The Jewish Deli: An Illustrated Guide to the Chosen Food

by Ben Nadler

A delightful celebration of Jewish delicatessens in an accessible comics format, full of history and humor, and guaranteed to make you hungry.

Beloved culinary and cultural institutions, Jewish delis are wonderlands of amazing flavors and great food—bright, buttery, briny, sweet, fatty, salty, smoky. . . . In The Jewish Deli , comics artist and deli aficionado Ben Nadler takes a deliciously entertaining deep dive into the history and culture of this food and the places that serve it up to us across the counter.
Chapters guide readers through the details and delights of each major food category, all playfully illustrated and each more irresistibly noshable than the last, A visual treat, this accessible and informative nonfiction graphic novel delivers stories of tradition and innovation, celebrations of iconic menu staples, flavor profiles, food preparations, ordering advice, spotlights on legendary and up-and-coming delis, and much more.

DELICIOUS The history of a people is found in its food, and in this book! Trace the history of Jewish cuisine from ancient days to the birth of the modern deli as we know and love it now.

DESTINATION When this book makes you hungry, plan a visit to one of the sensational North American delis featured in its pages, including Manhattan's Kenny and Ziggy's, Montreal's Schwartz's, Atlanta's The General Muir, Brooklyn's Shalom Japan, and many more

FOR FOODIES AND FOLKS Nadler shares colorful, researched stories of deli food, preparations, traditions, and innovations that entertain and inform, whether you're a deli expert or just find yourself wondering where bagels (or babka, or matzo ball soup, or the Reuben) come from.

FUN COMICS Fans of My Life in the Kitchen and Cook A Comic Book with Recipes will love Ben Nadler's fresh and colorful illustrated approach to the food and culture of the Jewish deli.

Perfect

Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Food, History, Jewish, Comics, Adult

248 pages, Hardcover

Published July 11, 2023

Reviews

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

well this made me hungry.

parts of it were odd and, if i'm honest, the author believed me to have more interest in his specific opinions than i actually did, but this was a fine quick read and affirmed my belief that all the best foods are sandwiches, so.

good enough for me!

bottom line: i want a bagel.

(thanks to the publisher for the copy)

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 3 out of 5]

For fans of bagels, bialys, corned beef, pastrami, knishes, challah bread, black and white cookies, or any other foods typically found in a Jewish Deli. This book provides a quirky illustrated history on the origins of these foods. Interspersed are interviews with owners of some of the best delis and shops throughout North America to enjoy these foods. Do not read on an empty stomach!

[Lisa]

GREAT topic, nicely framed exploration of Jewish delis AND appetizing stores (which I've been thinking about this year after reading My Last Innocent Year which led me to try to read The Assistant: A Novel), AND - unfortunately I had some qualms with this book! Most importantly, I don't like much of the author's illustration style! :( Especially people and the more "cartoony" approach - I liked the more "realistic" artwork fine. Also I don't *quite* know why we had to go through the ingredients for many of the items (I understand this told us if they were pareve, but how many drawings of bags of flour do we need?).

I really really liked this book and I'm glad it exists.

[Frank Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute and funny and good! I learned so much! Excited to go on a tour of delis some day...

[Scott Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. An enjoyable and accessible (if you're somehow new to deli food) book about the history and variety of our beloved cuisine.

Very minor errors in things i know a bit about (like the history of Canter's) makes me slightly unsure about all the details in the rest of the histories, but that is the most minor of quibbles.

[lucy black · Rating 3 out of 5]

At dinner the other night I embarrassed myself by getting too excited and talking too much about the history of porridge and the special tools for making it. I like books and media about food history and I don’t know why cos I’m not a ‘foodie’. This in depth look at Jewish Delicatessens is pretty irrelevant to my life in New Zealand but I love a deep dive.

[Abbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appetizing, informative, and fully illustrated! Now I’m craving some pastrami on rye…

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great and I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it (it ended up in the pile with my other more traditional graphic novels and came and went from the library to me multiple times now…). Nadler’s illustrations are fine — his people are cartoony, but his drawings of food are both appealing with a touch of character (the way he depicts flakes fish and shredded meat as similar is an interesting expression of parallel textures). I learned quite a bit reading this despite being a fan of Jewish delis for all of my adult life (growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, I’m not sure I ever stepped inside one until college when I used to study at Jerry’s Deli in Westwood just so I could eat there, or would travel out to Canter’s or Izzy’s on the weekends). I’d love to see a revised edition down the road with a few more of these brief interviews (which are fantastic!), but Egan, the designer of this book, has some serious corrections to make — the schmaltz section mentions onions only at the end of the recipe when a castoff comment about gribenes is made. The half and full-sour pickle images are mislabeled, and the Dr Brown’s soda section repeats a factoid about Cel-Ray across two pages. It does really mar the reading experience, but is a disservice to Nadler who seems earnestly passionate and engaged in this topic both as writer and interviewer.

