Jewish cuisine
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Jewish cooking combines spectacular variety with deep-rooted traditions - stretching from the Americas to India, it has absorbed many influences yet retained a unique character.
Migration
The history of Jewish food is the history of Jewish migration, and over the centuries, the Jews have taken root in most corners of the earth. It's not surprising, then, that while the Jews in the Polish ghettos of Cracow and Poznan were busy making gefilte fish (balls of finely chopped carp poached in fish stock) the Jews of Kerala in India were making fish curries, while in Portugal they were frying up something we now call fish and chips.
Jewish cooking is broadly divided into two main traditions: the Ashkenazi, which originates from communities in Northern and Eastern Europe, and the Sephardi, which covers the Middle East, North Africa and Spain.
Ashkenazi food has its roots in the poverty-stricken rural communities of Poland and Russia, while the Sephardi kitchen was born in the more urban and cosmopolitan towns and cities thriving on trade. Jewish food in the Sephardi world is more varied from region to region and makes use of a wider variety of ingredients. Also, Sephardi communities are generally more relaxed towards religious dietary laws than their northern cousins.
Dietary laws
Jewish food is Jewish because it adheres to the dietary laws that were laid down in the Hebrew Bible. These laws include prohibitions, such as those on pork and shellfish, as well as strict requirements for the slaughter of animals and the preparation of food. For Jews, food that has been prepared in accordance with these laws is considered kosher (fit for consumption).
The basic principles of Jewish dietary laws are as follows:
· All fruit and vegetables are permitted
· All animals that 'chew the cud' (herbivores) with cloven hooves are permitted (all others, including pig, rabbit, horse and beasts of prey, are considered unclean)
· All fish that have scales and fins are permitted; shark, eel, shellfish and crustaceans are forbidden
· Reptiles, turtles, snails, frogs and insects are also considered unclean
· Animals must be ritually slaughtered and completely free of blood. Any animal that has died in any other way is not fit for consumption
· Milk products must be kept separate from meat products, and cannot be consumed together
· Jewish law prohibits any work on the Sabbath, and this includes cooking.
The history of Jewish food is the history of Jewish migration, and over the centuries, the Jews have taken root in most corners of the earth. It's not surprising, then, that while the Jews in the Polish ghettos of Cracow and Poznan were busy making gefilte fish (balls of finely chopped carp poached in fish stock) the Jews of Kerala in India were making fish curries, while in Portugal they were frying up something we now call fish and chips.
Jewish cooking is broadly divided into two main traditions: the Ashkenazi, which originates from communities in Northern and Eastern Europe, and the Sephardi, which covers the Middle East, North Africa and Spain.
Ashkenazi food has its roots in the poverty-stricken rural communities of Poland and Russia, while the Sephardi kitchen was born in the more urban and cosmopolitan towns and cities thriving on trade. Jewish food in the Sephardi world is more varied from region to region and makes use of a wider variety of ingredients. Also, Sephardi communities are generally more relaxed towards religious dietary laws than their northern cousins.
Dietary laws
Jewish food is Jewish because it adheres to the dietary laws that were laid down in the Hebrew Bible. These laws include prohibitions, such as those on pork and shellfish, as well as strict requirements for the slaughter of animals and the preparation of food. For Jews, food that has been prepared in accordance with these laws is considered kosher (fit for consumption).
The basic principles of Jewish dietary laws are as follows:
· All fruit and vegetables are permitted
· All animals that 'chew the cud' (herbivores) with cloven hooves are permitted (all others, including pig, rabbit, horse and beasts of prey, are considered unclean)
· All fish that have scales and fins are permitted; shark, eel, shellfish and crustaceans are forbidden
· Reptiles, turtles, snails, frogs and insects are also considered unclean
· Animals must be ritually slaughtered and completely free of blood. Any animal that has died in any other way is not fit for consumption
· Milk products must be kept separate from meat products, and cannot be consumed together
· Jewish law prohibits any work on the Sabbath, and this includes cooking.
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