The 100 most Jewish foods : a highly debatable list / edited by Alana Newhouse, with Stephanie Butnick ; photographs by Noah Fecks ; illustrations by Joana Avillez ; recipe editing by Gabriella Gershenson.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Your gift giv­ing prob­lems are now over--just stock up on The 100 Most Jew­ish Foods. . . . The appro­pri­ate gift for any occa­sion."

--Jewish Book Council



"[A] love letter--to food, family, faith and identity, and the deliciously tangled way they come together."

-- NPR's The Salt



With contributions from Ruth Reichl, Éric Ripert, Joan Nathan, Michael Solomonov, Dan Barber, Yotam Ottolenghi, Tom Colicchio, Maira Kalman, Melissa Clark, and many more!



Tablet 's list of the 100 most Jewish foods is not about the most popular Jewish foods, or the tastiest, or even the most enduring. It's a list of the most significant foods culturally and historically to the Jewish people, explored deeply with essays, recipes, stories, and context. Some of the dishes are no longer cooked at home, and some are not even dishes in the traditional sense (store-bought cereal and Stella D'oro cookies, for example). The entire list is up for debate, which is what makes this book so much fun. Many of the foods are delicious (such as babka and shakshuka). Others make us wonder how they've survived as long as they have (such as unhatched chicken eggs and jellied calves' feet). As expected, many Jewish (and now universal) favorites like matzo balls, pickles, cheesecake, blintzes, and chopped liver make the list. The recipes are global and represent all contingencies of the Jewish experience. Contributors include Ruth Reichl, Éric Ripert, Joan Nathan, Michael Solomonov, Dan Barber, Gail Simmons, Yotam Ottolenghi, Tom Colicchio, Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, Maira Kalman, Action Bronson, Daphne Merkin, Shalom Auslander, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and Phil Rosenthal, among many others. Presented in a gifty package, The 100 Most Jewish Foods is the perfect book to dip into, quote from, cook from, and launch a spirited debate.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Tablet founder and editor-in-chief Newhouse assembles a thoughtful compendium of iconic American and international Jewish foods with recipes celebrating Jewish life. Drawn from Tablet contributors, chefs, and food writers, the short essays and recipes highlight Jewish culinary tradition. Selected food items are listed alphabetically, with recipes and interspersed with food history to bring each dish to life. Fashion designer Zac Posen gushes over the sweet and sour of borscht; Food52 cofounder and CEO Amanda Hesser relishes epic holiday brisket; food critic Mimi Sheraton takes on the bialy (invented when dough "fell on the floor and somebody stepped on it... with the heel"); food writer Melissa Clark shares her appreciation of black-and-white cookies ("chocolate and vanilla coexisting on a smooth, sweet surface"); and former Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl recalls being scolded for her less-than-Kosher Passover leg of lamb ("Not the leg. And definitely not roasted"). As expected, bagels, blintzes, babka and matzo ball reminiscences are also included. Providing a global perspective of Jewish cuisine, Newhouse offers discussions of Adafina, (a form of cholent, the Sabbath overnight stew) from the kitchens of converted Spanish Jews, and the sweet malida porridge of India's Bene Israel Jews. This entertaining and informative reference brings the rich traditions of Jewish foods to life. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

To rephrase the 1960s ad for Levy's Jewish rye bread, you don't have to be Jewish to love The 100 Most Jewish Foods. In point of fact, a handful of editor Newhouse's 75-plus contributors aren't, either; they're just so passionate about specific foodstuffs that they've penned an article or two, written a dissenting point of view, or checked the directions for one of the 60 recipes in Newhouse's compilation of (or series of controversies on) the 100 most significant Jewish foods. Top Chef host Tom Colicchio weighs in on whitefish salad, while Tablet editor Wayne Hoffman includes an ode to the used tea bag. A few other nuggets: Manhattan's black-and-white cookies emigrated with German immigrants. Blintzes are only cooked on one side. The dissenter to borscht claims it's a Soviet-Russian, not Jewish, dish. Chicken soup originated in China. Fish-genius Eric Ripert claims that gefilte fish is not as bad as it's made out to be. And celebrity psychotherapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer says pomegranates are very sexy food. Much of the gathered wisdom here is New York City-centric, but it will be relatable to anyone familiar with bagels, bialys, kichel, and kugel. Funny, emotional, memorable, and filled with gemütlichkeit, this is a book for any reason and all seasons.--Barbara Jacobs Copyright 2010 Booklist

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Alana Newhouse is the editor in chief of Tablet , a daily online magazine of Jewish news, ideas, and culture launched in 2009. Prior to Tablet , she spent five years as culture editor of the Forward , where she supervised coverage of books, films, dance, music, art, and ideas. She also started a line of Forward -branded books with W.W. Norton and edited its maiden publication, A Living Lens: Photographs of Jewish Life from the Pages of the Forward . A graduate of Barnard College and Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, Newhouse has contributed to the New York Times , the Washington Post , the Boston Globe , and Slate.

Tablet , launched in 2009 by editor in chief Alana Newhouse, is a daily online magazine of Jewish news, ideas, and culture. Tablet 's recent books include The 100 Most Jewish Foods by Alana Newhouse and The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia by Stephanie Butnick, Liel Leibovitz, and Mark Oppenheimer, cohosts of the magazine's Unorthodox podcast, the most popular Jewish podcast on iTunes, with more than 4 million downloads. Follow @tabletmag on Instagram and Twitter.