Like many Jewish Americans, Elizabeth Ehrlich was ambivalent about her background. She identified with Jewish cultural attitudes, but not with the ...
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reviews
Jun 28, 2011
Ruth
rated it: 
Miriam’s kitchen is wonderful book--I really loved it. To the point where, at the end of the last word of the last page, I turned to the first word of the first page and kept on reading.
It is not quite a memoir and it is certainly not a cook book. But it has both of these structures and this criss cross framework adds a tightness to it, a kind of pace that weaves into my reading of it, almost like a soundtrack.
I think adding recipes into narratives, either fictional More...
It is not quite a memoir and it is certainly not a cook book. But it has both of these structures and this criss cross framework adds a tightness to it, a kind of pace that weaves into my reading of it, almost like a soundtrack.
I think adding recipes into narratives, either fictional More...
Aug 04, 2009
Allyson
rated it: 
A memoir written about Mrs. Ehrlich's mother-in-law, Miriam, this book is centered around the theme of the Jewish family. As outsiders, we often give little consideration to Jewish families, except around Christmas (when we try our best to ignore them) and Hanukkah (when we miss them from work or school). We roll our eyes at the "kosher" hotdog commercials and think "really?? Is it THAT important that they have their own hotdogs." If you read this book and continue with that
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Feb 27, 2009
Marguerite
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A sweet (sugar is part of almost every recipe) and wistful look at an endangered cuisine -- pre WWII kosher Polish village food. At the same time, it's an account of Elizabeth Ehrlich's growing love affair with Judaism and her family's adoption of a more observant religious lifestyle. If you think the two don't mix, consider this:
"So far, it seems, I am too much of a rationalist to lose myself in prayer. And as a woman, I have always had a problem with public ritual, the religion of t More...
"So far, it seems, I am too much of a rationalist to lose myself in prayer. And as a woman, I have always had a problem with public ritual, the religion of t More...
May 07, 2011
Jane
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This may not be a great book, but it was just right for the moment I read it. I was on a retreat and feeling reflective myself. It is an extended personal essay on one woman's attempt to find meaning in her religious life. Just how does one be an "authentic" Jew in modern America? She comes to have more respect for the old kitchen ways of her foremothers as a means of passing on identity and culture. But in going kosher etc she finds it hard to reconcile with modern life and relat
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Jan 08, 2011
Michelle
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This is a lovely, lovely book. The author grew up as a not-very-observant Jew, and came to a desire for a closer connection to her faith through being in the kitchen with her Holocaust-survivor mother-in-law. This book is gentle, evocative, thoughtful--the author wrestles honestly with what she wants, and why. I found myself cheering her steps towards faith, even though I'm not Jewish. I think a lot of what is here can apply outside of Judaism as women today seek to find a spiritual center in
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Sep 24, 2008
Lisa Rose
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I wanted to grow up in this house and be in the kitchen and learn to cook like this and enjoy the warmth of this family .... i loved this book !
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Aug 29, 2010
Miriam
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I'd read this book a few times in the past, and probably would have given this four stars back then, but for some reason this time it got on my nerves a bit. Four stars for all the parts that are about Miriam (the author's mother-in-law), her cooking, and her history. Two stars for all the parts about the author herself and her childhood--the prose is a bit flowery, and the tone is rather self-indulgent. It does, however, provide an interesting portrait of the issues of assimilation in America;
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Nov 20, 2008
Jennifer
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This book was wonderful. I find that a good memoir is just as compelling as good fiction any day, if not more so. I loved learning about Jewish tradition and the intricacies of being kosher. It was mesmerizing. I adored the real life character of Miriam. I would love to eat kosher, but only as long as someone else did all the work. It was awesome to have access to several of Miriam's recipes. I might even try some. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Although I really enjoyed it More...
Although I really enjoyed it More...
Jul 30, 2010
Michelle
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What a fascinating book this was. On its surface this is the story of a woman transforming her kitchen into a kosher one and the rhythm of her family’s life into an observant one. Deeper it’s a story about making life more meaningful, a deepening of the understanding of ritual, connection to family and community and also it’s a cookbook of sorts. That’s a lot for one book to take on and this one did it beautifully. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the role food plays in our lives and f
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Apr 18, 2010
Jennifer
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I loved this book, and I learned so much from it about Jewish food culture and rituals. It is about food history, family, Holocaust survival, and the many ways that families and cultures use food to maintain their connections and traditions. So much of this book is about the roles that women have played in Jewish family life, and it offers beautifully-written personal stories about the author’s mother, grandmothers, and most importantly, her mother-in-law Miriam, from whom she learns so much. Mi
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Feb 22, 2010
Jess
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I actually had to read this book for one of my classes (Religion & American Foodways), though it's certainly a book I would have picked up on my own before now. I enjoyed reading this book, but I'm not sure I would read it again. Ehrlich has a descriptive, narrative voice that is good, despite the interwoven memoirs of many people from her family and her husband's family. But it also did not have that compelling factor that made it a book I would want to read over and over. I also felt that the
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Aug 23, 2011
Kerri
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Miriam’s Kitchen is a book ahead of its time. Published in 1997, it tells the story of one woman’s attempt to maintain a kosher kitchen as a way of honoring her family and their traditions. Today, she would blog about the daily episodes of a year of keeping kosher. Instead, we get a tender, honest book filled with many joys and disappointments.
