Preserving Jewish Family Holiday Recipes

"Preserving Jewish Family Holiday Recipes" by Naomi Ben-Ami offers a guide to documenting and safeguarding culinary heritage. The book instructs families on transforming informal food knowledge—such as handwritten notes or remembered instructions—into reproducible recipes. It details a methodical approach involving careful interviewing, transcription, testing, and photography, ensuring proper attribution without inventing details where records are incomplete.

This workbook outlines projects that begin with artifact handling and consent. It covers converting measurements and sensory cues in test kitchens, retaining original versions alongside adapted ones. The text explores themes like migration, scarcity, kosher practices, and the labor involved in cooking. It also addresses digital preservation, including filenames, backups, and access, and demonstrates documentation challenges across various Jewish holidays like Tishrei, Hanukkah, Purim, Passover, and Shavuot. The resulting collections maintain evidence and relationships, acknowledging uncertainties and variants.