Tempting Kosher Dishes was written during the height of the roaring twenties, and demonstrates a notable change in urban Jewish American, and American habits around food. From the beginning of British colonization, the foundations of the American diet were meat, starches in the form of bread, and later potatoes, dairy largely in preserved forms like butter and cheese, and sugar for those that could afford it. Overall consumptions of vegetables and fruits was quite low. However, this began to change in the 1920s, with consumption of meat decreasing, and consumption of fruits and vegetables increasing. Tempting Kosher Dishes demonstrates this trend among middle class Jewish Americans, with a wide variety of dishes utilizing fruit and vegetables.  

As American diets were changing, so to were methods of food preparation. By the 1920s, large scale food processors were becoming common place, and their products were finding their way into American kitchens. The industrialization of Matzo is a good example of this. Matzo is a Jewish flat bread largely eaten during Passover. The bread is relatively simple to make. However, with more Jewish women entering the workforce. As well as a decrease of home baking seen across all American households. A demand for pre-made Matzo products was growing.  This demand was filled by large scale kosher bakeries, such as Manischwetiz’s whom produced matzo, and matzo byproducts such as matzo meal, at rates never seen. A similar story to this was seen with several other food products, rapidly decreasing the amount of time Americans, largely American women, spent in the kitchen. 

 A rise in prepackaged goods also led to an increase in food marketing related to these products. Companies would flood the radio waves with advertisements, utilize colorful packaging to attract consumers attention in newly established “self-serve grocery stores,” and promote recipes utilizing the products to increase production.  Tempting Kosher Dishes is an exemplar of the advertisements of the time. With recipes utilizing Manischwetiz products, as well as advertisements in the book recommending the products as safe and healthy.  

Tempting Kosher dishes, also offers an insight into the Jewish immigrant community of the time, and its ethnic makeup. During the late 18th early 19th century, Jewish immigration was made up largely of southern,  central, and Eastern European Jews, who made up around a fourth of the population immigrating to America from Europe, and elven percent of the total immigration to America during this time. This can be largely seen in Tempting Kosher Dishes by the type of dishes found in the book.  The dishes that are considered more traditionally Jewish, such as Matzoh Balls, and Latkes can be traced back to dishes found in these regions, notably, Matzoh Balls share a similarity with Knodel a kind of Eastern/Central European   boiled dumpling. Latkes can be traced back to Europe as well, with several European counties having their own different spins on the dish. From the types of dishes presented in Tempting Kosher Dishes, it can become evident that the Jewish immigrant community in America was largely made up of European Jews.