JEWISH DISHES GO GLOBAL
Many ancient dietary traditions have been adapted to new lands
To tell the story of Jewish cuisine, Joan Nathan looked to the legends of a biblical king. By all accounts, King Solomon had “a ravenous appetite for all aspects of life.”
His emissaries travelled to the far reaches of the ancient world; he governed a vast trading empire, diverse peoples and a wealth of food.
“I think of him as one of the first foodies,” Nathan says. According to the Hebrew Bible, Solomon created the First Temple in Jerusalem.
“When you create a temple and a palace, you have to put food in it. You have to explore the world to find the foods that will go in the palace.”
Using Solomon’s explorations as a springboard, Nathan traced the traditions and histories that have shaped today’s Jewish culinary canon.
In King Solomon’s Table (Appetite by Random House, 2017), the award-winning author presents more than 170 recipes gathered during her travels to more than 15 countries. The inspiration for the book — Nathan’s 11th — came in Kochi, a port city on India’s southwest coast.
While visiting the Paradesi Synagogue, she read an inscription indicating that Jewish traders had reached India back in the reign of Solomon.
“(I thought) ‘Here’s a great opportunity for me to find out about the origins of the food of the Jews,’” Nathan says.
“I started in the ancient Near East and ended up in places as far away as Georgia, Russia and El Salvador and showed how Jewish food got where it got. It was a wonderful journey.”
As a wandering people, Jews have left their mark on local cuisines around the world.
Likewise, Nathan adds, Jewish cooking has adapted to new locales while adhering to religious dietary laws (kashrut) and shared food traditions.
“Jews have always been adapters,” she says. “Wherever they’ve lived, all over the world, they’ve adapted what’s local to their own cuisine.”
For her Hanukkah celebrations this year, Nathan plans to highlight the richness of the diaspora through dishes and stories.
While classic Ashkenazi favourites such as slow-cooked brisket will always have a place on her holiday table, so too will other examples drawn from her decades of travels.
Potato latkes with apple sauce will be served alongside a green chile relleno version, which originated in a New Mexico kitchen. Yuca (cassava) latkes topped with cilantro cream — a Jewish Salvadoran specialty — might appear alongside mashed sweet potato pancakes garnished with zhug, a Yemenite green hot sauce made from peppers and fresh herbs.
“It doesn’t mean that you don’t have your own traditions but you’re expanding your traditions,” Nathan says.
“We can’t have enough of bonding and sharing traditions. It’s just a wonderful opportunity to use food as a way to break down barriers.”