Sabor Judio: The Jewish Mexican Cookbook

There have been many layers of Jewish immigration to Mexico, beginning with families from Spain who were avoiding the Inquisition. They were followed later by those who fled upheavals in Europe and the Middle East in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and have been joined more recently by families from Israel.

llan Stavans and Margaret E. Boyle, both descended from Mexican Jewish families, examine here the many influences brought by immigrants, as well as their interaction with Mexican cooking, which itself was evolving in response to colonization and other immigrants.

This is a handsomely photographed book, organized by meal type, with an extensive chapter on holiday food. Recipe headnotes endeavor to trace a dish’s path to Mexico and how it has evolved to fit local ingredients. 

A cold pumpkin salad, for instance, likely brought by Lebanese Jewish immigrants, appears in a version embraced by families who left the Ottoman empire. The poblano chiles stuffed with guacamole and gribenes tell their own story of cross-cultural exchange, as do the gefilte fish served in a creamy salsa roja.

An appealing and vibrant account.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.