemA61snGG0secdYj2oznswozL_EoVCdbG57or9EYDvGu0qD8eWNpzm3H_tS/s1600/ariel-dishes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicybFZ6lltWTl-JzXl-rKGMPcnMtX1vtIix_r2hypvcQUYWMhW78Wrqdgvx_3QrN1pmmRFF-BtrwW8x51oOemA61snGG0secdYj2oznswozL_EoVCdbG57or9EYDvGu0qD8eWNpzm3H_tS/s640/ariel-dishes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Each of us picked a different dish and we shared a few bites all around. Clockwise from upper left:<br />"Jewish" pirogis stuffed with mashed potatoes, chicken livers, duck with potatoes and cranberries,<br /> "Jewish" style roast beef with kugel, more pirogis and kugel, stuffed cabbage.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIVOP1QbcOdpzcx35DsbYCKs3rT8JmkJE5MqTGOtqJCkVMStsTlVAO6X4gs7pFWCxx2MMORINXv1xHs7j0EckF3a0dVS4Aoo3mAptfdabUj2yFLtd1Ip0m8UezSOdRivWUhJld1YIU8Li/s1600/ariel-restaurant4491.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIVOP1QbcOdpzcx35DsbYCKs3rT8JmkJE5MqTGOtqJCkVMStsTlVAO6X4gs7pFWCxx2MMORINXv1xHs7j0EckF3a0dVS4Aoo3mAptfdabUj2yFLtd1Ip0m8UezSOdRivWUhJld1YIU8Li/s400/ariel-restaurant4491.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the restaurant is also quite beautiful. Here: the courtyard.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />

Jewish-Style Polish Food, Krakow

We have now returned home from Poland, bringing memories and many photos, material for several follow-up blog posts. I'm starting with my most fascinating food experience, eating at the Ariel restaurant in the former Jewish quarter of Krakow. We traveled to Krakow from Warsaw Saturday morning on a v…

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Joan Nathan at the Book Festival

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZCdDy2uvLuIwLkKXj6Nit4tiYARJpEa29_Vk5DqqwcOYJtBT2JE1vdyOBB93e99a33RF8zOBmaeFrmAiV9cYxGtA941O1_CSG8M2E5Vy1dSy-0Vl2xFAxGEXbHWjEmjxAi6lq_YP2Kuh8/s1600/bookfair4533.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534757346356819042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZCdDy2uvLuIwLkKXj6Nit4tiYARJpEa29_Vk5DqqwcOYJtBT2JE1vdyOBB93e99a33RF8zOBmaeFrmAiV9cYxGtA941O1_CSG8M2E5Vy1dSy-0Vl2xFAxGEXbHWjEmjxAi6lq_YP2Kuh8/s320/bookfair4533.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" /></a>Joan Nathan's presentation this evening about her book <span style="font-style: italic;">Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous</span> was in the form of an interview with Ari Weinzweig, co-owner of Zingerman's Deli. The two have known each other for many years, and are both very effective speakers, so the audience had a feeling of being in a very interesting discussion between two lovers of food. Especially French food. The discussion ranged widely, covering not only the food, but also the history and origins of the Jews of France, their general reticence, and especially their tendency for a long time to avoid discussion of their Holocaust experiences.<br /><br />The two speakers had a rather detailed discussion of the Jewish quarter of Paris, the Marais, in which Jews settled some time in the Middle Ages. I especially enjoyed their conversation about two delis owned by the the Finkelsztajns -- now ex-spouses. Florence Finkelsztajn -- whose deli both speakers prefer -- gave Joan Nathan a recipe for her <span style="font-style: italic;">pletzel</span>, a type of biali, on which her deli serves a delicious pickeled beef sandwich. I know I've eaten in the Finkelsztajn deli, but I think it was prior to their divorce when there was just one store. I definitely realize that my experience of Paris and my reading on French Jews has ranged widely, but is very out-of-date.<br /><br />Before tonight's presentation, a local caterer served an amazing buffet of desserts made from Nathan's recipes, including cheesecake and several other cakes and tortes. The book has been available only since last Tuesday, so this must be a remarkable baker. I hope to find an excuse to make some of the recipes soon.<br /><br />It was most enjoyable.

Joan Nathan at the Book Festival

Joan Nathan's presentation this evening about her book Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous was in the form of an interview with Ari Weinzweig, co-owner of Zingerman's Deli. The two have known each other for many years, and are both very effective speakers, so the audience had a feeling of being in a very …

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My New Cookbook

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0307267598/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link"><img alt="Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France" border="0" height="300" id="prodImage" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pvuQxddoL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" width="300" /></a><br /><br />Published last week, Joan Nathan's <span style="font-style: italic;">Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France</span> is now number four on amazon.com's French cookbook bestseller list -- behind 2 editions of <span style="font-style: italic;">Mastering the Art of French Cooking</span> and one other book. It's quite beautiful, with many color photos and historic illustrations.<br /><br />I spent quite a bit of time reading the narrative parts of the text and looking over the pictures this afternoon (while simultaneously watching the Jon Stewart rally on streaming video). After also looking at the ingredient lists for the recipes, I expect I'm going to have fun trying the recipes. The background on Jewish life and cooking in France is quite enjoyable, though not very detailed. Nathan's recipes represent a wide collection from Jewish cooks she interviewed. I was a little surprised because she did not seem to search out historical recipes from earlier eras: just to find those that still maintain an active place in the living repertoire.<br /><br />Nathan will be at the Jewish Book Festival in Ann Arbor Monday night to promote the book. I'm looking forward to hearing what she has to say about it, and assume she'll tell some more tales of the people she met and the homes, shops, markets, and restaurants she visited.

My New Cookbook

Published last week, Joan Nathan's Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France is now number four on amazon.com's French cookbook bestseller list -- behind 2 editions of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and one other book. It's quite beautiful, with many color photos and…

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