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Title: The New York Times Jewish Cookbook: More than 825 Traditional & Contemporary Recipes from Around the World by Linda Amster, Mimi Sheraton ISBN: 0-312-29093-4 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 30 September, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: A Great Big Collection of Published Recipes. Nothing Else
Comment: The best and worst thing one can say about this book is that it is just a very large collection of ancient and modern recipes whose ingredients and preparation conform to at least conservative Jewish dietary laws. It is very similar to a collection of all English Language published sonnets ranging from Shakespeare to the little old lady in Nebraska who publishes in her local newspaper. Everything has been published and everything follows certain rules, but all connections between the collected items ends there.

This is not an unworthy book. It sort of reminds me of the old Palgrave's Golden Treasury of English Poetry, which collected works according to little rhyme or reason, except that the authors were English and wrote in English.

This book has three things going for it.

First is its size. With 825 recipes, someone looking for a recipe to accomplish a particular objective within the kosher rules, they have a good chance of finding one.

Second is the fact that all recipes have been published, but not all have been published in the pages of the New York Times. Some come from recently published books such as Marcus Samuelson's 'Aquavit'. This means that each one has been editorially reviewed by one or more of professional editorial eyes.

Third is the obvious love and care with which the editor(s) have assembled the material. The introductory essays by Mimi Sheraton and Joan Nathan are informative and endearing.

Unfortunately, all sense of cohesiveness stops on the first page of Appetizer recipes. There is no trace of any scholarship which would help sort out the recipes by whether the originating tradition was, for example Ashkanazy or Sephardic.

The Chapters dividing the recipes are:

Appetizers
Soups
Fish
Poultry
Meat
Vegetables
Grains, Legumes, and Pasta
Salads
Light Fare for Brunch and Lunch
Trimmings, Savory and Sweet
Breads, Rolls, Bagels, and Matzohs
Desserts

There is no sense in which Jewish traditional food forms a cuisine in the same sense that Morocco or Turkey or Iran have a distinctive cuisine. Jewish food is an overlay on the existing cuisine of the region.

This is a very worthy book if you have few cookbooks and are in need of a more diverse selection of kosher recipes. It is interesting that there is no statement in the book saying that the validity of the kosher nature of the recipes has not been certified by any rabbinical authority. And note that a kosher recipe can easily be made non-kosher by using non-kosher ingredients. A reasonable price for a lot of recipes. If you want a more measured look at Jewish Cooking, check out Claudia Roden's book on the subject and her book on Middle Eastern food.

Rating: 4
Summary: vicarious weight gain
Comment: I put on 8 lbs. just reading one chapter. Like most endeavors of the NYT, it is both authoritative and encyclopedic in scope. While it sticks maily to traditional Kosher and Jewish dishes, it shows some respect for Israeli cooking, usually given short shrift in "American Kosher" cookbooks.

It's failure, however, is one of overload, both in many of the recipies themselves, and in the number of inclusions. It gives insufficient weight to weight itself!! With so many of its readers and users in the constant battle of the waistline (and tushline), it provides little encouragement to minimalists and moderationists (new word, coined this morning).

Best read during the 2 hour break in services on Yom Kippur

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