Fascinating list of the “100 most Jewish” foods

It’s always a gamble to make a list of the “best” or “most popular” or even “most representative” foods for a particular country, culture, or group. Undoubtedly someone will feel that you included a food that didn’t belong, that you overlooked an essential item, or find another to quibble about. Lucky for us, this didn’t stop Tablet Magazine, which has published a fascinating infographic containing the 100 most Jewish foods. 

The magazine states that the list is not a chronicle of the most delicious foods, or the most popular, or even the most enduring. Instead, it represents the foods that “contain the deepest Jewish significance-the ones that, through the history of our people (however you date it), have been most profoundly inspired by the rhythms of the Jewish calendar and the contingencies of the Jewish experience.”

You can view the dishes arranged on a “table”, and click on each one for an explanation, or simply view an A to Z list, or browse by contributor. Speaking of contributors, you’ll recognize many of the names there – they include chefs such as Dan Barber, Tom Colicchio, and Eric Ripert along with food writers like Joan Nathan, Mimi Sheraton, Molly Yeh, and Ruth Reichl. 

The list includes familiar items like blintzes and bagels, along with items you might not think of like eyerlekh, which are “oocytes on their way to becoming the eggs with whites and shells that hens will lay”, or even sugary breakfast cereals (you’ll have to read the description to find out why that made the list). Plan to spend some time on the site, because you’ll want to click on everything.

Photo of Bialys from Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman