"The history of how a set of ancient laws and regulations adapted to modern practices of American food production and foodways"--

Traces the origins of Jewish cookery in the Midwest, from pioneers to Sephardic and Ashkenazic settlers, and from cities to farmlands. Surveying handwritten personal cookbooks, community archives, anecdotes, The Chicago Tribune and other sources, they reinforce food as ancestral memory and evidence of ingenuity. Extensive comparisons of recipes serve as clues toward generational and cultural shifts as well as adaptations to regional supplies and privations....