Eating Delancey

Book excerpt: Delancey Street in New York conjures up an entire world of Yiddishkeit, "Thequality of being Jewish; the Jewish way of life or its customs and practices."Delancey, and the streets that cross it in the Lower East Side-Ludlow, Essex,Orchard, Rivington, and its "sister" street to the north, Houston Street-are thehistorical home of Jewish immigrants and thus a cradle of that unique Jewishexperience. All the foods that were brought to America in the early 20th century by Jews duringthe great emigration from Europe came to the Lower East Side: knishes, bagels, lox,pastrami, whitefish, dill pickles, kasha, herring (in multiple variations), egg creams,and much more. It is an area that continues to undergo rapid change but EatingDelancey hopes to capture forever the Jewish cuisine of the Lower East Side. Eating Delanceyis a compilation of gorgeous photographs of classic Jewish food, with profiles and receipes from classic LES Jewish eateries such as Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse, Russ & Daughters Appetizers, Katz's Delicatessen, Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, and Ratner's. These are complimented by celebrity reminiscences from Bette Midler, Jackie Mason, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Don Rickles, Fyvush Finkel, Isaac Mizrahi, Lou Reed, Arthur Schwartz and Milton Glaser.