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a non-fiction graphic novel about Jewish delicatessens. The food typically found in a deli and how it evolved as people moved from place to place. Reviews of the author's favorite sandwiches and what to pair them with (and what NOT to put on them). Interviews with owners of famous delis in the United States and Canada. Humorous and informative at the same time. The only thing that would make it better might be some recipes for those of us who can't travel to one of the places mentioned...there are a couple of cookbooks listed in the further reading section that I might have to check out!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book very much. It provided just the right balance of scholarship with information a layperson could sink their teeth into!

[Jody]

Made me very hungry

[Izzy Pilares · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this read to be an absolute delight! This is the first book I’ve read about the history behind any cultural cuisine, so it’s possible that the new topic might have sparked the urge to read through it quickly. I especially loved the focus on the history of NY delis along with the restaurant recommendations around the US. Though I am a vegetarian and absolutely hate mustard, the way Nadler talks about his love for pastrami sandwiches made my mouth water!

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic overview of the history of Jewish food, and particularly the deli, though appetizing stores play a big part in this book as well. It's entertaining, but of course I have my comments and suggestions. As the great niece of a once president of the bagel bakers' union, and with distant cousins in earlier generations who operated a seltzer business, and another a kosher sausage manufacturing company, I grew up with and am steeped in Jewish food traditions.

The author indicates that deer are kosher animals, and they are, with their cloven hooves and because they chew their cud, but he neglects to mention that they must be ritually killed for their meat to be kosher – and since deer are generally felled by hunters with guns or bows and arrows, how would that work? Deer are wild creatures, not domesticated for food...please don't offer me venison.

His matzo brie recipe is just one of many variations, and there are as many versions as there are Jewish comedians. Soaking the matzos in milk and adding onions would have been a shanda in our family.

He did a good job with the black and white cookies, hamantaschen, and halvah. Speaking of halvah, the best place to buy that (and gazillion other types of candies) is Economy Candy on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Her sour cream coffee cake was from a recipe my mother experimented with over and over, until she was ready to submit her version to Diamond Walnuts. We scanned the walnut packages in the supermarket for ages to see if they would print it... I would also add what is commonly referred to as Jewish Apple Cake, a dense delicious cake made with tart apples, lots of cinnamon, and vegetable oil as its fat, so as a pareve dessert, it can be eaten after dairy or meat meals.

I was surprised that Manhattan's most fabled Upper West Side mecca for appetizing, breads of all kinds, gourmet condiments, and the root of so many stories, didn't make it into this book. I am speaking of course, of Zabar's at 80th and Broadway. I was glad that Canter's in Fairfax, Los Angeles made it in. I had a wonderful corned beef sandwich there, and was thrilled to watch the late Kirk Douglas working the room.

There is nothing quite like the spicy, garlicky smell when you step into a deli, or the sharp taste of a half-sour pickle, especially a homemade one. The Jewish deli, bakery, and appetizing store are the beloved repositories of the sensory memories of generations.

[Ruth Gibian · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely and interesting paean to Jewish food! Ben Nadler's The Jewish Deli: An Illustrated Guide to the Chosen Food tells the story, in graphic form, of Jewish food that came to the U.S. via the diaspora. On one hand, the book is a bit too methodical for my taste; Nadler goes food by food, which read a bit more like a reference book than non-fiction, but okay, I'm not sure I have a better suggestion for him. This was especially trying for me in the first half of the book, which was all about the different meats and fish, only vaguely interesting to this reader, who became vegetarian at 13 and barely remembers eating pastrami, whitefish, and gefilte fish. Nadler moves on to other things in the second half: breads, side dishes, desserts, and that is great fun, as are the interviews he has with various owners of extant Deli owners. Two interesting observations: one was his distinction between a delicatessen, which serves kosher meat, and an appetizing store, which offers the items that kosher eaters cannot mix with meat. I hadn't heard the expression appetizing store before; I had only heard of (pardon the spelling in advance) milkadich versus fleishadich and I guess that was actually in reference to different Jewish restaurants. The other observation was about the wistfulness of the gradual disappearance of traditional Jewish food as it existed when my father was a kid, going to the lower East side and getting gallon jars of pickles from the pickle mavens. Nadler interviews several younger store owners, one of whom, who owns "Shalom Japan" in Brooklyn, points out that Jewish food has never been static; all the foods we think of as "Jewish" have actually evolved as we Jews have moved around the world (or, more often, fled) and married the traditional with the local. And so it goes. It wasn't exactly a riveting read, but I'm really glad I read it and even more glad for its very existence.

