Introduction

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The kosher legacy of New York’s Ratner’s Dairy Restaurant and the increasingly welcoming vegetarian movement of the 1970s birthed The World-Famous Ratner’s Meatless Cookbook. Published in both Canada and the United States in 1975, this lovechild of the times introduced restaurant-standard kosher pescatarian recipes to the commercial market, sealed with the guarantee of the comfort of a home-cooked meal. This book was co-written by Judith Gethers and Elizabeth left, compiling the recipes on behalf of Ratner’s Dairy Restaurant (Gethers herself was the daughter of the restaurant’s founder). Measuring 17 cm in length with with only 184 pages, this petite cookbook includes recipes which follow the kosher tradition of separating the consumption of meat and dairy products. The World-Famous Ratner’s Meatless Cookbook contains pescatarian recipes that include: appetizers, soups, vegetable dishes, dairy dishes, eggs and omelettes, salads, sauces and dressings, breads and rolls, sandwiches, pies and pastries, cakes and cookies, puddings, and fruit desserts which are generally nutritious and creative in terms of meat alternatives. Its goal is to provide pescatarian recipes made in the Jewish tradition that imitate the presentation, taste, and traditional satisfaction associated with home cooked meals from vegetables, fish, and other alternative protein as substitutes for meat. What the cookbook lacks in visual representation and aid of the recipes, it makes up for in its short-but-sweet introduction for each section. Though limited by the lack of knowledge  at the time, The World-Famous Ratner’s Meatless Cookbook shows awareness of the changing dynamic of diets and takes on a surprisingly modern take on self-proclaimed “vegetarian-dairy” recipes that could be reproduced quite easily today. With slight physical wear and a few in-text notes scribbled in pen, it is evident that the copy of The World-Famous Ratner’s Meatless Cookbook examined was consistently referred to and adored by Norene Gilletz, and many others looking for restaurant quality, kosher pescatarian recipes in the comfort of their own home.

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