FOOD AND SPORTS

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Entertaining With A 'Tam'

Gil Marks' latest book
lends a Jewish flavor to
entertaining at home.

ANNABEL COHEN
Special to The Jewish News

I

is safe to say that Jews love to eat and feed others. I
recently read an amusing list describing the way Jew-
ish mothers think. One item went like this: If you
don't eat it, it will kill me.
It's no secret Americans buy more cookbooks that any-
one in the world. In fact, we're starving for cookbooks. Pub-
lishers are so well aware that food sells, they print thousands
of books each year to enlighten us on every imaginable
aspect of food and cooking. Consequently, Jewish-themed
cookbooks are now more prevalent than latkes during
Chanukah. So what makes one Jewish cookbook the same
old chopped liver and another a stand out? More than
recipes, that's for sure.
Whether we know it or not, "Jewish" food, especially
during holidays and festivals, doesn't just hint of religious
symbolism, but shouts it in every ingredient and method of
preparation. So, when a book is published that teaches the
history and explanation of Jewish food, as well cooking it,
people do a heads up.
Gil Marks' The Book of Jewish Entertaining, (Simon and
Schuster), is hot off the press and most likely will prove to
be one of this year's standouts on the subject of Jewish
cooking and entertaining. It is chef, rabbi and historian Gil
Marks' second ouvre. His first, The World of Jewish Cooking
(1996, Simon and Schuster), presented enticing interna-
tional recipes peppered with personal memories and histori-
cal references.
The new Entertaining book is Cooking's dessert. It offers
more than recipes, recollections and anecdotes about Jewish
food and lifestyle. It chronicles the whys and wherefores to
Jewish-themed entertaining.
Marks tells what many Jews know already about Jewish
customs and the symbolism attached to the food we eat,
and more. Along with the easy ones like why matzah is
eaten at Pesach — no flour, no noodles, and so forth — he
explains to us, in language that's both stimulating and spiri-
tual, why we eat what, and when.
For example, Marks acknowledges why dairy food is cus-
tomarily served during Shavuot. He clarifies the reason
white wine is served before red wine on Tu B'Shevat. He

,„,

MENUS AND

„.

RECIPES FOR THE SABBATH,
HOLIDAYS„ AND OTHER FAMILY
CELEBRATION'S

or jAmlis

FINAL.;s r TH E
Progth

Gil Marks: Chef,
rabbi and writer.

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