Jews live all over the world and do not share a monolithic food culture. However, in the United States, "Jewish food" usually refers to food brought here from Central and Eastern Europe by Ashkenazi Jews during the great waves of immigration in the late 19th and 20th centuries, according to Encyclopaedia Judaica.
Common Ingredients
Before emigrating, many Ashkenazi Jews lived a primarily agrarian lifestyle in the Old Country. They cooked with local ingredients that were easily available and fit with the rules of kashrut (keeping kosher). Thus, root vegetables, chicken, eggs and fish became the staples of Jewish cuisine. Salt and pepper were used to add flavor to savory dishes; honey was used for sweetness. Today, traditional Jewish foods use the same ingredients, although home cooks prefer to substitute oil for schmaltz (chicken fat).
Appropriate Occasions
Jewish foods are appropriate at any occasion, although many dishes are heavy and not well-suited for people who watch their weight. Religious Jews tend to eat traditionally Jewish food such as challah, chicken and kugel on every Sabbath and on Jewish holidays. Each holiday has its own traditional foods: on Rosh Hashanah, the menu often includes fish heads and carrot coins; on Passover, chicken soup with knaidlach (matzah balls), potato kugel and brisket are favorites; and on Shavuot, dairy foods like blintzes and cheesecake take center stage. Chicken soup is good to make for someone sick; it is sometimes called "Jewish penicillin." Kosher delis serve Jewish food all the time, so if you have a hankering for stuffed derma (or, more likely, pastrami on rye) on a Tuesday in November, you can get it.
Recipe Ideas
If you're serving a large holiday crowd, make Jewish food that will satisfy them all. Start with gefilte fish as an appetizer; make it with ground whitefish, carp and pike mixed with carrots, onion, eggs, matzah meal and seasonings. For the main course, serve brisket. Marinate it first in red wine, onion soup mix and garlic; then cook it slowly until tender. An appropriate side dish is a savory noodle kugel. Boil and drain a package of egg noodles. Saute salt and pepper, and mix the noodles and onions with eggs and bake. (If it is Passover, make a potato kugel instead, by grating potatoes and onions, mixing them with salt, pepper and egg, and baking). Tzimmes is a root vegetable stew made with honey that makes a side dish. For dessert, bake mandelbrot, which are similar to biscotti only softer.
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