Yiddish food memories, recipes and photos wanted for online cookbook
The project, part of the Yiddish New York festival, invites people from all over the world to participate
A photo of the recipe file box that Yiddish cooking fan David Goldfarb’s grandmother used for many years Photo by David Goldfarb
By Forverts Staff December 16, 2024
Would you like to share a memory, recipe or photo related to a classic Yiddish dish with like-minded fans of Eastern European Jewish cooking?
Join folklore maven Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s Memories of the Yiddish Kitchen workshop and contribute to her online cookbook, as part of the upcoming Yiddish New York festival beginning on Dec. 21. Since the project is virtual, people from all over the world can participate.
The deadline for submitting the memorabilia is Friday, Dec. 20. The workshop is on December 26. Contact [email protected] for more details.
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett launched the project at the Yiddish New York festival in 2021 and has produced four online cookbooks so far, all of which can be downloaded.
Here are some topics Kirshenblatt-Gimblett suggests:
- What are your earliest memories of classic dishes of the Yiddish kitchen?
- Are there debates, even protests, regarding particular dishes among your relatives or friends? This includes disagreements on how to prepare these delicacies, what to call them, or when and how to serve them. For example, should latkes be grated or shredded? Should gefilte fish be sweet or peppery?
- Adaptations. Have you adapted particular dishes for reasons of health, dietary restrictions, convenience, cost, unavailability of ingredients or personal preference?
- New traditions. Do you know of versions that have become new “classics” of the North American Yiddish kitchen? For example, brisket prepared with dried mushroom soup, tomatoes, ketchup, Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper, red wine, brewed coffee or chili sauce. And what about babka? Any new varieties you’ve tried?
- Bequests. Are there kitchen utensils, tableware, recipe cards or notes, a recipe box or cookbook that you inherited? Anything you might bequeath to the younger generation?
- Requests. What do you wish you knew how to make?
All images need to be submitted as jpgs. Typed texts should be sent in Word or as a google doc, not as a pdf. Email them to [email protected] and [email protected].
But even if you don’t submit anything, feel free to join the online workshop on Dec. 26, when Kirshenblatt-Gimblett will share her mother’s vegan split pea barley soup, tips for making the best old-school potato latkes and the secret to perfect kasha,
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