Jewish cuisine
Jewish cuisine refers to the worldwide cooking traditions of the Jewish people. During its evolution over the course of many centuries, it has been shaped by Jewish dietary laws, Jewish festivals and holidays, and traditions centred around Shabbat. Jewish cuisine is influenced by the economics, agriculture, and culinary traditions of the many countries in which Jewish communities were displaced and varies widely throughout the entire world.
The history of Jewish cuisine begins with the cuisine of the ancient Israelites. As the Jewish diaspora grew, different styles of Jewish cooking developed. The distinctive styles in Jewish cuisine vary according to each community across the Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi diaspora groupings; there are also notable dishes within the culinary traditions of the standalone significant Jewish communities from Turkey, Iran, and Yemen.
Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and particularly since the late 1970s, a nascent Israeli "fusion cuisine" has developed. Israeli cuisine has adapted a multitude of elements, overlapping techniques and ingredients from the many culinary traditions of the Jewish diaspora.
Influences on Jewish cuisine
''Kashrut''—Jewish dietary laws
The laws of keeping kosher have influenced Jewish cooking by prescribing what foods are permitted and how food must be prepared. The word kosher is usually translated as "proper".Certain foods, notably pork, shellfish, and almost all insects are forbidden; meat and dairy cannot be eaten together in one dish and a certain period of time must elapse before dairy food can be eaten following a meat dish. The length of time depends on a specific minhag. It is most common to wait six hours but some groups wait three or one. Meat must be ritually slaughtered and salted to remove all traces of blood.
Observant Jews will eat only meat or poultry that is certified kosher. The meat has to have been slaughtered by a shochet in accordance with Jewish law and must be entirely drained of blood. Before it is cooked, it is soaked in water for half an hour, then placed on a perforated board, sprinkled with coarse salt and left to sit for one hour. At the end of this time, the salt is washed off and the meat is ready for cooking.
Today, kosher meats purchased from a butcher or supermarket have already undergone the koshering process as described in the previous paragraph and no additional soaking or salting is required.
According to kashrut, meat and poultry must not be eaten with dairy products, nor may they be eaten from plates or with utensils that have been used with dairy products. Therefore, Jews who strictly observe kashrut divide their kitchens into different sections for meat and for dairy, with separate ovens, plates and utensils. As a result, butter, milk, and cream are not used in preparing dishes made with meat or intended to be served together with meat. Oil, pareve margarine, rendered chicken fat, or non-dairy cream substitutes are used instead.
Despite religious prohibitions, some foods not generally considered kosher have made their way into traditional Jewish cuisine; sturgeon, which was consumed by European Jews at least as far back as the 19th century, is one example.
Geographical dispersion
The hearty cuisine of Ashkenazi Jews was based on centuries of living in the cold climate of Central and Eastern Europe, whereas the lighter, "sunnier" cuisine of Sephardi Jews was influenced by life in the Mediterranean region.Each Jewish community has its traditional dishes, often revolving around specialties from their home country. In Spain and Portugal, olives are a common ingredient and many foods are fried in oil. The idea of frying fish in the stereotypically British fish and chips, for example, was introduced to Britain by Sephardic Jewish immigrants. In Germany, stews were popular. The Jews of Netherlands specialized in pickles, herring, butter cakes and bolas. In Poland, Jews made various kinds of stuffed and stewed fish along with matza ball soup or lokshen noodles. In North Africa, Jews ate couscous and tagine.
Thus, a traditional Shabbat meal for Ashkenazi Jews might include stuffed vine leaves, roast beef, pot roast, or chicken, carrots tzimmes and potatoes. A traditional Shabbat meal for Sephardi Jews would focus more on salads, couscous and other Middle-Eastern specialties.
History of Jewish cuisine
Biblical era
The daily diet of the average ancient Israelite consisted mainly of bread, cooked grains and legumes. Bread was eaten with every meal. The bread eaten until the end of the Israelite monarchy was mostly made from barley flour.During the Second Temple era, bread made from wheat flour became predominant. A variety of breads was produced. Probably most common were unleavened flat loaves called ugah or kikkar. Another type was a thin wafer, known as a rakik. A thicker loaf, known as hallah, was made with the best-quality flour, usually for ritual purposes. Bread was sometimes enriched by the addition of flour from legumes.
The Mishna mentions bread dough made with fruit juice instead of water to sweeten the bread. The Israelites also sometimes added fennel and cumin to bread dough for flavor and dipped their bread in vinegar, olive oil, or sesame oil for extra flavor.