[Gaili Schoen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jewish Deli: An Illustrated Guide to the Chosen Food by Ben Nadler

This love letter to the Jewish Deli was a delight to read and has already enhanced my experience of the food I've loved since childhood. It was well-written with just enough history and backstory to whet my appetite, and the illustrations are funny and often enlightening. Nadler's drawings offered a cross-cultural insight showing how the Spanish Empanada, the Indian Samosa, the Chinese Dumpling, the British Pasty and the Jewish Knish are all "dough pockets," variations on a theme beloved by nations worldwide. I loved the "brief history" at the beginning of the book which put the Jewish deli into context for me, and I enjoyed learning the differences between corned beef and pastrami (it's not, as I'd thought, just more fat and pepper!) Not being a New Yorker, I haven't seen or tasted many of the foods in the book, such as some of the smoked and brined fish, the black-and-white cookie, or cel-ray soda, but I will seek them out next time I go to a deli. I didn't know that Montreal has a different sensibility in its deli foods; for example Montreal style bagels are sweetened and are much thinner because they are based on recipes from Russian Jews, while delis in New York have stronger Central and Eastern European influences.

I recommend this illustrated book to all who love a succulent corned beef sandwich on rye with a dill pickle and a side of Matzoh ball soup. I will be giving this fun book to many on my Chanukah gift list this year!

248 delicious pages
RipeReads.net

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean, who doesn't like reading about food? And looking at illustrations of food? Especially awesome food like bagels, lox, matzo ball soup and hamantaschen? This book describes all those delicious cultural foods and more, and tells the stories about how they came to be associated with the Jewish diaspora, particularly in North America, particularly in New York (with side trips to other places with notable unique takes on some of these foods, like Montreal). The true Jewish deli is really an east coast phenomenon, and while it did trickle into other areas of the continent, even as far west as Los Angeles and as far south as Atlanta, the development of these iconic dishes happened mostly in New York, and that is where you can still get authentic versions of them. The book also describes the difference between the traditional delicatessen, which is mostly about meat, and the "appetizer" store, where you'll find all the dairy, since those things are always kept separate in the kosher lifestyle. Super interesting, and very stimulating to the appetite! Excuse me while I go render some schmaltz.

[Cheryle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful celebration of Jewish delicatessens in an accessible comics format, full of history and humor, and guaranteed to make you hungry.

Beloved culinary and cultural institutions, Jewish delis are wonderlands of amazing flavors and great food—bright, buttery, briny, sweet, fatty, salty, smoky. . . . In The Jewish Deli , comics artist and deli aficionado Ben Nadler takes a deliciously entertaining deep dive into the history and culture of this food and the places that serve it up to us across the counter.
Chapters guide readers through the details and delights of each major food category, all playfully illustrated and each more irresistibly noshable than the last, A visual treat, this accessible and informative nonfiction graphic novel delivers stories of tradition and innovation, celebrations of iconic menu staples, flavor profiles, food preparations, ordering advice, spotlights on legendary and up-and-coming delis, and much more.

[Hal Schrieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love books about food history, and also love books illustrating food. Nadler's particular style isn't my favorite, since his clean flat colors and standardized, stylized shapes make things look a little too smooth and graphic-designy for my taste, but I do appreciate his diagrams and recipe-images of sandwiches, pickles, and historical delicatessens and dairy bars.

The ancient history in this one is a little shaky, uncited, and full of myths, but once we make it to the Ashkenazi immigration push of the nineteenth century, things start holding together a little more, and we get a fascinating exploration of different smoked meat products, fish, the evolution of cream cheese, and the slow bleed of assimilation as the kosher deli became a kosher-style deli, with cheese on reubens. It's a loving, fun coffee table text.

