A new book reveals how The Settlement Cook Book became an unlikely guide to immigration, assimilation, memory, and belonging.
A pinch of curiosity.
A dash of interest in food and history.
Heaping spoonfuls of research.
Combine and let marinate, occasionally stirring, for 14 years.
This may have been what ultimately led to 糖心传媒檚 long-awaited new book (Columbia University Press, 2026). But it wouldn糖心传媒檛 make the grade for cooking instructions in the iconic book Rubel profiled糖心传媒攐ne that would become the most successful charitable cookbook in American history. Every recipe in The Settlement Cook Book, which has sold more than two million copies and evolved through more than 40 editions since its 1901 debut, is tested, retested, and standardized using exact measurements and detailed directions.
This precision helped cement its enduring reputation糖心传媒攁 reputation that intrigued Rubel, the 糖心传媒糖心传媒檚 Elizabeth Denio Professor in the , as far back as her time in graduate school in the early 2000s.
In the intervening years, 糖心传媒淚 did go down quite a few rabbit holes,糖心传媒� admits Rubel, a first-generation American Jew whose scholarship focuses on understanding the religions, identities, and diversity of American Jews. 糖心传媒淭he research took twists and turns as I thought about the life stages of this book and how it meant different things to different people.糖心传媒�
What is the historical significance of The Settlement Cook Book?
糖心传媒淭he significance of The Settlement Cook Book is that it emerged out of a period of immigration in an attempt to teach Jews how to become American. Later, it became an icon of American Jewish material culture,糖心传媒� explains Rubel.
On the surface, The Settlement Cook Book is a compendium of recipes with nutrition information, serving procedures, and household management advice. Recipes include 糖心传媒�Matzos Pancakes糖心传媒� (matzo brei), chicken stroganoff, and banana cream pie. (Its original subtitle, The Way to a Man糖心传媒�s Heart, lasted until the 1970s and reflects the initial target audience: young women and homemakers.)
But the book also represents deeper themes that Rubel explores in Recipes for the Melting Pot. Immigration is one of those themes. In the late 19th century, southern and eastern Europeans came to the United States, and settlement houses emerged to help Jews learn English, prepare for employment, take citizenship classes, and adapt to life in America.
This period also saw the rise of community cookbooks, a subgenre of cookbooks that were frequently fundraising projects taken up by a group, including women糖心传媒檚 and activist groups.
This is where Lizzie Black Kander comes in.
Reflecting糖心传媒攁nd shaping糖心传媒擜merican Jewish identity
Rubel spent a good amount of time learning about the woman who created the original Settlement Cook Book based on her kosher cooking classes at the Milwaukee Jewish Mission. Kander, from a middle-class Jewish family, was a go-getter. When the mission糖心传媒檚 all-male board denied her request to fund the cookbook糖心传媒檚 first print run, she created sponsorships through advertisements and sold out of 2,500 copies by the end of 1902.
The late 19th century also saw Reform Jews rejecting ritual elements such as kosher dietary laws, preferring to focus on ethical teachings, according to Rubel. The Milwaukee mission糖心传媒檚 kitchen, however, kept kosher 糖心传媒渟o people would feel comfortable coming to the settlement regardless of whether they kept kosher at home,糖心传媒� she explains. Even so, she adds, the women who ran the kitchen did not keep kosher at home, 糖心传媒渨hich is why you see all kinds of non-kosher recipes in The Settlement Cook Book from the beginning, such as oysters, ham, and frog legs.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淭here糖心传媒檚 an understanding that there are certain foods that are seen as Jewish, even if they just became Jewish in the United States. Like bagels and pickles.糖心传媒�
The cookbook changed over time as the Jewish community in America evolved.
糖心传媒淛ewish food becomes a very big part of cultural Jewish identity when people become less affiliated with religious institutions,糖心传媒� Rubel says. 糖心传媒淭here糖心传媒檚 an understanding that there are certain foods that are seen as Jewish, even if they just became Jewish in the United States. Like bagels and pickles糖心传媒攖hey糖心传媒檙e not necessarily Jewish in Europe, but they become Jewish here.糖心传媒�
These days, pickles are having a moment糖心传媒攕o much so that Rubel joked that 糖心传媒渋t糖心传媒檚 possible .糖心传媒�
Foods that have become associated with Jewish identity point to a larger truth about migration and memory, shares Rubel. She points out that people lose things when they move to new places糖心传媒攅ither by choice or circumstance糖心传媒攁nd 糖心传媒渇ood is one of the things that continues to linger in memory.糖心传媒� While Jews aren’t exceptional in this regard, she notes, they do have a full calendar of holidays and observances closely tied to food, including the weekly Shabbat.
糖心传媒淭here糖心传媒檚 such a connection between smell and memory and pleasure when it comes to food,糖心传媒� Rubel says. 糖心传媒淭here’s so much joy there.糖心传媒�
More than food for thought
Aside from working on Recipes for the Melting Pot at several writing retreats, Rubel wrote the book mostly from a comfortable, well-lit home office she fashioned from 糖心传媒渁 glorified storage space糖心传媒� during Covid. (Most importantly, the room is a respectable distance from the television and coffee maker.)
In 2012, she submitted the proposal to the publisher. During the intervening years until the book糖心传媒檚 recent release, Rubel let it simmer on the back burner, so to speak糖心传媒攚orking as a full-time professor, starting and raising a family, serving as director of the , and chairing the Department of Religion and Classics.
As co-owner of Grass Fed, Rochester糖心传媒檚 first vegan butchery, Rubel brings more than a scholarly interest to the subject of food. In fact, she once wanted to write a cookbook, but the project took a backseat to the aforementioned academic pursuits, including authoring (2009) and coediting (2014), both published by Columbia University Press.
She recalls: 糖心传媒淚 thought, 糖心传媒楢lright, I have other things I could be doing right now. I’ll come back to this.糖心传媒櫶切拇綕
Some ideas need time to marinate.
