In the pantheon of Jewish comfort foods, matzo ball soup, cholent, and kugel hold prestigious positions. Even borscht, gefilte fish, and chopped liver have their cult following. However, one comfort food you may not have heard of is Jewish Spaghetti.
You wouldn't be alone; I hadn't heard of it either until a viral Facebook post on my feed asked whether people had heard of “Jewish Spaghetti” before and whether or not it was served with fish.
The over 700 comments that ensued left me feeling left out of such an important and warm memory for so many other American Jews. In fact, this post had so many responses the moderators have now blocked any future Jewish Spaghetti eaters from commenting on their experiences with the dish.
At first, I thought I was the only Jew to have never heard of Jewish Spaghetti, as if I had been gaslit my entire life. But as I dug deeper, I uncovered the truth. Let’s first understand what Jewish Spaghetti is.
Will The Real Jewish Spaghetti Please Stand Up
The most common answer was spaghetti topped with ketchup and served alongside salmon croquettes. Some had fish sticks on the side, some added butter, and many had slight variations, but many also bonded over the similarities of how their moms made the same dish they thought was unique to their home and that their moms had concocted.
But what made this nostalgic concoction Jewish? Ketchup originates from the East Indian ketjap, which was more like a fish sauce, but when brought to the U.S., it was sweet and cheap, and everyone loved it. Unsurprisingly, the poor Jewish immigrants found a way to use it to feed their families. Salmon croquettes have strong roots in Jewish cuisine, drawing comparisons to gefilte fish or being known colloquially as "Salmon Latkes" by others. During the Great Depression in America, canned salmon began to gain popularity in Jewish homes as it was affordable, easy to use, and pareve (neither meat nor dairy), making it ideal for serving alongside spaghetti with ketchup and/or cottage cheese.
For other Jews, Jewish spaghetti conjured up memories of little macaroni fried and dipped in ketchup. Some had spaghetti with cream cheese or farmer’s cheese, whose origins come from Lokshen Kugel.
Others, like me, had never heard of any such thing and were flabbergasted that they were left out of this Jewish ritual. To some, it seemed just a typical dish an eight-year-old would ask for, the way picky eaters douse all their food in ketchup, from a hot dog to a delicious steak. But for others, it was more than just a phase; it was a comfort food in the same vein as kugel or matzo ball soup because it was the food they grew up on.
This dish's popularity goes beyond one Facebook post, it appeared in the 2000's TV Show "My Name Is Earl" as a Jewish classic. But even there, it was played strictly for laughs and not as a shining example of Bubbe's home cooking.
What's interesting about this phenomenon is that it doesn't exist outside of Jewish circles or appear in any Jewish cookbooks. It seems as if all Jewish mothers had a level of telepathy to share this dish, or, as one commenter put it: "I still wonder where all of our mothers learned how to make salmon croquettes and Jewish spaghetti. Was there a Jewish mother handbook?"
Collective Memory
In a way, she might be right. The philosopher and sociologist Maurice Halbwachs analyzed the concept of the “collective memory” in his book “Les cadres sociaux de la mémoire.”
Collective memory, Halbwachs asserts, is always selective; within various groups, over time, a sort of collective memory or hive mind begins to take place. It is constructed with shared memories and experiences.
While some commenters poo-pooed the dish, saying that any Italian pasta chef would tell you ketchup doesn't belong on spaghetti or any fine dish at all! However, that would be ignoring the Japanese classic Naporitan, a Japanese spaghetti dish covered in ketchup that originated in Hotel New Grand in Yokohama at the request of General Mac Arthur following World War 2; since then, the dish has become the restaurant's calling card and the calling card of Jewish mothers.
While my Jewish mother never prepared the famed 'Jewish Spaghetti' or even knew about it, witnessing the nostalgic recollections that many people have of this dish makes me regret having never tried it. The phenomenon of Jewish Spaghetti underscores the idea that comfort in food is not solely about its quality, but rather the cherished memories connected to it.
Clearly someone took a picture of one of my mother's meals when they (my mom and dad) were going out for the evening.
Talk about memories past! not only did we have salmon croquettes, but separately, spaghetti with ketchup and American cheese (both kosher of course ); the irony is that except for ketchup and My T Fine choc pudding, she made everything from scratch
Our family’s version is made with a can of Campbell’s tomato soup on spaghetti noodles. Fast, easy and delicious.Talk about comfort food! Been a staple for several generations starting with the Great Depression
This sent me into a rush of memories as saliva fills my now hungry mouth! Yes, I still make Jewish spaghetti (although we never called it that). I still make it with ketchup and cottage cheese and butter. Ahh, I can almost taste it now! YUMMY….and it is always serve it with salmon croquettes…and, yes, it came from a large can. Kudos to the brilliant person who invented ketchup!!!!
We had spaghetti with ketchup regularly when I was growing up--with hamburgers, veal cutlets, but never with salmon croquettes, though we often had salmon croquettes. Once I got married, spaghetti with ketchup disappeared from the menu, though just thinking about it is like Proust's madeleines for me.
My mother used Campbell's tomato soup as spaghetti sauce. She usually made it on Thursdays, along with salmon patties from canned salmon.
My mom made this with fried onions, garlic powder and a little lemon juice. My kids loved it.
Whenever I mention that my New England mother served spaghetti (Prince's) with ketchup and butter, listeners are askance. I always thought, she was the only one who did that. We also had canned salmon croquettes but I don't remember them being served with the spaghetti. Sounds like a good combination.
Salmon Croquettes or fish sticks with spaghetti with butter and ketchup. How about this one....Spaghetti with butter and ketchup and then you make tuna with mayo and add it to the spaghetti, if you think about it, its russian dressing, still a favorite of mine.
UK here its Salmon rissoles - croquettes????
Never ever heard of this. Where did it originate? Bubbe, first generation American, never made it. Her family came from Romania. The other side of the family from Poland. That Bubbe died when I was two, so I don't know what she might have taught me. I use homemade tomato sauce on my spaghetti.
Of course it was always salmon croquettes with Jewish spaghetti. We also had the spaghetti with matzo meal covered veal chops, fried and baked with sautéed onions.Heaven on earth!
Salmon croquettes were a staple in our house, but never spaghetti!
Yes salmon qroqettes were all the rage in my mother’s kitchen. Spaghetti topped with matzo meal and ketchup was what got me to eat a decent portion
salmon croquettes were a staple in my home with spaghetti and ketchup for both items. Today however while I prepare the dish the same way, I use marinara on the spaghetti and tartar on the salmon