Esther Levy. Jewish Cookery Book, on Principles of Economy Adapted for Jewish Housekeepers. With the Addition of Many Useful Medicinal Recipes and other Valuable Information Relative to Housekeeping and Domestic Management.

(COOK-BOOK).

W.S. Turner

Philadelphia

1871

Singerman 2286; Bitting 286.

THE FIRST JEWISH COOKBOOK PUBLISHED IN AMERICA. Title-page with line in Hebrew: “A Cookery Book Properly Explained and in Accordance with the Rules of the Jewish Religion.” The author sought to elevate American home cooking with social polish while remaining true to the tenets of the Jewish religion, or as Esther Levy herself wrote: “Without violating the precepts of our religion, a table can be spread, which will satisfy the appetites of the most fastidious.” Includes laws relating to how to run a Kosher home, household hints, diets for invalids and medicinal recipes, as well as a Jewish Calendar and hours for the commencement of the Sabbath. See B. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, “The Kosher Gourmet in the Nineteenth-Century Kitchen, in: The Journal of Gastronomy 2, no. 4 (1986-87) pp. 51-89. A fascinating culinary and historical publication affirming the Jewish woman’s status within American society.