What Is Jewish Cuisine?

The story of Jewish food is multicultural and diverse. Jews have lived—and continue to live—in communities around the world, and their local foods reflect the flavors and tastes of the places they reside. Some Jewish communities are thousands of years old, and have developed culinary traditions that are steeped in history and significance. Jewish law plays a role as well, and there’s a reason gefilte fish is boneless, cholent takes 24-hours to cook, Moroccan doughnuts are made with oil, and why you can’t order a ham sandwich in a kosher deli.

Below is a history of Jewish foods, a roundup of Jewish foods from different communities, Jewish holiday favorites, and a collection of 30 Jewish food recipes to cook and enjoy.

In this article:

• The History of Jewish Food
• Jewish foods around the world
  • Ashkenazi Food
  • Sephardi Food
  • Ethiopian Jewish Food
  • Yemenite Jewish Food
  • Israeli Food
• Jewish Holiday Food
  • Passover Food
  • Rosh Hashanah Food
  • Traditional Hanukkah Food
• 30 Traditional Jewish Food Recipes
• Jewish Food FAQ
  • Are bagels Jewish food?
  • Can Jews eat Halal food?

The History of Jewish Food

Jewish food history—like Jewish history in general—is complicated. About 2,000 years ago, despite an already burgeoning diaspora community, the epicenter of Jewish life was Judea, an area located within what is today modern Israel, and as the names “Jewish” and “Jew” imply, the indigenous homeland of its inhabitants.

In the first centuries of the common era, after decades of Roman oppression, Jewish revolts, horrible and bloody wars, and the forced exile of Judea’s population—as refugees, captives sold into slavery, and others—the Jewish exiles moved into already-established diaspora communities, and, over time, established many others as well.

As the Jewish diaspora grew, Jewish foods evolved as well. New non-Jewish neighbors, novel local ingredients, and different cultural assumptions influenced the new Jewish arrivals; and they, as the years went on, concocted new Jewish staples. But it was two factors central to Jewish identity that kept those new Jewish foods “Jewish:” the kosher laws, and other laws related to the sabbath and holiday observance.

“Kosher” is a Hebrew word that means “proper” or “fit,” although most people use it in reference to food. In Jewish practice, the kosher laws of food are abundant and complex—so much so that they're the subject a young scholar needs to master in order to be ordained as a rabbi—and fall into four general categories: 1) the types of animals that are permissible to eat (chicken, yes; piglets, no), 2) the way an animal is slaughtered, 3) forbidden mixtures (like milk and meat), and 4) specific agricultural requirements generally only applicable in Israel.

Jewish laws related to sabbath and holiday observance led to notable Jewish delicacies as well like gefilte fish, which is the result of a biblical injunction called borer that prohibits selecting or choosing, or, in the case of fish, picking out bones (gefilte fish is ground up and boneless); cholent (Ashkenazi) and hamim (Sephardi), which are slow-cooked stews that were developed as workarounds in order to eat a hot meal on the Sabbath day despite a biblical injunction against cooking; and challah, which while not necessarily Sabbath-related—it takes its name from a biblical tithe—has become the go-to sabbath and holiday bread.

Jewish foods around the world

For the greater part of the last 2,000 years, Jews have been on the move, although they lived in a number of places long enough to develop distinct, hyphenated identities (like Jewish-Americans, or Yemenite Jews). Below is a roundup of a few of the more significant Jewish diaspora communities.

Ashkenazi Food

Ashkenazi Jews are the descendants of Jewish people who settled in and around the Rhineland Valley, in what is today Germany and France, about 1,100 years ago. They were often on the move, and, over the centuries, established communities throughout Europe, with large populations centered in places like Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Russia.

Ashkenazi Jews were often very poor, and crafted wonders from the meager options available. Classic Ashkenazi dishes include stuffed cabbage, kreplach, gefilte fish, and cholent. Go here for links to recipes and to learn more.

Sephardi Food

Mizrahi, or “Eastern,” Jews are Jews from North Africa and the Middle East, and are usually what most people mean when speaking about Sephardic Jews. They represent the most ancient diaspora communities, with—in some cases—roots dating back to biblical times.

Sephardic cooking is diverse, and represents the Jewish experience in places as disparate as Morocco, Iraq, India, and Iran. Go here for more Sephardic food history and links to different recipes.

Ethiopian Jewish Food

Ethiopian Jews are Jewish people who, for centuries, lived in the Lake Tana region of northern Ethiopia. They are commonly referred to as Beta Israel, which means “House of Israel” in Ge’ez—the classical Ethiopian language that Jews and Christians still use as a liturgical language—although nowadays, most Ethiopian Jews speak Amharic. The community’s origins are uncertain, although travelers, scholars, and others mention them in accounts dating back to the 15th century—and possibly even as early as the ninth—while the community’s own oral history dates them back to biblical times.

Go here to learn about Injera, a sour Ethiopian flatbread.

Yemenite Jewish Food

Yemenite Jews trace their roots to Biblical times, although much of the population immigrated to Israel on Operation Magic Carpet between 1949 and 1950. Go here to learn more about mouthwatering Yemeni foods like Malawach, Jachnun, Kubaneh, Hilbeh, and Schug.

