Top American chefs offer kosher versions of recipes

NEW YORK, Dec. 18 (JTA) — Strictly kosher restaurants are few in number. Even in New York, which has the largest Jewish population in the United States, only a handful of the 17,000 restaurants comply with the rules of kashrut. As a result, most of the hundreds of thousands of kosher consumers across the country do not eat out, according to the editors of a new cookbook, “Great Chefs of America Cook Kosher.” The editors, Idee Schoenheimer and Ruth Madoff, compiled some 175 recipes from 52 American culinary masters, such as Wolfgang Puck of Los Angeles’ Spago, David Burke of New York’s Park Avenue Cafe and Alice Waters of San Francisco’s Chez Panisse. Each chef took a favorite recipe and adjusted it so that it meets the Jewish dietary laws. The 185-page cookbook offers recipes for some dishes found in upscale restaurants, such as chicken paillard, seared tuna and creme brulee. Enticing food photos open the color-coded chapters, which include appetizers and light entrees, soups, meat and poultry, and pasta and grains. Proceeds from the book, published by Vital Media Enterprises, Inc., will benefit the Jewish National Fund.