THE CHEF FROM HELL

Howdy Folks! For today's post, I want to tell you all about a new cookbook I just finished reading yesterday.

To me, cooking will always be a celebration of family traditions that come to life each time we prepare food.  A good example of what I'm talking about can be found in Judy Bart Kancigor's Cooking Jewish:  532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family (Workman Publishing, 2007).

The way I see it, food and family are forever connected. They exist as one.  Kancigor's book not only gives us the low down on many great jewish recipes but also reveals the intricate history and cultural fabric of her own family.  Their joys, sadness, sense of humor and dedication to each other is the secret ingredient within this tome of ethnic cookery.

The recipes, which span 5 generations of the Rabinowitz clan, include such classic dishes as Gefilte Fish, Chicken Soup (aka Jewish Penicillin), Matzoh Balls, Kreplach, Roasted Beet Borscht, Russian Brisket, Gribenes (cracklings!), Krumbpli (Hungarian Roast Potatoes), Blintzes, Noodle Pudding (one of my favorites), Crusty Potato Kugel, Knishes, Latkes and Pirogen (dumplings).  All of the elements of great home cooking can be found here; clean, strong flavors prepared in a simple fashion.

 In fact, reading Cooking Jewish is like peeling away the layers of a big, fat onion!  Each layer reveals another level of understanding about this particular style of cooking.  The way Kancigor spices up the recipes with tidbits of family history made a deep impression on me as I recalled my own family, seated around our dining room table over the years.  Y'know, it makes a lot of sense to think of food as our collective memory.  Each bite can bring back images of holiday gatherings and the rhythms of daily family life.  

In the pantheon of cookbooks, jewish cuisine has not, as of yet, ignited the public imagination on a national level.  Judy Bart Kancigor's book should go a long way in correcting this oversight.  Oy!  Let's eat!