Early Jewish Cookbooks
Essays on Hungarian Jewish Gastronomical History
Published on 20. June 2022
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-963-386-429-6 (ISBN)
Description
Winner of the Association of Jewish Libraries' 2022 Judaica Bibliography Award.
The seven essays in this volume focus such previously unexplored subjects as the world's first cookbook printed in Hebrew letters, published in 1854, and a wonderful 19th-century Jewish cookbook, which in addition to its Hungarian edition was also published in Dutch in Rotterdam. The author entertainingly reconstructs the history of bolesz, a legendary yeast pastry that was the specialty of a famous, but long defunct Jewish coffeehouse in Pest, and includes the modernized recipe of this distant relative of cinnamon rolls. Koerner also tells the history of the first Jewish bookstore in Hungary (founded as early as in 1765!) and examines the influence of Jewish cuisine on non-Jewish food.
In this volume Andras Koerner explores key issues of Hungarian Jewish culinary culture in greater detail and more scholarly manner than what space restrictions permitted in his previous work Jewish Cuisine in Hungary: A Cultural History, also published by CEU Press, which received the prestigious National Jewish Book Award in 2020. The current essays confirm the extent to which Hungarian Jewry was part of the Jewish life and culture of the Central European region before their almost total language shift by the turn of the 20th century.
The seven essays in this volume focus such previously unexplored subjects as the world's first cookbook printed in Hebrew letters, published in 1854, and a wonderful 19th-century Jewish cookbook, which in addition to its Hungarian edition was also published in Dutch in Rotterdam. The author entertainingly reconstructs the history of bolesz, a legendary yeast pastry that was the specialty of a famous, but long defunct Jewish coffeehouse in Pest, and includes the modernized recipe of this distant relative of cinnamon rolls. Koerner also tells the history of the first Jewish bookstore in Hungary (founded as early as in 1765!) and examines the influence of Jewish cuisine on non-Jewish food.
In this volume Andras Koerner explores key issues of Hungarian Jewish culinary culture in greater detail and more scholarly manner than what space restrictions permitted in his previous work Jewish Cuisine in Hungary: A Cultural History, also published by CEU Press, which received the prestigious National Jewish Book Award in 2020. The current essays confirm the extent to which Hungarian Jewry was part of the Jewish life and culture of the Central European region before their almost total language shift by the turn of the 20th century.
Reviews / Votes
"It's not often that I read a book with a title such as this for pleasure, but it was the unexpected bonus. Andras Koerner has written several books (in English) on Jewish life in Hungary, including the prizewinning Jewish Cuisine in Hungary (CEU Press/Corvina, 2019). The present volume, introduced most intelligently by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, looks not only at the early Jewish cookbooks written in Hungary but also addresses the wider question of the interpenetration of Jewish recipes and what might be called indigenous European cuisine. There is plenty chew on. Each of his chapters boasts a recipe appendix, so the enthusiastic can experiment. An admirable piece of work." * Petits Propos Culinaires * "Readers familiar with the work of Andras Koerner, whose encyclopedic Jewish Cuisine in Hungary won the National Jewish Book Award in 2019, might wonder if the author has exhausted his topic. But with Early Jewish Cookbooks, Koerner proves there's always room for more. In eight essays he homes in on Jewish recipes and cookbooks in nineteenth century Europe, especially Hungary. After all, Hungary's first Jewish cookbook was only the third to be published anywhere in the world; and throughout the nineteenth century, Hungary remained a leading publisher of Jewish cookbooks. Andras Koerner may have come late to his calling as a culinary historian, but now he's leaving us hungry for more."https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/early-jewish-cookbooks-essays-on-hungarian-jewish-gastronomical-history -- Bet-ti-na Berch * Jewish Book Council * "Andras Koerner's Early Jewish Cookbooks makes an important contribution to our understanding of the diversity of Ashkenazic Jewish cuisine, namely, Hungarian Jewish cuisine. Furthermore, Koerner notes the importance of cookbooks and cuisines as strategies for modern European Jewish acculturation. His book is exemplary for demonstrating how to use cookbooks as historical sources, particularly related to what they can tell us about their authors and audience, the social conditions in which they were written, and for what purpose they were written."
