Babka & Beignets: Jewish Foodways of the South was on display in the Center for Jewish History Reading Room from January-March 2023, showcasing the history and development of Jewish culinary traditions in the region. Books on exhibition highlight Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
Items on Display:
Hagadah Shel Pesaḥ (Hagadah Passover Seder Service) / Compliments of Maxwell House Coffee. New York: General Foods Corporation, 1938. Collection of the American Jewish Historical Society.
Heavenly Cooking from Space City, U.S.A., / Compiled by the Members of the Sisterhood of Temple Beth Israel, Houston, Tex. 1st ed. Houston, Tex.: Press of Premier, 1967. Collection of YIVO Library.
Historically Cooking: 200 Years of Good Eating. Charleston: Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Sisterhood, 1977. Collection of the American Jewish Historical Society.
Kosher Creole Cookbook / Mildred L. Covert and Sylvia P. Gerson ; Illustrations by Alan Gerson. Gretna, La.: Pelican Pub., 1982. Collection of the American Jewish Historical Society.
Oak Ridge Cooks: A Cookbook Compiled by the Oak Ridge Section of the National Council of Jewish Women. Oak Ridge, Tenn., 1960. Collection of YIVO Library.
The Sephardic Cooks / Compiled and Published by Congregation Or-VeShalom Sisterhood. Atlanta, GA: Congregation Or VeShalom Sisterhood, 1977. Collection of the American Sephardi Federation.
"Food is a way to maintain cherished traditions and connect to ancestors, particularly for marginalized groups. It can also be a method to adapt to a new environment. The American South has a rich Jewish history dating back to the 17th century. Port cities like Charleston, which until about 1820 had the largest Jewish population in the U.S., were home to some of the earliest Jewish Americans.
Southern Jews have built Jewish communities within a specific regional context, sharing spaces and recipes with other Diaspora groups with the advantage of greater mobility. Culinary encounters between Sephardic, West African, French, English, Ashkenazi, and other immigrant cultures have developed for over 300 years..." [click here to read the blog and view images of items on exhibition]
… and It Was Good! : Blending 75 Years of Kosher Cooking / Ahavath Achim Sisterhood (Atlanta, GA). Lenexa, Kan.: Cookbook Publishers, 1998.
Can Do Cookery / Temple Sinai Sisterhood, New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans: Sisterhood, 1974.
Cook & Tell. Birmingham, Ala.: Quality Press.
Council Cookbook / The Nashville Section, National Council of Jewish Women. Nashville, Tenn.: Nashville Section, National Council of Jewish Women, 1967.
Food and Judaism / Editors, Leonard J. Greenspoon, Ronald A. Simkins, Gerald Shapiro. Studies in Jewish Civilization v. 15. Omaha, NE : Lincoln, NE: Creighton University Press ; Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press, 2005.
From Generation to Generation: Continuing in the Tradition of 5000 Years in the Kitchen, We Present Our Favorite Foods and Memories. Dallas, Tex.: Sisterhood of Temple Emanu-El, 1992.
Generations Eat Together: A Celebration of Jewish Foods / Favorite Recipes from Sisterhood of Agudath Israel / Etz Ahayem Synagogue, Montgomery, Alabama. Wimmer Cookbooks : A Consolidated Graphics Company, 2013.
A Kid’s Kosher Cooking Cruise / Mildred L. Covert and Sylvia P. Gerson ; Illustrated by Alan Gerson. Gretna, La.: Pelican Pub., 1997.
Keys to the Kitchen : Cherished Recipes from Richmond, Virginia Chapter, Hadassah. Richmond, VA: Carter Printing, 1982.
Kosher Cajun Cookbook / by Mildred L. Covert and Sylvia P. Gerson ; Illustrations by Alan Gerson. Gretna, La.: Pelican Pub., 1987.
Kosher Southern-style Cookbook / by Mildred L. Covert and Sylvia P. Gerson ; Illustrated by Alan Gerson ; Foreword by Gavriel Newman. Gretna, La.: Pelican Pub., 1993.
Matzoh Ball Gumbo : Culinary Tales of the Jewish South / Marcie Cohen Ferris. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
What’s Cooking in the Sephardi Jewish Kosher Kitchen, Etc. / Beth Rambam Sisterhood. Houston, Tex.: Sisterhood, 1987.