For my project, I want to create a Jewish History Cookbook with recipes from people I interview, the history and story of those recipes and pictures of the food the interviewee and I make together.
The inspiration for this project was my love of cooking, my interest in unusual types of history but mostly things like my special meals with my grandfather eating Chinese food and learning how to sucking the marrow out of the spare rib bones and learning how to “shtetl cook” (her words) with her.
I am modeling my project on cookbooks like Jewish Cooking in America by Joan Nathan, Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and The 100 Most Jewish Foods by Alana Newhouse.
I think this project will be interesting because history is not typically looked at through food. I also really enjoy cooking and want to diversify my palate.
Three digital organizations that helped inspire this project are the Jewish Food Society, the Nosher and Tablet. These organizations have interviews and podcasts that might help me craft my own interview questions about food and history and culture.
Process
I will interview older Jewish people who cook for their community (including their family). I will gather the names of people to interview maybe through places like my synagogue and asking my family and friends for contacts.
My plan is to first interview a person. Then make a date to cook with them over zoom or (last resort) cook by myself. All meetings will be recorded so I can focus on talking and cooking. Later, I will transcribe the interview and write down the recipe with my notes and pictures.
I may also take online cooking lessons.
Resources
This project is very feasible.The main part of this project, the writing and cooking, can be done within my own home. To get the stories also requires an interview, so I can interview people over zoom.I mainly want to focus on the story and the history of the recipe in their family, and less on the recipe itself.
- Wider network of people to interview
- My kitchen
- The Nosher, Tablet and Jewish Food Society
- Online cooking lessons
- Research on Jewish food from cookbooks
- Background reading on cultural anthropology and the history of food
- Learning to use a book-making program
- Zoom
Personal Goals
- Organization
- Follow through
- Communication Skills