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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Name : Ilana, City : St. Paul, State : MN Country : United States, 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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Name : Ted24675, Gender : M, Religion : Jewish, Age : 39, City : L.A., State : CA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, >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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Name : K. Greenberg, Gender : F, Age : 50, City : Northampton, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : consultant/doctoral student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 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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Name : Jane20937, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 40, City : Detroit, State : MI Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, Kosher food is food that Jews are permitted to eat -- according to millenia of rabbinic interpretation of the Bible. Broadly speaking, fruits and vegetables are all kosher. Anything from the sea that has fins and scales is kosher. Any animal that has a split-hoof and chews its cud is kosher. Many Jews disregard these dietary laws, or obey them only partially. Hadassah's food was, in all likelihood, kosher. Bagels and tsimmes -- the macaroni you had -- are widely considered 'Jewish' food, just as pizza is widely considered Italian. The coconut dessert was perhaps maccaroons, which I also think of as Jewish. A tuna-fish salad, however, is ecumenical. Jewish food isn't necessarily kosher, and kosher food isn't necessarily Jewish. For example, a ham-and-cheese bagel wouldn't be kosher, and there's a Chinese restaurant down the street from me that's certified kosher. I don't know of anything called 'Hebrew' food. 'Israeli' food, however, is very different from the 'Jewish' food of Europe and resembles the Mediterrenean cuisine popular throughout the Middle East -- hummus, pita, kabobs, shwarma, etc. In one Israeli restaurant I go to, a salad of diced tomates and cucumbers in olive oil is called an 'Israeli salad.' The same salad is called a 'Lebanese salad' in a Lebanese restaurant a few miles away.
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Name : Yoav, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 32, City : Los Angeles, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : tv, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this, but there is no longer an ethnicity known as 'Hebrew.' 'Hebrew' refers to the Biblical people who were the ancestors to modern Jews. (I believe they were called 'Hebrews' from Abraham to Moses, 'Israelites' during the period of Bibilcal kings, and 'Jews' after the exile, but if somebody has mroe information about that, feel free to chime in.) In any case, what you most likely ate was Jewish food, more specifically Ashkenazi food. Ashkenazic Jews are Jews with ancestry from Western and Eastern Europe. Most American Jews are Ashkenazis, as I am. These are the Jews that spoke Yiddish, were featured in Fidler on the Roof, and perished in great numbers in the Holocaust. People like Freud, Marx, Einstein, and Jerry Seinfeld are Ashkenazis. Jews from the middle east are know as Mizrahi Jews and traditionally speak a form of Judeo-Arabic. Jews from Moorish Spain, who were exiled and spread to places like Amsterdam, Turkey, and the Middle East are know as Sephardic Jews. That said, it sounds like you ate traditional Ashkenazic treats: the correctly-identified bagel and cream cheese; kugle (this was the noodle thing), and macaroons (the coconut dessert). I don't believe there's any special place for tuna in the Jewish tradition, but I hope you enjoyed it, nonetheless.
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Name : Craig-S, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 28, City : Philadelphia, State : PA Country : United States, Occupation : Youth Media, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 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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Name : Nancy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 38, City : Raanana, State : NA Country : Israel, Occupation : Hi-tech, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 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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Name : Holli, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 32, City : Evanston, State : IL Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 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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Name : Karen, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 41, City : Albany, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Legislative worker, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Food purchased at a Hadassah fundraiser is often just ... well, food. It might be food that is traditionally associated with Jews at times. Never heard of Hebrew food --- Hebrew only applies to the language as far as I know. :-)
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Name : Emily, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 35, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Eating food from a 'Jewish' supplier makes it neither Jewish or Hebrew, whic would be ethnic/cultural designations, not religious ones. Under Jewish law (Halacha) food is either permissible (kosher) or not (treif) depending on the observance of many rules in connection with the source and preparation of the food. Food obtained outside a home/family setting is usually prepared under the supervision of some sort of rabbinic orginization to ensure compliance with those laws. It is this certification which provides assurances of the food being Kosher.
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Name : ED25556, Gender : M, Religion : Jewish, Age : 25, City : NY, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Jewish food. 'Hebrew food' isn't an offensive term at all, it's just not what it's called. People in the Bible referred to themselves as Hebrews, but today we generally call ourselves Jews. In the 19th century and earlier, the word 'Hebrew' was sometimes used as a euphemism for 'Jewish' because of the unfortunately common anti-Semitism in society, but this is not the case today. The Reform (liberal) movement of Judaism used to call its main organization in the U.S. the 'Union of American Hebrew Congregations,' but in 2003 the name was changed to 'Union for Reform Judaism.' Enjoy the food! The sweet mac and cheese is probably a noodle kugel -- a delicious side dish. And thanks for supporting Hadassah.
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Name : Jeremy30935, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 27, City : Seattle, State : WA Country : United States, 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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Name : Allison31432, Gender : F, Age : 32, City : Washington, State : DC Country : United States, 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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Name : Melissa20771, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 22, City : Great Neck, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Sounds like a pretty boring menu, but if you enjoyed it, zei gezunt(to your health). All kidding aside, neither of those categorizations are quite accurate. Jewish food can typically be any food that Jews eat. However, the Jews descended from Eastern Europe (Ashkenazim) eat ethnic foods that are quite different from those Jews who are descended from Spain and Africa (Sephardim). For example, the matzoh balls in chicken soup, bagels, knishes, chopped liver, corned beef, pastrami (oy, I'm gettin' hungry) are typical Ashkenazi style foods. Falafel, hummus and baba ganoush are more Sephardi style foods, what you might find in Israel, however, these types foods are eaten all over the Middle East. The issue, I believe is KOSHER food. There is an entire elaborate body of Jewish law called Kashrut which specifies which foods are and are not allowed to be eaten by Jews. Some Jews observe these laws diligently and some break every one there is. And there are, of course, those in between. Certain foods are O-U-T OUT. They include, but are not limited to: Pork, Shellfish, Insects. Kangaroo burgers, for example are not kosher. Regarding meats that are kosher, the animal must be slaughtered in a very specific humane way so as not to cause the animal any pain. This is done by an expert, called a shochet who is not simply a butcher; he is a a pious man, well-trained in Jewish law, particularly as it relates to kashrut. One is not permitted to consume meat and dairy at the same meal. There are laws regarding how long one must wait in between consuming these different types of food. There is a category of foods called pareve which may be eaten with either meat or dairy. Typical pareve food include fruits and vegetables, eggs and fish. There are also certain kinds of food, that are not consumed during Passover, i.e. bread or anything that has leavening. In observant households and communities, the kitchen itself, in the home or in restaurants, must be a kosher one -- separate dishes, pots and pans and eating utensils for meat and dairy meals. Furthermore, when Passover rolls around there are yet two more sets of dishes and utensils for that time of year. So truthfully, ANY style of food, i.e. Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Peruvian or Indian can be Kosher food if it is prepared in accordance with Jewish Law. The style of 'Jewish' food is heavily influenced by the country in which Jews reside.
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Name : Diana, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 50, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Entertainer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 
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