Kenden Alfond says her organisation, Jewish Food Hero, is inclusive of all religions and cultures, but highlights Jewish traditions in particular. Following that model, The Jewish Food Hero Cookbook is aimed at those Jews who love their traditional foods, but the 50 excellent plant-based recipes it presents are suitable for vegans of any persuasion and many recipes have broader appeal.
The bonus for Jewish traditionalists is that the recipes are presented as ten complete meal plans, or should one say holiday feast plans. Each plan is complete from appetiser to dessert, or from pre-fasting to post-fasting, and comes with a useful shopping list. For those looking for a particular type of dish there is a good index, making it easy to look things up by ingredient or type.
Each recipe comes with a list of the kitchen utensils required, a list of ingredients and detailed yet easy-to-follow instructions. In every case there is an excellent photograph of the completed dish. Each of the ten plans have at least one dish suitable for children to prepare, albeit with adult supervision. On the downside for Australians, temperatures are only given in Fahrenheit. As this is an American book some of the ingredients need translation. For example, Alfond refers to ‘cilantro’ which is the American name for coriander.
This is a cookbook for the enthusiast. While the recipes are easy to follow, Alfond assumes the cook has the time and the energy to do what is required regardless of how long it takes. This is not a book for those that want to rustle up a quick meal at the end of a busy day.
Read the review by Erich Mayer on Publishing ArtsHub.