Cover Image: Eat Something

Eat Something

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Member Reviews

Evan Bloom is the co-owner of Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen, and Rachel Levin is a freelance journalist; they have paired up to write a humorous Jewish cookbook, Eat Something: A Wise Sons Cookbook for Jews Who Like Food and Food Lovers Who Like Jews. According to authors Bloom and Levin, Jews are obsessed with food, and will find any excuse to celebrate and eat. This cookbook is their way of looking at Jewish holidays and celebrations, complete with recipes, stories, and vignettes, in a humorous way that will be entertaining for Jews and non-Jews. Non-Jews will find the information very informative, and Jews will find areas that help them laugh at themselves. Bloom says of his popular delicatessen, which is located in San Francisco, “at Wise Sons, every day is a day to devour Jewish food. And, well, for those of us who are Jewish, every day is a day to devour.”

The cookbook contains recipes for many of the well-known Jewish foods, including chopped liver, brisket, challah, latkes, and reuben sandwiches. There are chapters on important days in Jewish life, such as Hanukkah, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Passover, and Shabbat, as well as Visiting the Grandparents in the Sunshine States, Sunday Night Take-out, and First Meal Home from College.

There are dozens of Jewish family photographs, many humorous, as well as a few photographs of the food. Also included are illustrations. While it’s fun to see family members in funny pictures, it would have been nice to see a few more photos of the food; after all, this is a cookbook, and non-Jews may want to know what the food they are preparing is supposed to look like.

While reading the book, readers will get a distinct feel for the Jewish culture, and the prose will take on the accent of Jews they have known. This book not only has good, doable recipes, but is also very entertaining. The recipes are easy-to-follow and turn out well.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

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Eat Something is a whimsical look at Jewish American food culture along with a number of collected recipes. Due out 3rd March from Chronicle Books, it's 240 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

While this book does indeed contain recipes and cooking instructions, it is primarily (and charmingly) a running commentary on Jewishness, identity, food, and family. It is celebratory in a way, in that it emphasizes the things we have in common and our mutual humanity. There are a number of tongue in cheek comments about the prevalence of ordering way too much Chinese takeaway every Sunday night (my mixed family did that too), but they're said warmly and kindly. This book is humor filled, maybe trying a little too hard for some easy laughs, but there's not a mean-spirited word to be found. This is a comforting and friendly book, and I have no doubts whatever that I would enjoy sitting down to an overloaded brunch buffet with the authors.

The book has an interesting arrangement. The recipes are arranged around a fictitious lifetime: The Early Years (bris, Hanukkah, visiting the grandparents in Florida, sick days), Awkward Years (Mitzvah, Last Supper (before summer camp), Christmas Dinner, Sunday Chinese takeaway), Young Adult Years, Grownup, etc etc.

The recipes are arranged thematically around different lifetime milestones or holidays. The book includes both a recipe list with the table of contents and a cross referenced index at the back.

Recipe ingredients are listed in a bullet sidebar with both metric and American standard measures given (yay!). Info and tips about the ingredients or the recipes themselves are given in sidebars below the preparation information. Yields are stated in the header info. Nutritional information and special diet concerns/allergens (nuts, celery, wheat, etc) are not given.

These are yummy and (mostly) made from easily sourced ingredients.

I am very much a visual learner and one of my concerns with several cookbooks I've reviewed recently has been the lack of photography and serving suggestions. I know that photography can increase the cost of a published book significantly but it enhances the end result so much that in my case at least, it's a necessary part of any cookbook which I buy and use. This book is somewhere in the middle. There aren't many photos, but the ones which are included are clear and appealing.

Four stars. This is a good niche cookbook with a wide variety of goodies included.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

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This is a cookbook, a joke book and a family photo album rolled into one! I didn't know much about the Jewish faith and traditions but while reading this book I found out so much and immensely enjoyed the humorous commentary and stories throughout. Living in Italy I definitely know something about being told to 'Eat Something!'
Thank you to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

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This is a great book on Jewish customs and food. While I am not Jewish, I found this book very interesting and the recipes can't be beaten!! All your favorites are here!! An easy five stars for this, it belongs in every kitchen!

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Absolutely in love with the format of this cookbook and the recipes plus writing are very solid. Cannot wait to purchase my own physical copy. I didn't grow up Jewish myself but have always had an intrigue in the faith, food and culture.

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Huge fan of cooking and I love cookbooks. This one will add nicely to my collection. Not only is it recipes, but also funny stories and looks into life dynamics. Although not a culture or cooking style that i have any knowledge of, there are definitely recipes in there that I can't wait to try. Thanks for sharing it with me.

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This is so much more than your average cookbook. I am not of the Jewish faith but I have always been interested in the food and culture. This book not only gives you a little personal background on the food but the traditions as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this cookbook and can't wait to try out some of the recipes.
Thank You Netgalley and Chronicle Books for an ARC ebook copy for my honest review.
#NetGalley #EatSomething

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was so fun! The recipes were good, with several good-looking and practical adaptations of classics. But this book is a gem because of the photos and commentary. It's hilarious. If you get this, you should def cook from it, but also take the time to read the essays and commentary! Priceless.

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Ah my Jewish heart ,the dishes of my childhood the yummy food my bubba served .A book of delicious recipes a book of memories essays a lovely nostalgic read and of course full of humor.A delicious read .#netgalley#chroniclebooks

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I loved this cookbook and I would definitely buy it. The content is very humorous descriptions of Jewish events like bar mitzvahs and singles dating, so it makes for fun reading.

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Point of clarification...I'm not Jewish. However, I do love to eat and these recipes are amazing.

This is easily the funniest cookbook I've ever read. The stories, anecdotes and photos were pure awesome and I will be trying a lot of these recipes this month....just in time for Christmas!

Thank you to Evan Bloom and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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At a time when the once ubiquitous Jewish deli is getting harder to find, and it seems that many people know little about Jewish culture, this book is a welcome salve to my gentile, wannabe-Jewish soul.

While it's a cookbook, it's really a memoir and an homage to Jewish American culture as well. There's chapters about visiting grandparents in Florida, eating Chinese food on Christmas, and smuggling Manishewitz at summer camp.
All the classics are here, from latkes to matzo balls to whitefish salad, presented alongside adorable and sometimes hilarious family photos and stories.

Love it!

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