Every Jewish home needs a good library — even a kosher kitchen. The following are some cookbooks, ruminations on paper plates and guides to how to get started keeping kosher.
I especially enjoy Sue Fishbein’s Kosher by Design series for her imaginative recipes and gorgeous photographs. She has written kosher cookbooks that run the gamut from entertaining to how to cook for kids, and a good place to start is with her first book. Her recipes are electic and feature such wide-ranging dishes as Carribean jerk chicken and Moroccan spare ribs. She also features traditional favorites, such as matzoh balls, but adds an exotic twist to familiar fare; Mexican brisket is only one example.
The Lubavitch Women’s Organization puts out a great cookbook series called Spice and the Spirit with a special Spice and the Spirit Passover edition. These books give the reader/chef a comprehensive introduction to Jewish observance and customs for holidays as well as tried-and-true kosher favorites. There are charts that give the exact measurements of flour to use for challah baking, and in the Passover volume, there are hints and tips for preparing for this special holiday.
Many Jewish families are becoming “mixed” in terms of observance. It isn’t uncommon for a twenty-something kid to return for the holidays with the announcement that he or she is keeping kosher. Linda Lowenstein’s guide for the perplexed, Paper Plates: Whan Part of your Family Keeps Kosher is an indispensible manual on how to deal with meals without conflict.
For those who want to learn the basics on how to keep kosher,Kosher for Everybody is a good read. The volume takes the reader through the specifics of the kosher kitchen and contains a guide to kosher symbols and kosher restaurants in America. In addition to instructions on how to separate milk and meat are anecdotes and interesting facts. I didn’t know that the Jewish residents of Revolutionary Era Rhode Island subsisted on coffee and chocolate because there was no kosher meat! (I feel a bit better about what I eat for breakfast!)
Related Blogs about kosher food:
From Dough Stones to Bubbie Style: Perfect Matzoh Balls
Shabbat Pot Roast
gefilte fish