Mother and Daughter Jewish Cooking: Two Generations of Jewish Women Share Traditional and Contemporary Recipes

"In this book we are seeking the best of both worlds--the remembrance of tastes past and the thrill of the new. What matters in this updating of the classics and the culling of new ideas from communities around us is that we adapt and integrate them in the spirit of Jewish history, making them our own as our ancestors have always done. In doing so we continue a tradition that began more than five thousand years ago."
--from the Introduction

Two generations of Jewish women, mother and daughter, have come together to create this wonderful collection of recipes for cooks young and old. The mother, Evelyn Rose, offers traditional Jewish recipes, just the way your mother and grandmother used to make them. For more contemporary, bolder, and lighter tastes, her daughter, Judi, offers updated and all-new dishes.

For example, the chapters on soups, starters, and salads include a recipe for traditional Chopped Liver (though it's made with less fat), as well as Chicken Liver Pate with Pears and a Citrus and Red Currant Sauce, a totally contemporary hors d'oeuvre made with a fruit citrus-scented sauce. Try the beautiful, ruby-colored Traditional Beet Borscht for that old-world taste, or you might enjoy the satisfying and sophisticated Cream of Watercress Soup with a Toasted Walnut Garnish, which can be served hot or chilled.

For the Kosher home, there are plenty of recipes for dairy meals, such as a traditional Onion Tarte from Alsace, or the exquisite and aromatic Proven al Sun-dried Tomato, Olive, and Basil Tarte. Many of the pasta dishes can be adapted to dairy or meat meals, such as Auntie Mary's Savory Noodles and Noodles in Sesame Sauce, Hong Kong Style, both of which can be prepared with chicken or vegetable stock.

There's a bounty of meat recipes as well, from universal Eastern European favorites like Beef-Filled Cabbage Leaves in a Sweet-and-Sour Sauce to South African Curried Beef Gratin, a spiced and slightly sweet example of how much fun you can have with Kosher cooking. Succulent Roast Chicken with a Lemon and Herb Stuffing is comfort food at its best, and Chicken and Mushroom Puff is a delicious way to use up leftover chicken and gravy, or even leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

If it sounds like there are too many delicious recipes to choose from, Judi and Evelyn have included menus for every holiday -- Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Hanukkah, and more. For each Jewish holiday, there is a discussion of the traditions and their cultural significance, such as why, during Purim, we eat all kinds of baked and fried sweet things using chickpeas, poppy or sesame seeds (to represent golden coins), and triangular pastries (Haman's pockets).

Finish your meal with desserts like Armenian Apricot Mousse with Pistachios, Auntie Annie's Cinnamon Balls, or Great Grandma's Feather-Light Lemon Cookies, and start creating a few traditions of your own. Cooking is as much about family and friends as it is about good food, and that's just the spirit conveyed here.

Whether you've been trying to remember the recipe for a favorite dish from your childhood or you want to keep a Kosher kitchen but are looking for some exciting new flavors, this is the book for you.

Mother and Daughter Jewish Cooking offers recipes that embrace traditional Jewish cooking as well as innovations and world cuisines. Evelyn Rose, the mother, relates classic Jewish recipes, prepared the old-fashioned way and perfect for holidays and special occasions or those sentimental moods. Feeling more adventurous? Evelyn's daughter, Judi, offers updated classics and all new Jewish-style recipes that incorporate a wide range of flavors.

Mother and Daughter Jewish Cooking is a book that can be shared across the generations. It is a perfect gift for friends and family at holiday times as well as an everyday cookbook, reached for night after night.Jewish people of all ages are returning to their roots and craving the long-lost recipes of generations past. What Jewish person doesn't remember his or her grandmother's special recipe for matzoh ball soup or his or her aunt's recipe for brisket, and want to share those comforting recipes with the family? And what Jewish cook wouldn't want to expand their repertoire with some fresher, lighter, more contemporary versions of their favorite family recipes?