Israeli Food

Despite the founding of the modern Israeli state in 1948, and the ingathering of Jewish exiles from around the world, Israeli food still managed to maintain its eastern Mediterranean flair. It’s high in fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, seafood, and lots of extra virgin olive oil. Go here for a roundup of not-always-healthy Israeli foods.

Jewish Holiday Food

The Jewish holidays are often food-centric celebrations, and include specific commandments and customs that are specific to those particular times (think matzah on Passover, significant omens on Rosh Hashanah, and nothing on Yom Kippur).

Passover Food

The focal point of the Passover celebration isn't in synagogue or out somewhere in public, it's at home, gathered around the dinner table with your family and friends, and eating. Foods play a central role in telling the Passover story: be it the matzah the Jewish people baked in a rush on their way out of Egypt; the bitter herbs eaten to remember the suffering of bondage; the roasted bone that's a stand-in for the Passover lamb, and is symbolic of the time God passed over the Jewish houses while smiting the Egyptian first born; and the four cups of wine that parallel the four expressions of freedom mentioned in the Torah while telling the story of the exodus.

Go here for a few unique Passover recipes.

Rosh Hashanah Food

Rosh Hashanah is the first day of the Jewish new year. To start the year off on the right foot, many people try to eat sweet foods, which is indicative of their desire to have a sweet new year. Go here for a number of sweet Rosh Hashanah recipes.

Traditional Hanukkah Food

Hanukkah doesn’t just commemorate a specific military victory or celebrate an unusual miracle, it’s an eight-day exercise in Jewish survival. Throughout history, the Jewish people have outlasted every nation that has tried to destroy them, and they have also stayed committed to being Jewish. That’s not normal.

Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration. In Jewish mystical thought, “seven” represents the regular, physical world: seven days of creation, seven days of the week, seven colors in a rainbow, and so on. But “eight” represents a level beyond physicality, and is a step into the mystical. Similar to what the number eight represents, Jewish survival transcends the limits of the physical world, and slips into the miraculous.

Hanukkah is also the celebration of a miracle that involved oil. Needless to say, many Jews are accustomed to eating oily foods on Hanukkah. Here are eight recipes for Hanukkah.

30 Traditional Jewish Food Recipes

1. Deli roll is layers of deli meats wrapped in flaky, savory puff pastry, and topped with mustard.
2. Hareesa is a Tunisian Shabbat overnight stew that started as an Arab overnight dish of wheat and meat.
3. Lahmajoun is a Middle Eastern and Armenian dish consisting of a thin flatbread topped with a flavorful ground meat mixture. Serve it with tahini and a fresh salad on the side.
4. Classic Latkes
5. Krembo: a crumbly cookie base, a soft, heavenly meringue filling, and a crisp chocolate exterior.
6. Kibbeh: ground meat croquettes
7. Challah
8. Potato Kugel, the world’s most Ashkenazi food
9. Laffa: Middle Eastern bread that’s like a stretchable pita without a pocket
10. Lachuch, meaning "hotcake" in Yemenite Arabic, is a flavorful pancake-like bread
11. Chocolate Babka: layers of soft, buttery dough swirled with a generous helping of decadent chocolate filling
12. Arayes: savory pita pockets stuffed with spiced meat
13. Chocolate Rugelach
14. Shakshuka: eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce.
15. Moufleta: Moroccan flatbread
16. Sambusak: cheese-filled Syrian pastry
17. Kubaneh: overnight Yemenite bread
18. Hamantaschen
19. Kreplach are amazing meat-filled dumplings eaten on the “hidden” holidays of Purim, the last day of Sukkot, and the day before Yom Kippur
20. Khoyagusht: frittata-like egg dish with chicken
21. Classic chopped liver
22. Sfenj is a Moroccan Hanukkah doughnut
23. Jachnun: overnight pastry with spicy tomato sauce
24. Injera: Ethiopian flatbread
25. Jerusalem Kugel: black pepper, spaghetti, and a pickle
26. Kosher dills: make your own pickles
27. Kasha Varnishkes: sautéed onions, buckwheat groats (kasha), and bowtie pasta
28. Almond Mandel Bread: think Jewish biscotti
29. Cheese blintzes
30. Knish: an oversized, potato- (or anything-) filled dumpling

Jewish Food FAQ

Are bagels Jewish food?

Although a Jew probably didn’t invent the bagel, Jews jumped on the bandwagon early in bagel history, and Ashkenazi Jews brought their bagel-wisdom with them when they immigrated to the United States late 19th and early 20th centuries. Bagels have since become associated with Jewish-American identity and culture. Read the fascinating history of Jews and bagels here.

Can Jews eat Halal food?

Halal meat is ritually slaughtered according to the customs of Muslims. It is not kosher, since the kosher laws include additional regulations like the removal of blood, removing certain veins and fats, and other requirements. A Jew may not eat Halal meat—or other Halal foods for similar reasons—and, in general, Muslims do not rely on kosher laws or supervision as well.'