Jewish food is often described in many different ways, often as being hearty, salty, and comforting, or better yet fattening as all comforting foods typically tend to be. When putting those characteristics into a geographical cause and effect model, it becomes difficult to understand why Jewish food is characterized this way. Over the last 3,000 years, Jews have been ostracized again and again from place to place. Therefore, while the Jewish cuisine is not centered on one specific geographic region, it has become a fusion of many other cultures and traditions from Syria to El Salvador that they have adapted to fit within their religious dietary laws, something that no other culture has managed to do; this is why Jewish food has become fluid and represents many different cultures within their own.
While Jews have created a fusion of cultures to make many signature dishes that have become known as strictly Jewish, all of their culinary inventions follow Jewish dietary laws. Many Jews keep kosher, meaning they keep meat and dairy separate in preparation, in preparation, and in the meals themselves. However, they also restrict the consumption of specific animals, including and flesh or organs, and even the eggs and milk of the taboo animals. The Torah details specific animals that have cloven hoofs and chew their cud (Lev. 11:3; Deut. 14:6) which are considered kosher, and therefore acceptable for consumption. Animals such as pigs are not kosher and, therefore, not included in a Jewish diet. In addition, the law states that blood must be drained from any meat or poultry before it is eaten, and in many parts of the world, such as Germany, this requires Jews to have kosher butchers to be able to keep kosher law. Jews are also forbidden from consuming wine made by a non-Jewish vintner. Kosher law is the closest element to a “regional” distinction that ties the culture to the cuisine.
Because of kosher laws, Jews have become expert problem solvers in all areas of the world in order to adopt cultural norms while adhering to their religious beliefs. In areas such as Asia, Jews have found ways to work around the culture’s heavy use of non-kosher proteins and still create a melding of recipes. For example, they simply substitute the pork for chicken or beef. The website jewishfoodexpericence said that, “food blogger Molly Yea recalls that her family always ‘stuck to chicken. Instead of making steamed pork buns, we’d make chicken buns,’ […] Yeh also makes potstickers with ground turkey” (Tanumihardja). The Italian specialty, pizza, especially types including any type of meat, is often thought of as a taboo menu item for Jews because of the reliance on cheese. Jews were able to solve the problem by adopting a dish similar to pizza from another country. The Jewish version of a meat style pizza known as bastel, called lahm b-‘ajeen in Syria, was adopted. The pizza centers mainly on seasoned meat on top of a pizza like dough that is consumed most of the times with one’s hands, as is the way of traditional pizza. The dish has been traced back to 13th century Syrians, but can be found in many Jewish cookbooks today. To keep kosher, Jews substitute the butter for margarine in the dough to prevent the mixing of meat and dairy in the dish. Sometimes Jewish problem solving is as simple as a quick substitution from butter to margarine, other times it requires Jews to look at many different cuisines from all over the world to find a way to integrate popular foods into their dietary restrictions.
Even through the regional differences created in the foods adopted by Jews, some common threads still exist. These commonalities exist mainly in the constraints of holiday cooking and for the Sabbath. Every Friday at sundown through Saturday at nightfall, a weekly observance that is centered around food ensues. The meal is oddly consistent throughout many Jewish homes around the world. The menu usually consists of Challah bread, a sweet white bread made with yeast, eggs, and sugar, an appetizer of gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, a dumpling made out of matzo meal, eggs, and a fat such as chicken fat, a meat dish such as baked chicken, brisket, or any other kind of meat that has been cooked previously and reheated in unorthodox methods because of the cooking law stating that electricity is not used during the Sabbath. Side dishes usually consist of Kugel, a noodle or potato casserole. These common dishes centered around the religious dietary laws bring the Jews together into a “region” of commonality, no matter where they fall across the globe.
Jewish cuisine continues to evolve and change across the globe as the trends in eating change. Today, many Jews are concerned about their starch and fat heavy cuisines and the effects on their health that it has. Therefore, many are experimenting with paleo and whole30 versions of foods they have come to know and love while problem solving parts of the dishes that would interfere with kosher law. The adaptability of the Jewish cuisine within the religious restrictions is what defines the ever changing region of where it exists.