https://www.booksonix.com/ceupress/application/biblio-edit/edit-fulltext/1490?return=/biblio/detailed/1490/51/7#Text7 -- Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus * Gastronomica *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
Hungary
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Academic
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
552 gr
ISBN-13
978-963-386-429-6 (9789633864296)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2022
1st Edition
Central European University Press
€71.49
Available for download
Persons
Andras Koerner was born in 1940 in Budapest. After receiving his degree in architecture he worked for several years as an architect. In 1967, he moved to the United States, where he continued the same career. Since his retirement, he dedicates his time mostly to writing and organizing exhibitions. His publications include: A Taste of the Past. The Daily Life and Cooking of a Nineteenth-Century Hungarian-Jewish Homemaker(2004) and The Stages of Andor Weininger from the Bauhaus to New York (2008), as well as several books published by CEU Press (Early Jewish Cookbooks; Jewish Cuisine in Hungary; How They Lived: The Everyday Lives of Hungarian Jews, 1867-1940).
Content
Preface
Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett
?Introduction
The Significance of Old Cookbooks
Scholarly Research of Old Cookbooks in Hungary
The Pioneers of Research of Alimentary Culture
University Programs of Food Studies and Culinary History
Old Cookbooks as Historical Documents
Jewish Cookbooks as Historical Documents
PART I. Cookbooks and a Recipe Collection
1. The World's First Cookbook Printed in Hebrew Letters
Recipes from the first Hebrew-lettered cookbook
2. The First Jewish Cookbook in Hungary
Recipes from the first Jewish cookbook in Hungary
3. The Earliest Hungarian Jewish Recipe Collection
Recipes from the earliest Hungarian Jewish recipe collection
4. A World-Famous Nineteenth-Century Hungarian Jewish Cookbook
Recipes from Therese Lederer's 1876 cookbook
5. The Last WIZO Cookbook Before the Holocaust
Recipes from the 1938 Transylvanian WIZO Cookbook
PART II. Culinary Culture
6. Bolesz, a Forgotten Jewish Pastry of Nineteenth-Century Pest
The Reconstructed Recipe of Bolesz
7. The Influence of Hungarian Jewish Cuisine n the Non-Jewish
Jewish recipes from 19th-century Hungarian cookbooks
Epilogue: Hungary's Pioneering Role in Early Jewish Cookbooks
Notes
Selected Bibliography
List of Quoted Recipes
Glossary
Index of Personal Names
Sources of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett
?Introduction
The Significance of Old Cookbooks
Scholarly Research of Old Cookbooks in Hungary
The Pioneers of Research of Alimentary Culture
University Programs of Food Studies and Culinary History
Old Cookbooks as Historical Documents
Jewish Cookbooks as Historical Documents
PART I. Cookbooks and a Recipe Collection
1. The World's First Cookbook Printed in Hebrew Letters
Recipes from the first Hebrew-lettered cookbook
2. The First Jewish Cookbook in Hungary
Recipes from the first Jewish cookbook in Hungary
3. The Earliest Hungarian Jewish Recipe Collection
Recipes from the earliest Hungarian Jewish recipe collection
4. A World-Famous Nineteenth-Century Hungarian Jewish Cookbook
Recipes from Therese Lederer's 1876 cookbook
5. The Last WIZO Cookbook Before the Holocaust
Recipes from the 1938 Transylvanian WIZO Cookbook
PART II. Culinary Culture
6. Bolesz, a Forgotten Jewish Pastry of Nineteenth-Century Pest
The Reconstructed Recipe of Bolesz
7. The Influence of Hungarian Jewish Cuisine n the Non-Jewish
Jewish recipes from 19th-century Hungarian cookbooks
Epilogue: Hungary's Pioneering Role in Early Jewish Cookbooks
Notes
Selected Bibliography
List of Quoted Recipes
Glossary
Index of Personal Names
Sources of Illustrations
Acknowledgements