97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement

(NYTimes) ... “97 Orchard” dispels a pile of myths about immigrant foodstuffs. Corned beef and cabbage isn’t an Irish invention. Gefilte fish and challah did not originate with the Jews. She tracks the immigrant origins of many well-known brands — Breakstone’s, Fleischmann’s — and she is not a snob about time-saving inventions. Beginning in 1911, Crisco began to replace schmaltz (chicken fat) in many Jewish kitchens. Ms. Ziegelman writes about the harried kosher cook and imagines “the freedom awaiting her in the blue-and-white can.” Continued

Image by Bernarda Bryson Shahn (Library of Congress).