My cookbook has no single author, but is instead a collection of recipes submitted to and published by the B’nai B’rith Women of New York. The first permanent chapter of B’nai B’rith women was created in San Francisco in 1909 in order to allow Jewish women to become more involved in the B’nai B’rith organization. These new chapters of the organization were originally called “auxiliaries.” The Columbia Auxiliary was inspired by the movement of the New Woman in the nineteenth century, which was characterized by women all over North America entering the public sphere by creating their own social and charitable organizations. While the initial goal of these new B’nai B’rith chapters was to provide entertainment and social events, they eventually expanded into cultural activities, philanthropy, and community service. The purpose of this was to keep Jewish culture alive and well in their communities. Of course, this goal was threatened by antisemitism in the United States and Europe, which only worsened in the 1930s and 1940s. The organization continued to battle bigotry through the war years and beyond, and by 1957 had over 132,000 members and 768 chapters throughout the United States and Canada, with 41 chapters in other countries. After numerous takeover attempts by B’nai B’rith International, B’nai B’rith Women proclaimed its independence by changing its name to Jewish Women International. The organization continues to create programs and advocate with the purpose of improving life for Jewish Women all over the world.

As one can now gather from the information in this exhibit, my cookbook was created in 1959 and was targeted towards Jewish women. As one might expect, this is not the only cookbook published with a similar purpose, many more came before it and many came after. It is important to know the history of Jewish cookbooks in North America and Europe if one is to put this particular cookbook into the proper context. 

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett in her article argues that these books were intended to give the reader an image of the ideal Jewish woman. Jewish cookbooks written in English date back to the mid-nineteenth century. Many of these were written by Jewish women who had migrated to Britain during the Victorian era. Before the First World War, most cookbooks were targeted towards professional chefs. However, during the second half of the nineteenth century, more cookbooks did appear with the intention of instructing the working classes. One of these was “A Shilling Cookery Book for the People” by Alexis Soyer, published in 1855. Another one of these significant works was “The Jewish Manual” written by Judith Montefiore in 1846.

After the First World War, cookbooks began to shift their focus onto middle-class women, as they had no help from working class women who had instead taken to the factories or clerical work for income. It should come as no surprise that there was a drastic increase in Jewish migration to Canada after the Second World War. After all, many of them had just escaped violent persecution under the rule of Nazi Germany.

Cookbooks really noticed an increase in publishing in the 1950s - the same decade that my cookbook was written in. Also like my cookbook, many of these Jewish cookbooks were now being written by Americans or other Jewish people living in diaspora, and were not always solely aimed at Jewish women. In contrast, most Jewish cookbooks written by British women were aimed at Jewish women living in Britain, with little appeal to anyone who did not fall within this demographic. A unique Anglo-Jewish cuisine emerged from these cookbooks, as they taught Jewish women how to be kosher chefs, while also allowing them to experiment with the new ingredients that were becoming more and more widely available throughout Britain. 

Eidinger in her article explores the history of Jewish cookbooks in Canada. focusing in particular on “A Treasure For My Daughter,” published in 1950. This cookbook was created by middle-class Jewish-Canadian women in Montreal who wanted to educate young Jewish women during an era of increasing pressures to assimilate in Canada. Like my cookbook, this book was published by a Jewish volunteer organization; the Ethel Epstein Ein Chapter of Hadassah-WIZO in Montreal. These women were primarily of Ashkenazic or eastern European heritage. However, the author in the book often insists that the recipes are Middle-Eastern in origin, even though many of them were actually eastern European. The book itself is rather orthodox, and rejects assimilation, intermarriage, feminism, and other products of the Canadianization of Jewish women.

With all of this information at hand, I think that it is fair to say that my cookbook is only one of many created by Jewish organizations with the purpose of educating young Jewish women, and preserving Jewish culture for many generations to come.

Gefilte Fish: This recipe is made using pike fish, water, pepper, salt, eggs, matzo meal, onions, and carrots. The fish must be filleted, but the author of the recipe recommends that the reader keep the bones and skin of the fish for later. You are to boil the carrots, onions, and fish remains together in a large pot. You then grind or chop the fish, then mix it together with the water, seasoning, matzo meal, and grated onions. You must then chop this mixture, or use an electric mixer if you have one. The resulting fish paste is then to be rolled into balls, and then put into the boiling pot. Cover and boil this slowly for 1-1½ hours. To finish, remove and strain the fish sauce, and add garnish to serve. I have learned from reading this cookbook that gefilte fish seems to be a staple food in Jewish culture, given all the recipes and advertisements for it throughout the book. It is clear that the creators of this book were bent on keeping Jewish traditions such as this one alive.

Glazed Party Tongue: This recipe calls for a large tongue, (presumably from a cow) pickled or plain, pickling spices, onion, salt, cloves, brown sugar, and citric acid. No measurements are given for any of these ingredients. Start by boiling the tongue until it is nearly cooked. If the tongue is not pickled, add some pickling spices, an onion, and salt to the water. Once the tongue is boiled, remove it and save about a cup of the liquid, then cool and peel the tongue. Then you are to put some cloves into the tongue and place it in a roasting pan. You then must cover the meat in brown sugar, and add some of the liquid you saved to the pan. Also add the citric acid. Roast for a while, periodically adding more brown sugar. Cover in a layer of ketchup, and let it brown, then serve. I think this recipe speaks to the resourcefullness of the Jewish people, as they have gone through so much discrimination and hardship throughout history. As a result, they have learned how to prepare even the cheapest cuts of meat, such as this one.