A lot of this stuff is unpacked in another article in the series, 'The Rise of MiddleEastMediLevantia', which discusses whether or not the popularisation of these foods by Israeli chefs, cooks and writers can be called 'Jewish food'
Loved this so much Dan! My ancestors were among those you described who arrived on a boat to Sunderland in the 1880s from Lithuania. Apparently they thought they were headed for America. Ended up in Leeds and Manchester and later Bolton, where I ate the Jewish foods of my childhood. Fish cakes, fish and chips with pickles, soup and my favourite: chremslach. I have and love the Evelyn Rose book you quote but your piece has made me want to go and read it again much more thoroughly! Thank you mate.
Overall, great article. I found it slightly amusing that you managed to refer to cuisine as Ottolenghified and the Ottolenghi effect, without ever discussing who Ottolenghi is and what his contribution to the world of Sephardic cooking has been (perhaps an assumption that "every one already knows").
I might take minor issue with the description of a shtetl as a small Jewish village. While technically accurate, it sounds far too pastoral for the squalid hamlets that Russian authorities sent and forced Jews, like my great grandparents, to live and try to scrape by in.
Fair point, although Ottolenghi and his influence is discussed in another article in the series 'The Rise of MediMiddleEastLevantia' so we didn't want to cover too much of the same ground.
This is great - I live in New York and I’m always trying to explain to my American Jewish family the difference in British Jewish food - I just sent them all this article!
In the course of your research did you find out anything more about foods that came from the Sephardi apart from fried fish? My Sephardi ancestors were expelled from Portugal, crossed the Med to Livorno, Italy and lived there for close to 100 years before making the move to London around the late 17th c. so I'm curious if any Sephardic food traditions brought to Britain before the 19th c are part of British Jewish cuisine today.
Hummus a Jewish food? Halloumi? Falafel? I know it's not intended as a serious piece but it would have been interesting to unpack this just a little.
A lot of this stuff is unpacked in another article in the series, 'The Rise of MiddleEastMediLevantia', which discusses whether or not the popularisation of these foods by Israeli chefs, cooks and writers can be called 'Jewish food'
Loved this so much Dan! My ancestors were among those you described who arrived on a boat to Sunderland in the 1880s from Lithuania. Apparently they thought they were headed for America. Ended up in Leeds and Manchester and later Bolton, where I ate the Jewish foods of my childhood. Fish cakes, fish and chips with pickles, soup and my favourite: chremslach. I have and love the Evelyn Rose book you quote but your piece has made me want to go and read it again much more thoroughly! Thank you mate.
What a brilliant piece - so well researched. Congratulations.
Thought process when clicking through
-wonder if Dans seen this article
-wait I bet Dan wrote this
-indeed , Dan wrote it
Fun, thoughtful, informative
all the best from Beirut. Jen P
Interesting!
Overall, great article. I found it slightly amusing that you managed to refer to cuisine as Ottolenghified and the Ottolenghi effect, without ever discussing who Ottolenghi is and what his contribution to the world of Sephardic cooking has been (perhaps an assumption that "every one already knows").
I might take minor issue with the description of a shtetl as a small Jewish village. While technically accurate, it sounds far too pastoral for the squalid hamlets that Russian authorities sent and forced Jews, like my great grandparents, to live and try to scrape by in.
Fair point, although Ottolenghi and his influence is discussed in another article in the series 'The Rise of MediMiddleEastLevantia' so we didn't want to cover too much of the same ground.
Yum.
Very interesting read, thank you!
This is great - I live in New York and I’m always trying to explain to my American Jewish family the difference in British Jewish food - I just sent them all this article!
thank you for this essay Dan :)
Thank you
In the course of your research did you find out anything more about foods that came from the Sephardi apart from fried fish? My Sephardi ancestors were expelled from Portugal, crossed the Med to Livorno, Italy and lived there for close to 100 years before making the move to London around the late 17th c. so I'm curious if any Sephardic food traditions brought to Britain before the 19th c are part of British Jewish cuisine today.