The author, Elizabeth Ehrlich, was raised Jewish but not in an especially devout household. As she grew older, she drifted from her fait More...
The author, Elizabeth Ehrlich, was raised Jewish but not in an especially devout household. As she grew older, she drifted from her fait More...
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Sep 04, 2008
Sylvia
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I thought this was an interesting book in that it really took a good hard look at religion in our lives. How in one life time you can move in and out of it. I think that quite often in our lives we may or may not be as active in our religions as we really would like to be. I loved watching her move toward being orthadox / kosher in her adult life, knowing that this is the background she really wanted her children to embrace and carry with them thoughout their lives. I also liked the connecti
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Feb 07, 2008
Rita
rated it:
Miriam's Kitchen,
by Elizabeth Ehrlich
Elizabeth Ehrlich [more or less my age] was raised nonreligiously by Jewish parents in Detroit. All her grandparents, however, were practicing Jews from Poland.
When Elizabeth's children were young, she and her husband [who was raised religiously by Polish Jewish parents in NYC] decided to send their kids to Hebrew primary school, and Elizabeth started experimenting with keeping a kosher kitchen.
She sees that if she d More...
by Elizabeth Ehrlich
Elizabeth Ehrlich [more or less my age] was raised nonreligiously by Jewish parents in Detroit. All her grandparents, however, were practicing Jews from Poland.
When Elizabeth's children were young, she and her husband [who was raised religiously by Polish Jewish parents in NYC] decided to send their kids to Hebrew primary school, and Elizabeth started experimenting with keeping a kosher kitchen.
She sees that if she d More...
Jun 01, 2010
Tiffany
rated it:
This is an incredible book, with memory, religion, food, family, and history woven into this too-short year of vignettes. Erhlich has a very gentle, clever way with words, and just one off-hand line could set me crying. It's particularly interesting reading this book, which is partly about the author's journey (back) into keeping kosher when I am considering the implications of keeping kosher in my own home. There are many parallels drawn between Erlich's experience as a born-Jew raised by athei
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Apr 01, 2008
Marianne
rated it:
I enjoyed this memoir for several reasons. Ehrlich does a wonderful job of capturing her culture, religion and of portraying unique individuals within her family. I came away having learned a lot, it made me think about my own family and traditions. Am I carrying on the legacy of my forebearers? What things are worth passing on?
I also appreciated hearing about the holocaust experiences from survivors and about how they carried on with their lives . . . what a powerful moment to re More...
I also appreciated hearing about the holocaust experiences from survivors and about how they carried on with their lives . . . what a powerful moment to re More...
May 09, 2009
Kari
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I love the idea of the book: a Jewish woman reconnects with her family heritage through cooking with her mother-in-law, Miriam. It's a little long (could have used a good editor), but interesting on family, past, gender and religion, and of course, food.
Jun 09, 2011
Jessica
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I am torn about this one. It is well-written, thought-provoking, and insightful. You journey with the author as she reconnects with her Jewish roots ans chooses to live more Kosher. However, something about it is a bit frustrating/annoying to me.
Aug 23, 2011
Kris
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A National Jewish Book Award winner, this book explores the importance of food in creating memories and connecting family. It makes me miss my mother-in-law and her amazing challah, kugel, matzoh ball soup.....
Sep 23, 2010
Margaret
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Liked it. Didn't love it. Seemed to jump from subject to subject, place to place, person to person too much. I enjoyed a lot of the stories in this book, but felt like it dragged in many places.
Oct 20, 2010
Darla
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A truly lovely story about finding meaning in the ritual and devotion of Kosher living, as well as in the suffering and experiences of our forebears. Beautifully and respectfully written.
Aug 26, 2010
Moodyfeline
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One of my all-time favorite books about food. A wonderful collision of food, culture and spirituality. I've read it twice, will eventually pick it up again.
Nov 03, 2010
I very much enjoyed Elizabeth Ehrlich's memoir, which was a reflection on her Jewish roots -- examined culturally, culinarily and religiously. I would recommend the book to anyone with Jewish heritage, although I'm not sure it would mean much to readers without that background.
Dec 31, 2008
Jill
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Maybe I'm a wannabe Jew or maybe I'm just addicted to food memoirs, but I really liked this book despite the author's self-indulgent tone.
Apr 28, 2011
Cyndi
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Poignant with just a taste of vanilla.....a sweet heartfelt book of growth and experience.
Jul 29, 2009
Joan
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this book was very informative. It taught me what it means to keep a kosher kitchen and what the sabbath is. It's about a woman's inert responsibility to her family before her and her immediate family to keep the foods and the holy days alive for the next generation. The oly problem i had with this book, was that it kept skipping to when she was young, to being a mother. Since there were alot of relatives in this book, it got just a little confusing. But overall, it wasn't so much a story,
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Jun 11, 2009
Shelley
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This book was given to me by a friend and what a gift! A beautiful memoir about family, religion, faith, and traditions.
