[K. Greenberg]

>I bought a bagel with cream cheese, some sort of sweet macaroni and cheese dish, a coconut dessert and some tuna salad.< As someone who lives in a Jewish household, we would call it 'Jewish food' rather than Hebrew food. Judaism covers a multitude of regions across the world, as as such, have picked up many recipes from each culture in which Jews lived. The bagel, for example, comes from Poland, the sweet macaroni and cheese is kugel, which is from Germany, etc. When I think of 'Hebrew food' I think of food as eaten in ancient times, such as certain lamb dishes, which usually have a decidedly Middle Eastern flair.

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[kelsey]

What you bought was definitely Jewish food, traditional cultural recipes and favorites. I’ve never heard of Hebrew food. What it probably also was is Kosher food, which means it was prepared according to the laws of the Torah, never mixing meat and dairy, not eating blood and only eating certain specific species of birds, fish and animals, among other rules.

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[Linsey]

If you wanted to refer to the food, you might call it Jewish food. But it sounds like the food wasn’t necessarily Jewish. For example, I can’t think of a typical Jewish dessert with coconut in it. Probably the food you ate was ‘kosher’ which means that it was prepared in accordance with Jewish dietary restrictions. These restrictions are based on scriptures included in the first five books of the bible.

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[Karen]

The sweet macaroni and cheese dish was probably a ‘kugel.’ I had always thought of kugel as a ‘Jewish dish.’ However, my Catholic friends from Ukraine make a similar dish. As for bagels and cream cheese, I think of that as ‘New York’ food! I am a H&H loyalist.

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[Jeff]

Lets back up a moment. Jewish is a religion. Hebrew is a language. Different foods may have a cultural implication i.e. brats and saurkraut assocated with Germans, and pasta and spagetti sauce Italians, but eating food at a Hadassah fundraiser is no more ‘Jewish Food’ than eating a roast beef sandwich at a Church fundraiser would be ‘Catholic or Luthern’ food. Eat! Enjoy! That bagel will taste just as good no matter what you call it!

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[Gary21766]

Actually the food you enjoyed (I hope) is kosher or kosher style food. That has much to do with the type of food and the way it is prepared and served. Jewish people would not call it Jewish food but rather kosher or deli style. Many of the kosher foods are enjoyed by Arabs as well and many come from old European areas where many American Jews came from by ancestry like Germany, Poland, etc. Hebrew in modern terms is a language and not normally used in the biblical term of the ‘Hebrews’. The macaroni and cheese dish was likely a baked dish we’d call ‘kugal’. The coconut dish sounds unfamiliar, and the tuna salad was probably actually what is called ‘whitefish salad’ and not from tuna. The fish is smoked and then made into salad. Thanks for asking, food is an important part of any religion or race.

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[Holli]

I think that you’re probably looking for the term ‘Kosher food.’ Colloquially, it seems that kosher food is used to describe food that is prepared according to Jewish customs. Like I said, it’s the colloquial way the term is used–and it might not be 100% accurate since preparing Kosher food requires adherance to a variety of rules.

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[Allison31432]

I’m about 99% certain of my answer here, but I believe that Hebrew only refers to a language, not a culture. What you ate was Jewish food. The sweet macaroni and cheese is called Kugel and is a true Jewish comfort food!

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[Melissa20771]

Bagels, cream cheese, and lox are foods that are often associated with Jews ethnically. They come from the secular culture of East Europe, so they have nothing to do with Jews of Spanish, or Middle Eastern descent. So some food some people call ‘Jewish food,’ it is generally not appropriate to refer to anything material objects as ‘Hebrew.’ Hebrew is a language, but the word’s use as an adjective is very limited. Many non-orthodox Jews refer to Jewish religious instruction as ‘Hebrew School.’ The national Reform Jewish organization is called a union of ‘Hebrew Congregations.’

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[Rebecca]

It is neither. Food purchased from a Jewish organization is generally Kosher, that is, it follows the Jewish dietary laws. It is no more ‘Jewish Food’ than donuts purchased from a church would be be ‘Christain Food’. Hebrew (since the diaspora), refers only to the language. Hebrew is the language spoken in Israel, and the language that the Torah is written in.

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[Jane20937]

For starters, there is no such thing as ‘Hebrew food.’ Hebrew is a language, not a kind of cuisine. There are foods that are enjoyed by many Jewish people, but since Jews have lived and do live all over the world, the foods we eat are heavily influenced by the cultures and countries we find ourselves in. It sounds as if the foods you ate were typical among American Jews…but the same event in England or Spain or France would have featured different Jewish dishes.

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[Eileen]

As for BAGELS & CREAM CHEESE – they are neither ‘Hebrew food’ nor ‘Jewish food’ – they are EASTERN EUROPEAN FOOD & AMERICAN FOOD! The origin of the bagel is up for debate, although it seems to have early taken a foothold in Poland. The first printed mention occurs in Krakow, in 1610 in a list of community regulations that stipulate that bagels are to be given to pregnant women. (Interestingly, given the bagel’s association as a ‘Jewish’ food, there is no mention of religion in this regulation-apparently Christian women ate bagels as well). Others support the theory that an Austrian baker created a stirrup (or ‘beugal’) made out of dough to give to the King of Poland in 1683, in thanks for his help in defeating the Turks, and in honor of his great horsemanship. (Other German variations of the word are: ‘beigel’, meaning ‘ring’, and ‘bugel’, meaning bracelet.) The dough of the bagel is BOILED before baking. The BIALI is not boiled before baking. Despite being popular in Europe among the Jewish residents, it is in America that the bagel becomes widely popular, especially in Chicago and New York. The next bagel breakthrough came in 1872, with the making of cream cheese. In 1880, Philadelphia Cream Cheese was started, and in 1920, Breakstone Cream Cheese. Continued …

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[Nancy]

I’m an American-born Jewish immigrant to Israel. The short answer is, there’s no such thing as Hebrew food. What you describe sounds like food typical of Jews from Eastern Europe (the macaroni dish was probably a noodle kugel – yum), because that is the dominant Jewish ethnic group in the US. In Israel, we’ve got a much more varied menu. Jews from different parts of the world brought their favorite dishes with them to Israel, so we’ve got an incredible mix – from gefilte fish (typically Easter European) to spicy stuffed spleen (typically Moroccan). One important note – while the term ‘Jewish’ food refers more to cultural patterns than anything else, ‘kosher’ refers to a set of religious restrictions that is common to all practicing Jews, no matter where they come from. Kosher food must be prepared according to special rules: the meat must be slaughtered a certain way; shellfish and pork are forbidden; meat and dairy may not be mixed – not in a recipe, not in cooking utensils or dishes, not even in a person’s stomach. There are other rules, but these are the highlights. Hope you enjoyed your kugel 🙂

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[Ilana]

Hebrew only describes the language. As far as I know, all cultural things would be described as Jewish. (I’m a ‘cultural jew’). The sweet macaroni and cheese dish you described was probably kugel. The coconut dessert was probably macaroons, (yuck) and tuna salad is… just…tuna salad. 🙂

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[Ted24675]

There is no such thing as ‘Hebrew’ food. There is ‘kosher’ food, which is food that’s prepared according to Jewish dietary law (no mixing of meat and dairy, no pork or shellfish, animals to be butchered in a specific manner, etc.). There are also foods that have been associated with Jews, like bagels and lox, lukshen kugel (the ‘sweet macaroni and cheese dish’), etc. However, since Jews have lived in so many different countries, the ‘Jewish’ food of Jews who lived in North Africa (for instance) is much much different from the ‘Jewish’ food of Jews who lived in Eastern Europe.

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