The New Yiddish Kitchen is a labor of love born from complete desperation. All right, that’s a little dramatic. But when we began our search for grain-free Jewish recipes for the holidays (and every day), we came up pretty short-handed. Sure there were Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween and Easter recipes galore … but what about a grain-free challah for goodness sakes?! What about those traditional Jewish deli favorites? Where are the grain- and gluten-free counterparts for matzo ball soup, we ask?!
Jewish inspired foods are staples to many “Yiddish kitchens” around the globe. They fill the bellies and hearts of the masses, many of whom aren’t even Jewish. But when you take away gluten, grain and dairy, those favorite Jewish foods are few and far between, to be honest. We love our baked goods and cream cheese, but without grain or dairy, celebrating with these foods gets a little complicated.
Once we started brainstorming, we became passionately inspired to re-create some childhood (and adulthood) favorites. We wanted to take the traditional holiday delights, as well as everyday Jewish staples, and make them edible again for those with food restrictions like ours. All the recipes in this book are entirely grain- and gluten-free and provide alternatives to dairy in the rare times they are used. For those cooking from a religious perspective, this book was also written with kosher laws in mind, meaning that most kosher laws should be observed as long as the ingredients you purchase comply.
Our recipes are all also compliant with Paleo and gluten-free lifestyles, as they are entirely whole-foods based and free of grain, gluten, refined sugar and dairy.
In The New Yiddish Kitchen, we have put together a menu for each one of the annual Jewish holidays to help you prepare as they approach, including a few Shabbat menus so that you can shake things up and rotate out recipes without the same old “schpread.” The recipes here are certainly delicious year round, so if you are craving matzo ball soup in the summer, be sure to make a pot! And quite honestly, when are latkes ever a bad idea? Exactly. Never.
If you’ve found yourself searching for gluten- and grain-free Jewish recipes and have come up empty handed, we’re here to put an end to your kvetching. Not Jewish? This is nothing to schvitz about, as we wrote The New Yiddish Kitchen from a cultural perspective, aiming to deliver all of your favorites, from deli fare to Israeli-inspired dishes.
Lastly, we wrote this book with a lot of heart and spirit. We’d love to see this book passed down through the years (from bubbes to babies), put on display in your family’s kitchen and splattered with schmaltz (a true symbol of honor). Our recipes are literally “for life,” and our hope is these recipes leave a lasting impression on your hearts while delivering healing foods to your bodies.
L’chaim! Jennifer & Simone