In addition to regional food traditions, Italy has a significant cultural food tradition – Italy’s Jewish food. I thought I had the cookbook The Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews somewhere, but apparently I don’t. I do know that I have given it as a gift, and I received my copy of Cucina Ebraica as a gift more than twenty years ago. There’s also an excellent new cookbook on this topic, Cooking alla Giudia.
It is no surprise that the cover picture for Cooking alla Giudia is carciofi alla Giudia. These incredible deep-fried artichokes are found all over Rome. I do not have the skills to prep artichokes properly for this dish, so the photos below are all from a 2018 trip to Rome.
There have been Jewish communities in Italy for thousands of years. Today, in the area of Trastevere where Rome’s first Jewish community lived, there is a wonderful slow food restaurant in a building that once held a synagogue and where, as you walk down the ancient steps to the wine cellar, they tell you that you are going back about 100 years per step. http://www.ristorantespiritodivino.com/ . If you find yourself in Rome, do yourself a favor and go eat at Spirito DiVino.
My other Italy posts have been petty heavy on the use of pork and involve a lot of mixing of meat and cheese. Obviously, both pork and the meat/cheese combination are right out for this post.
My first exploration of Italian Jewish cooking was when I made a Seder more than twenty years ago, using a brisket recipe that braised the brisket in wine and herbs. If memory serves, it was a big hit.
Much more recently, I put together a variation of Esau’s Lentils from Cooking alla Giudia. It was good, and I will likely try it again, but I felt like it needed a kick and will include a bit of hot pepper next time.
Another dish that I recently made from Cooking alla Giudia was chicken meatballs with celery. This is definitely one I will make again. It was simple, healthy, and tasted great. I pretty much followed the recipe, which involves making simple chicken meatballs with ground chicken, egg, and bread crumbs; browning the meatballs in olive oil; adding sticks of celery and carrots, about a cup of white wine, about a half cup of chicken stock (I used some dissolved better than bouillon), and salt and pepper to taste to the browned meatballs; then cooking partially covered for about an hour until the meatballs are fully cooked and the liquid is reduced to only about 1/4 cup.
Although this is a blog about food, it is important to mention some history here. The word “ghetto” came from the segregated Jewish neighborhood of Venice that was established in the sixteen century. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/venice-ghetto-jews-italy-anniversary-shaul-bassi-180956867/. The Jewish population of Rome was restricted to the Roman ghetto a few decades later. https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/romes-jewish-legacy Today, in the Roman ghetto, there is a plaque that says “Largo 16 Ottobre 1943.” October 16, 1943 being the date on which the Nazis rounded up Rome’s Jewish population for deportation to concentration camps. https://europeremembers.com/destination/the-ghetto-of-rome/
