Cooking alla Giudia

A celebration of the Jewish Food of Italy

Cooking alla Giudia is my tribute to the wonderfully rich, yet still largely unknown, culinary heritage of the Jews of Italy. From Roman deep-fried artichokes (carciofi alla giudia) to Venetian sarde in saor (sweet-and-sour sardines), Apulian orecchiette pasta, and Sicilian caponata, some of Italy’s best-known dishes are Jewish in origin. But little is known about the Jewish people in Italy and their culinary traditions. It was the Jews, for example, who taught Italians to eat the eggplant, and thus helped inspire the classic eggplant parmigiana and many other local specialties.

With a collection of kosher recipes from all regions of Italy, including plenty of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options, I have tried my best to tell the story of how the Jews changed Italian food, to preserve these recipes, and to share with home cooks the extraordinary dishes prepared in the Jewish communities of Italy.

The book also includes: short historical and cultural essays on Italy’s major cities and their Jewish communities; travel tips for those who want to taste typical Jewish Italian dishes while in Italy; short introductions to Jewish holidays as well as indexes collecting recipes for each holiday and recipes for each kasherut need (halavi, basari, parve).