Review of Food for the Soul: Traditional Jewish Wisdom for Healthy Eating (Paperback)

The first part of this book, which is not exactly a cookbook, discusses food and the Jewish philosophy as related to eating. Then there is a long discussion of healthy diet (One of my non-Jewish friends out and out told me she thought traditional Jewish cuisine was probably one of the most unhealthy she'd ever run across. I thought about pot-roasted brisket or noodle kugel, laden with butter and eggs, and well, I didn't exactly jump up and protest.)

So who is this book directed to? I suppose it is aimed at anyone eating a glatt-kosher diet with traditional recipes from Bubbe (grandma) and who hasn't found a way to update these traditional foods.

Jewish cooking has kind of a split personality these days; the Eastern European foods come out of a diet of deprivation in a cold climate (or as a friend puts it, where cabbage boiled in duck fat is considered a green, leafy vegetable.) But more recently, Jewish cookbooks have added the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern foods and healthier foods of the Sephardic Jews, who eat chick peas, cous-cous, lentils, and more vegetables in general. The biggest culprits of fat-laden dishes may be pareve (non-meat or milk) and "milchig" or dairy-based dishes. When creating a menu, the foods are either meat-containing and neutral, or dairy-containing and neutral, which means no meat lasagna with cheese or pizza-with-pepperoni, by the way.

Some updated recipes in the back include Sephardic red lentil soup (rather like Turkish red lentil soup) and matzoh brei with asparagus (fried soaked flat cracker-like bread; matzoh can be used as a pasta substitute during Passover.) Also a matzoh lasagna. Hints are given on how to reduce fats and salt in traditional foods.

This is a thoughtful book, probably aimed at those who live in a community where traditional Kosher cooking rules supreme and where change must be weighed against a strong tradition going back for hundreds of years.

Product Description
With the information included in this book, you will be well equipped to make healthy food choices and prepare nutritious meals for you and your family. Food for the Soul: Traditional Jewish Wisdom for Healthy Eating addresses nutrition and health from a Jewish perspective. The nutritional information is universal, but tailored to the Jewish population's specific needs; kashrut, lifestyle, Shabbat and holidays, fast days and the unique Jewish culture of food.

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