Food is at the heart of many cultures. For me in particular, preparing festive foods provides a way for me to connect with both my own Jewish heritage and Jews around the world from various traditions. I mark my time in food – special recipes made every year as part of the holidays take me through the seasons, and the special treats and dishes served at life cycle events shepherd me through these meaningful moments. I may not be the worlds best chanter of prayers and my Synagogue attendance is far from perfect, but I can worship in the kitchen along with the best of them.
Indeed, Jewish tradition pairs very well with an appreciation of gastronomy. Unlike some other religions, Judaism does not view abstinence as a virtue. Instead, we believe that the world was created full of wonderful things for humans to enjoy within the confines of Jewish law. For instance, using a beautiful floral table setting and serving fancy cheesecake on the holiday of Shavuot elevates an otherwise materialistic pursuit into the spiritual plane (provided one has their intentions in the right place). There is nothing shameful about worldly pursuits. It is our job to imbue them with meaning.
Through shared food traditions, Jews across the globe can be united in the diaspora. Even when these traditions take on different forms – some dip an apple in honey, while others use sugar, but we are all striving to symbolize the sweetness of the coming year. We may not speak the same language verbally, but our stomachs know how to communicate love, comfort, and community across all barriers. Which is why I particularly love reading books that incorporate elements of Jewish cuisine.
In Stacey Agdern’s sweet contemporary m/f romance, Love and Latkes, food takes center stage – literally. Our heroine Batya, aspiring to be the host of food related TV programming, is given the opportunity of a lifetime. The celebrity judge of a local Hanukkah food competition has dropped out and Batya is offered the gig as a trial run to see how she handles the spotlight. If she does well, she can advance in the large food related television network that is broadcasting the competition. The hitch? Her crush from high school will be competing in order to further his dream of opening a Jewish deli. The romance is sweet but the applesauce is sweeter as the competition provides an excuse to learn about Hanukkah related fare from around the world (include a memorable foray into cheese latkes!)
Television competition also provides the setting for Amanda Elliot’s adult contemporary m/f romance, Sadie on a Plate. Sadie is a professional chef in uncertain career circumstances thanks to the shenanigans of her ex boyfriend and former boss, whom the reader comes to loathe with a passion usually reserved for chopped liver. She is pulled from this funk by the opportunity to compete in a highly popular reality TV cooking competition. The show and resulting publicity could reboot her flailing career trajectory. Except when she inadvertently falls for one of the judges on the plane ride over things get complicated. Now she has to battle her feelings even as she battles in the kitchen – modernizing classics like gefilte fish and matzah ball soup under the watchful eye of the crush she must pretend she doesn’t know personally. Sadie finds herself through food and in a lovely bunch of side arcs- so do the other contestants.
A competition of entirely different sorts is found in Jennieke Cohen’s young adult “My Fair Lady” retelling, My Fine Fellow. In this alternate history 1830’s London, gastronomy reigns supreme and two budding culinarians attempt to teach a Jewish food peddler from the streets the finer arts of cooking for the rich and famous. Aside from the intricate haute cuisine descriptions, this book also contains an complex discussion about how various Jews keep kosher and what this means for a chef with non-Jewish clientele. The storyline also delves into how lack of knowledge about Jewish food restrictions often leads to inadvertent antisemitism and microaggressions. There is overt antisemitism present, but in this kinder, gentler London, where women aspire to high ranking careers through food, culinary talent wins out over preformed prejudices.
Also in the young adult realm is Betsy Aldredge’s contemporary m/f romance Eight Dates and Eight Nights. Set in Texas, with New York City dweller Hannah stuck at her grandmother’s house in a small town in Texas over Hanukkah, this book features a variety of Jewish Deli favorites, including Hanukkah foods like latkes. Hannah, homesick and grieving the loss of her usual Hanukkah celebrations, finds comfort in the unexpected presence of a Jewish deli on main street. Turns out there is an old Jewish community in the town, and their deli needs saving. The deli owner’s grandson Noah vows to bring the joy of Hanukkah back to Hannah’s life even as she helps him secure additional deli customers through increased social media usage. Because it turns out Hannah isn’t the only one looking for that nostalgic taste of home that only deli food can bring to an Ashkenaz city Jew who just so happens to be in Texas. The food descriptions are stellar, but even better is the acknowledgement that many such communities – in places “city” Jews might not expect to meet them – exist and thrive. Plus they make a mean bagel.
Speaking of city Jews celebrating Hanukkah – The Dreidel Do-Over by Amanda Usen is full of them. Specifically, our main character Talia is a chef, currently providing catering for a boat full of Jews celebrating Hanukkah when the bartender on the same boat cruise starts to flirt with her. Talia runs the catering brand “The Jewish Grandmother,” and it turns out the bartender is her long lost friend from summer camp, Asher. Now that they are all grown up, sparks are flying, but there’s one hitch – Asher hates Hanukkah due to various disappointing life events that have occurred surrounding that day. Food, specifically Talia’s extremely creative takes on classic Ashkenazi Jewish food, helps him find a way back to both his roots and to her.
Connecting with ones roots is also the subject of Aimee Lucido’s Middle Grade contemporary novel, Recipe for Disaster. Main character Hannah loves to bake but hasn’t really thought much about the Jewish aspect of her heritage until she attends her best friends Bat Miztvah and starts desiring one of her own. Her mother is no pro-this idea, but together with her grandmother, Hannah is determined to prove she really is Jewish despite not having attended temple. Readers who wonder if they are “Jewish enough”, or who connect to Judaism through cultural elements like food rather prayer, Torah scholarship, or Synagouge attendance will really identify with her story. The recipes included are for both food and life, because everyone connects to Judaism differently – sometimes even in the same family – but food is universal.
I’d love to see even more Jewish food cultures represented in literature – including books featuring sephardic and mizrachi foods. They take me on a journey that truly activated every one of my senses while connecting me to Jews past, present, and future who have enjoyed and will cottninue enjoying the celebration of our lives through food.
Find the Books listed in this post:
Love and Latkes: Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
Sadie on a Plate: Goodreads | Bookshop | BookishlyJewish Review
My Fine Fellow: Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
Eight Dates and Eights Nights: Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewishReview
The Dreidel Do-Over: Goodreads | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
Recipe for Disaster: Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review