A FOOD TRADITION
Jewish American cuisine
Jewish American cuisine includes Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, and other Jewish foodways as they developed through migration, religious practice, urban communities, and regional adaptation. Common elements include breads, poultry, brisket, fish, potatoes, noodles, pickles, legumes, and holiday-specific preparations, with techniques such as braising, baking, curing, pickling, and simmering. Representative examples include bagels with smoked fish, matzo ball soup, and pastrami on rye. The category encompasses both home and communal traditions and should not be reduced to delicatessen food. Its diversity reflects multiple diasporas and the changing cultural geography of Jewish life in the United States.
Dishes linked to this cuisine
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Jewish American matzo ball soup
Chicken broth served with tender dumplings made from matzo meal, egg and traditionally schmaltz.
Jewish American matzo brei
Passover comfort food of broken matzo dipped in egg and fried, served sweet or savoury.
Jewish deli corned beef sandwich
Warm sliced corned beef served generously on rye bread in the Jewish American delicatessen tradition.
New York bagel with lox
A distinctly Jewish American combination of a sliced bagel, cream cheese and brined salmon, often finished with capers.
New York pastrami on rye
A Jewish American deli sandwich piled high with warm pastrami on rye bread and served with mustard.
Passover carrot kugel
A sweet baked carrot casserole served as part of Jewish American Passover meals.
Catalogue preview Cuisine connections may be unreviewed. Regional comparisons include their food references and do not establish the ingredients of a particular meal.