The Sephardim were Jews who settled in medieval Spain during the Diaspora. Expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 1490s by the Christians, most Sephardic Jews migrated elsewhere around the Mediterranean, taking with them a cuisine richly influenced by the sensual cooking of their former Muslim rulers. Rabbi Sternberg records the history of Sephardic cooking and presents food you can't wait to prepare. Dishes like Ajada, a garlic spread, and a spinach and yogurt salad seasoned with dill are typical of the sunny, mostly simple-to-prepare food in this book. Sternberg's writing is flat but the richness of information and the vivid descriptions of each dish, including their Ladino names, hold your attention. Brief folk tales at the end of each chapter are enchanting. Sternberg's recipes are easy to follow, even if you've never made food like this.

From Publishers Weekly
Sternberg (Yiddish Cuisine) mines the rich vein of Sephardic cooking that is often ignored in the U.S. If the tone is occasionally more akin to a textbook than a cookbook, Sternberg is thorough and informative. In addition to simple, refreshing recipes for such dishes as Turkish-Style Bean Dip, Baked Beet Salad and Baked Fish With Bitter Lettuces, he provides one for the complex and decorative Bread of the Seven Heavens with much of the dough shaped into religious symbols like a fish and a hand. The many versions of hamin?a stew baked overnight similar to the Ashkenazic cholent?are explored in depth, as is the wide variety of Sephardic pies and savory pastries, including Portuguese Impanadas and Pittas, large savory pies from Greece. Sternberg also includes recitation of the rules of kashrut, several food-related folk tales and ideas for holiday meals as specific as a menu for a Salonika-Style Rosh Hashono Dinner and tips on what to serve after a funeral. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The two major divisions of the Jewish community are the Ashkenazim, whose ancestors are from eastern Europe, and the Sephardim, originally from the Iberian Peninsula. Marks, a rabbi and former editor of Kosher Gourmet, includes recipes from both communities in The World of Jewish Cooking, while Rabbi Sternberg, the author of Yiddish Cuisine (Jason Aronson, 1993), focuses on the cooking of Sephardic Jews in The Sephardic Kitchen. Marks's recipes come from Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa; Sternberg's from all the countries of the Mediterranean, with a few places a bit farther afield. Both authors include a great deal of cultural and religious background: Sternberg starts with a longer introductory section that covers social customs, ingredients, and kosher laws and also scatters folktales throughout his text, while Marks includes many boxes on ingredients and other topics. Although both books are informed and well written, The Sephardic Kitchen is the more readable and engaging: Marks offers more history and more detail, but his style is drier than Sternberg's. Despite some overlap, however, the books are different enough that both are recommended.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Midwest Book Review
In The Sephardic Kitchen, Rabbi Sternberg brings to life the rich cultural and culinary history, and the enticing diversity, of Sephardic cooking. The most ancient of Jewish dishes (named in the Talmud) are the slow-cooked stews called "hamin". Combining meats, grains, beans and vegetables, they are set to cook before sundown on Friday night and eaten Saturday afternoon, following the Sabbath customs. The Sephardic Kitchen also presents a broad sampling of small dishes typical of the Mediterranean table: the appetizers, salads, filled pastries and first courses that start any festive occasion. Wither its "Sopa de Ajo" (Garlic and Yogurt Soup) or "Sopado con Camias" (Egyptian-Styled Braised Beef with Okra); or "Chakchouka" (Tunisian-style Eggs and Tomatoes), all the recipes are typical of the Sephardic table. The Sephardic Kitchen is a marvelous addition to an ethnic cookbook collection.

Book Description
Light, healthy and robust -- these are the outstanding qualities of the summery, sun-splashed cooking of the Sephardic Jews, which Rabbi Robert Sternberg offers in this enlightening book about an under-explored aspect of the increasingly popular Mediterranean cooking. Expelled from Spain during the Inquisition, the Sephardic Jews scattered to all corners of the Mediterranean. Their strong traditions and varied cultural experience combined with the fertile climate in which they settled, created one of the most flavorful and distinctive cuisines in the world. It is a melding of delicious flavors from all around the warm salt waters of the Mediterranean -- Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Algeria, Greece, Morocco, Israel and the remains of the Ottoman Empire. In each distant place the Sephardic Jews cooked inventive and delightful meals whose flavor comes more from herbs and spices than from fat. The core ingredients -- fresh fruits, spices, olives, nuts, tomatoes, fennel, eggs and seafood -- are as tasty as they are versatile. The tempting recipes in this book include Canton de Sardellas, a delicious anchovy salad from Portugal, Sopa de Spinaca y Lentijas, a spicy and delicate soup from Macedonia, Sopada con Bamias, a hot and sweet braised beef with okra from Egypt, and the incomparable Los Site Kilos -- Bread of the Seven Heavens -- whose layers represent the connection between this world and the next. Alongside his recipes Rabbi Sternberg relates the rich history and lore of the Sephardic Jews, to whom hospitality is one of the most important virtues. "When visiting the home of a Jew from a Mediterranean country, one is usually greeted with an apology from the host or hostess for the poor and limited quality of the food being served," says Rabbi Sternberg. "The apology is generally followed by a lavish buffet with a dazzling array of mouthwatering appetizers and salads." Rabbi Sternberg also explains Jewish Holiday traditions and culinary celebrations, from Sabbath dinners to observation of the High Holy Days. Generously illustrated, easy to follow, and sprinkled with Sephardic folktales, Rabbi Sternberg's book is certain to become the mainstay in the kitchens of people who like Mediterranean cooking, lighter eating and just plain good food. Rabbi Sternberg is the executive director of the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center in St. Louis, Missouri. He is also the author of Yiddish Cuisine.

