Episode 115: Cucina Ebraica

On todays episode of A Taste of the Past, Linda Pelaccio is talking about Jewish Italian food, or Cucina Ebraica, with a panel of experts. Jayne Cohen is a food writer and cookbook author involved with preserving the culinary roots of Jewish cooking. Her most recent cookbook is entitled Around the Passover Table and Cooking for Jewish New Year. Cara De Silva is a food historian who writes about food and culture, and has authored In Memorys Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of Terezin- a book featuring recipes from women in a Nazi concentration camp. Alessandra Rovati is a Jewish Italian food writer who also authors the blog Dinner in Venice. Tune in to hear how and when Jewish people immigrated to Italy, and how the various neighborhoods where they resided influenced their cooking. Learn why Jewish cuisine helped to popularize certain vegetables in Italian food, such as the tomato and the eggplant. What substitutes were used by Jews in the pork-heavy Italian diet? Hear about how ethnic tradition and cultural food survives through holiday meals. What Jewish foods have become part of everyday Italian cuisine? This program has been sponsored by Route 11 Potato Chips. The number of things that went into making Italian Jewish cuisine... created a cuisine of incredible variety- even though it was all Jewish in some way. There were also issues whether or not some of these dishes came to be associated with Jews- and that was sometime the case- but most of these dishes were brought by Jewish people. [6:50] There has been fusion since there have been borders! [15:00] -- Cara De Silva on A Taste of the Past One thing that is notable about Jewish Italian cuisine is that it was influenced by so many immigrants, sort of like Jewish food in the United States. [11:20] -- Jayne Cohen on A Taste of the Past