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Title details for The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook by Fania Lewando - Available

The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook

Garden-Fresh Recipes Rediscovered and Adapted for Today's Kitchen

by Fania Lewando
Eve Jochnowitz
ebook
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Beautifully translated for a new generation of devotees of delicious and healthy eating: a groundbreaking, mouthwatering vegetarian cookbook originally published in Yiddish in pre–World War II Vilna and miraculously rediscovered more than half a century later.

In 1938, Fania Lewando, the proprietor of a popular vegetarian restaurant in Vilna, Lithuania, published a Yiddish vegetarian cookbook unlike any that had come before. Its 400 recipes ranged from traditional Jewish dishes (kugel, blintzes, fruit compote, borscht) to vegetarian versions of Jewish holiday staples (cholent, kishke, schnitzel) to appetizers, soups, main courses, and desserts that introduced vegetables and fruits that had not traditionally been part of the repertoire of the Jewish homemaker (Chickpea Cutlets, Jerusalem Artichoke Soup; Leek Frittata; Apple Charlotte with Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs). Also included were impassioned essays by Lewando and by a physician about the benefits of vegetarianism. Accompanying the recipes were lush full-color drawings of vegetables and fruit that had originally appeared on bilingual (Yiddish and English) seed packets. Lewando's cookbook was sold throughout Europe.
Lewando and her husband died during World War II, and it was assumed that all but a few family-owned and archival copies of her cookbook vanished along with most of European Jewry. But in 1995 a couple attending an antiquarian book fair in England came upon a copy of Lewando's cookbook. Recognizing its historical value, they purchased it and donated it to the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York City, the premier repository for books and artifacts relating to prewar European Jewry. Enchanted by the book's contents and by its backstory, YIVO commissioned a translation of the book that will make Lewando's charming, delicious, and practical recipes available to an audience beyond the wildest dreams of the visionary woman who created them.
With a foreword by Joan Nathan. Full-color illustrations throughout.
Translated from the Yiddish by Eve Jochnowitz.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 26, 2015

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780805243284
      • File size: 174608 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780805243284
      • File size: 174608 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      March 1, 2015

      This translation of the first Yiddish-language vegetarian cookbook in Europe both pleases the palate and engages the mind and heart. Lewando was an early proponent and pioneer of Jewish vegetarian cooking; her 1938 cookbook was discovered in 2009 by volunteers in the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research book room. The foreword by Joan Nathan, together with an opening essay by her great-nephew, gives readers a picture of Lewando's life and work in the context of time and place. The recipes appear in narrative form and provide an outline of steps, so they're better suited to cooks with a basic command of cooking techniques than to absolute beginners. That said, important cues are provided and simply reading through the entire recipe beforehand should enable success with nearly any dish. The translator's preface provides important notes about conversions, equipment, and technique. VERDICT A treasure for anyone interested in kosher vegetarian cooking, this recently rediscovered cookbook, published in Nazi-occupied Poland, resonates historically and as a poignant memorial to Lewando's life.--Courtney Greene McDonald, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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