From the Publisher
Light, healthy and robust -- these are the outstanding qualities of the summery, sun-splashed cooking of the Sephardic Jews, which Rabbi Robert Sternberg offers in this enlightening book about an under-explored aspect of the increasingly popular Mediterranean cooking. Expelled from Spain during the Inquisition, the Sephardic Jews scattered to all corners of the Mediterranean. Their strong traditions and varied cultural experience combined with the fertile climate in which they settled, created one of the most flavorful and distinctive cuisines in the world. It is a melding of delicious flavors from all around the warm salt waters of the Mediterranean -- Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Algeria, Greece, Morocco, Israel and the remains of the Ottoman Empire. In each distant place the Sephardic Jews cooked inventive and delightful meals whose flavor comes more from herbs and spices than from fat. The core ingredients -- fresh fruits, spices, olives, nuts, tomatoes, fennel, eggs and seafood -- are as tasty as they are versatile. The tempting recipes in this book include Canton de Sardellas, a delicious anchovy salad from Portugal, Sopa de Spinaca y Lentijas, a spicy and delicate soup from Macedonia, Sopada con Bamias, a hot and sweet braised beef with okra from Egypt, and the incomparable Los Site Kilos -- Bread of the Seven Heavens -- whose layers represent the connection between this world and the next. Alongside his recipes Rabbi Sternberg relates the rich history and lore of the Sephardic Jews, to whom hospitality is one of the most important virtues. "When visiting the home of a Jew from a Mediterranean country, one is usually greeted with an apology from the host or hostess for the poor and limited quality of the food being served," says Rabbi Sternberg. "The apology is generally followed by a lavish buffet with a dazzling array of mouthwatering appetizers and salads." Rabbi Sternberg also explains Jewish Holiday traditions and culinary celebrations, from Sabbath dinners to observation of the High Holy Days. Generously illustrated, easy to follow, and sprinkled with Sephardic folktales, Rabbi Sternberg's book is certain to become the mainstay in the kitchens of people who like Mediterranean cooking, lighter eating and just plain good food. Rabbi Sternberg is the executive director of the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center in St. Louis, Missouri. He is also the author of Yiddish Cuisine.

About the Author
Rabbi Robert Sternberg is the executive director of the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center in St. Louis, MI.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Expelled from Spain during the Inquisition, the Sephardic Jews scattered to all corners of the Mediterranean. Their strong traditions and varied cultural experience, combined with the fertile climate in which they settled, created one of the most flavorful and distinctive cuisines in the world. It is a melding of delicious flavors from all around the warm salt waters of the Mediterranean - Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Algeria, Greece, Morocco, Israel, and the remains of the Ottoman Empire. In each distant place the Sephardic Jews cooked inventive and delightful meals whose flavor comes more from herbs and spices than from fat. The core ingredients - fresh fruits, spices, olives, nuts, tomatoes, fennel, eggs, and seafood - are as tasty as they are versatile. Alongside his recipes Rabbi Sternberg relates the rich history and lore of the Sephardic Jews, to whom hospitality is one of the most important virtues. "When visiting the home of a Jew from a Mediterranean country, one is usually greeted with an apology from the host or hostess for the poor and limited quality of the food being served," says Rabbi Sternberg. "The apology is generally followed by a lavish buffet with a dazzling array of mouthwatering appetizers and salads." Rabbi Sternberg also explains Jewish holiday traditions and culinary celebrations, from Sabbath dinners to observations of the High Holy Days.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Sternberg (Yiddish Cuisine) mines the rich vein of Sephardic cooking that is often ignored in the U.S. If the tone is occasionally more akin to a textbook than a cookbook, Sternberg is thorough and informative. In addition to simple, refreshing recipes for such dishes as Turkish-Style Bean Dip, Baked Beet Salad and Baked Fish With Bitter Lettuces, he provides one for the complex and decorative Bread of the Seven Heavens with much of the dough shaped into religious symbols like a fish and a hand. The many versions of hamina stew baked overnight similar to the Ashkenazic cholentare explored in depth, as is the wide variety of Sephardic pies and savory pastries, including Portuguese Impanadas and Pittas, large savory pies from Greece. Sternberg also includes recitation of the rules of kashrut, several food-related folk tales and ideas for holiday meals as specific as a menu for a Salonika-Style Rosh Hashono Dinner and tips on what to serve after a funeral. (Sept.)

Library Journal