Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South - Hardcover

Ferris, Marcie Cohen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807829781 ISBN 13: 9780807829783

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2005

Synopsis

From the colonial era to the present, Marcie Cohen Ferris examines the expressive power of food throughout southern Jewish history. She demonstrates with delight and detail how southern Jews reinvented culinary traditions as they adapted to the customs, landscape, and racial codes of the American South. Richly illustrated, this culinary tour of the historic Jewish South is an evocative mixture of history and foodways, including more than thirty recipes to try at home.

About this title

About the Author

Marcie Cohen Ferris is professor of American studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a former president of the Southern Foodways Alliance.

From the Inside Flap

From the colonial era to the present, Ferris examines the expressive power of food throughout Southern Jewish history. She demonstrates how Southern Jews reinvented culinary traditions as they adjusted to living in a largely Christian region where forbidden foods such as pork, shrimp, oysters, and crab are intensely popular. Richly illustrated, this culinary tour of the Jewish South includes anecdotes, oral histories, and more than thirty recipes to try at home.

Reviews

Many traditional Southern foods—pulled-pork barbecue, crab cakes, fried oyster po' boys, to name a few—violate traditional Jewish dietary laws, which forbid the consumption of pork and shellfish. What's a Southern Jew to do? Anthropological historian Ferris (UNC–Chapel Hill) answers that question in a gustatory tour of the Jewish South. She uncovers many dishes that blend Jewish and Southern foodways (recipes included for such tasties as Temple Israel Brisket and Cornmeal-Fried Fish Fillets with Sephardic Vinagre Sauce). Ferris sees food as a symbol that encompasses the problem of how Jews live in a region dominated by Christians: "The most tangible way to understand Jewish history and culture in the South is at the dinner table." Cynics will wonder if a Jewish kugel (noodle casserole) prepared in the South is really any different from kugel in Chicago. Ferris's answer is an emphatic yes—because Jews in the South face different challenges than those in Chicago. Southern Jews must be more intentional about cooking that kugel and passing the recipe down from generation to generation. If this book were a restaurant, Michelin would award it two out of three stars: not absolutely first-rate, but "excellent cooking, worth a detour." (Oct.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807829781
• ISBN 13: 9780807829783
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 344