Vegetables played a smaller, but significant role in the diet. Legumes and vegetables were typically eaten in stews. Stews made of lentils or beans were common and they were cooked with onion, garlic, and leeks for flavor. Fresh legumes were also roasted, or dried and stored for extended periods, then cooked in a soup or a stew. Vegetables were also eaten uncooked with bread. Lentils were the most important of the legumes and were used to make pottages and soups, as well as fried lentil cakes called ashishim.
The Israelites drank goat and sheep's milk when it was available in the spring and summer and ate butter and cheese. They also ate honey, both from bees and date honey.
Figs and grapes were the fruits most commonly eaten, while dates, pomegranates, almonds, and other fruits and nuts were eaten more occasionally.
Wine was the most popular beverage and sometimes other fermented beverages were produced.
Meat, usually goat and mutton, was eaten rarely by most Israelites and reserved for special occasions, such as celebrations, festival meals, or sacrificial feasts. The wealthy ate meat more frequently and had beef, venison, and veal available to them.
Olives were used primarily for their oil, which was used raw and to cook meat and stews. Game, birds, eggs, and fish were also eaten, depending on availability. Meat was typically prepared in broths or stews, and sometimes roasted. For long-term storage, meat was smoked, dried, or salted.
Porridge and gruel were made from ground grain, water, salt, and butter. This mixture also formed the basis for cakes, to which oil, called shemen, and fruits were sometimes added before baking.
Most food was eaten fresh and in season. Fruits and vegetables had to be eaten as they ripened and before they spoiled.
People had to contend with periodic episodes of hunger and famine. Producing enough food required hard and well-timed labor and the climatic conditions resulted in unpredictable harvests and the need to store as much food as possible. Thus, grapes were made into raisins and wine, olives were made into oil, figs, beans and lentils were dried and grains were stored for use throughout the year.
As fresh milk tended to spoil quickly, the Israelites stored milk in skin containers that caused it to curdle quickly and drank it as thick sour milk which they called laban.
The Israelites ate a variety of fresh and saltwater fish, according to both archaeological and textual evidence. Remains of freshwater fish from the Yarkon and Jordan rivers and the Sea of Galilee have been found in excavations, and include St. Peter’s fish and mouthbreeders. Saltwater fish discovered in excavations include sea bream, grouper, meager, and gray mullet. Most of these come from the Mediterranean Sea, but in the later Iron Age period, some are from the Red Sea. Although the Torah prohibits the consumption of fish without fins or scales, archeological evidence indicates that many Israelites flouted or were unaware of these restrictions and ate non-kosher seafood, mostly catfish but also shark, eel, and ray, and that religious restrictions on seafood began to be observed more strictly starting in the first century CE.
Descriptions of typical Israelite meals appear in the Bible. The Book of Samuel described the rations Abigail brought to David's group: bread loaves, wine, butchered sheep, parched grain, raisins, and fig cakes. The Book of Ruth described a typical light breakfast: bread dipped in vinegar and parched or roasted grain.
The cuisine maintained many consistent traits based on the main products available from the early Israelite period until the Roman period, even though new foods became available during this extended time. For example, rice was introduced during the Persian era.
During the Hellenistic period, as trade with the Nabateans increased, more spices became available, at least for those who could afford them and more Mediterranean fish were imported into the cities. During the Roman period, sugar cane was introduced.
The symbolic food of the ancient Israelites continued to be important among Jews after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the beginning of the Jewish diaspora.
Bread, wine and olive oil were seen as direct links to the three main crops of ancient Israel—wheat, grapes and olives. In the Bible, this trio is described as representing the divine response to human needs and, particularly, the need for the seasonal rains vital for the successful cultivation of these three crops..
The significance of wine, bread and oil is indicated by their incorporation into Jewish religious ritual, with the blessings over wine and bread for Shabbat and holiday meals and at religious ceremonies such as weddings and the lighting of Shabbat and festival lights with olive oil.
Modern Jewish cooking originated in the various communities of the Jewish diaspora, and modern Jewish cuisine bears little resemblance to what the ancient Israelites ate. However, a few dishes that originated in ancient Israel survive to the present day. Notably among them are Sabbath stews, stews traditionally eaten on Shabbat that are simmered for 12 hours in a way that conforms with Shabbat restrictions. Such stews date to at least the Second Temple period. Various diaspora communities created their own variations of the dish based on their local climate and available ingredients, which are eaten today. Modern examples of such stews are cholent and hamin.
Other foods dating to the ancient Israelites include pastels, or Shabbat meat pies, and charoset, a sweet fruit and nut paste eaten at the Passover Seder.