[Rick Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t really know what I expected. I guess I was looking for a little more depth and info. Maybe I’m just not a graphic novel guy, but this seemed like someone took a short blog post worth of information and expanded it into a bunch of sort of low resolution drawings of various food items. I feel like I could’ve done the same with just like some emojis to punctuate various dry aging, and brining techniques.

🥒 + 🧂+ 🕰️ = 😊
🐟 + 🧂+ 🕰️ = 😃
🐄 + 🧂 + 🕰️ = 😯

Probably interesting as a countertop book you could flip through at a deli. Like “here’s a low-res drawing of a bagel, wow it has toppings on it. I’m going to eat a bagel like that. Neat”

Not so interesting as a book you’ve checked out from the library to to learn more about delis. Unless you’re looking for just the most superficial of overviews.

[ツツ]

Easy to make and will try,
Lox, gravlox
Bialys
Drop cake (black and white cookie)
Egg cream (milk/cream+chocolate syrup+seltzer)

I’d like to try or didn’t know,
Pastrami /sandwich
Gefilte fish
Challah (bread, Hebrew for ‘cake’)
Matzo - matzo ball coup, matzo Brie
Kugel, latkes (fancy hash browns?)
Knishes (baked, #fillingindough)
Rugelach (croissant?)
Babka (marbled dessert bread?)
Hamantaschen (triangle cookie)
Blintzes (a different take on crepes)
Cel-ray

Schmaltz (chicken) fat
Eggs are considered Pareve

“Generic”,
Corned beef(brisket), Montreal smoked meat, hot dog, salami, karnatzel, (beef)tongue, bagels, pumpernickel, cream cheese, chopped liver, pickle, streusel, halvah/halwa, macaroons, coffee cake

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember the last time I ate at a real Jewish deli. It was 1976: my mom and I were traveling to Norwalk, CT, to visit a doctor who offered alternative medical advice. On the way, we stopped for a meal in one of the Catskill towns along Route 17. I don’t remember exactly what I ordered, but it was most likely a tongue sandwich with mustard (in those days, deli food was one of the few times I used mustard as a condiment, rather than ketchup) and would have been especially appreciative of the pickled tomatoes, which were difficult to find in Endwell. Little did I know that after that doctor’s visit, my eating habits would change radically.
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/feat...

[Michelle Tuite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading 2024
Book 19: The Jewish Deli: An Illustrated Guide to the Chosen Food by Ben Nadler

This nonfiction GN was on a few lists of best GNs for 2023. Certainly have frequented plenty of Jewish delis in my life., the Stage Deli or Katz's in NYC being my favs.

Synopsis: A delightful celebration of Jewish delicatessens in an accessible comics format, full of history and humor, and guaranteed to make you hungry.

Review: The book definitely had me craving a pastrami on rye, a Reuben, and a delicious deli pickle. I learned so much reading this book. Hopefully I can use that knowledge during trivia some time. My rating 4.5⭐️.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tribute to the Jewish deli! Nadler showcases cornerstone delis, a few interviews, and plenty of focus on the food itself- both the history and the preparation. It moves through meat, fish, bagels and bread, schmears, soups and sides, and sweets.

The illustrated guide provides a much-needed pop of excitement to the story of food and food preparation throughout Jewish history and across the world. I was most excited about the lox and halfmoon cookie as they're both my favorite along with the Rueben.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like Kosher deli food? Are you interested in learning more about them? And do you like graphic novels? Then this book is for you! This book goes into detail about how various kosher foods are prepared, the origin, and a lot of other stuff. The book is very detailed and I have to say that I learned quite a bit about food I was already very familiar with. It's a quick and fun read and it will most likely make you very hungry!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fun, fact-filled graphic novel for foodies will teach you about the nuances between bagels in Montreal vs. New York, the processes that make pastrami and corned beef so tasty and unique, while also offering glimpsing into the immigrant experiences of the mostly Eastern European Jews who made their was to American soil. I learned a lot about Jewish history, cuisine, customs, and culture, and now I could really go for a bagel and lox.

[Shoshanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book and I'm definitely going to buy it! It's basically a typology and history of Jewish deli food. It's so comforting and calming to read about this kind of food and learn about the processes. I love that the author delivers opinions as absolute facts. Highly recommended comic!

Only problem is that there is no part about gefilte fish!!! But maybe that's not a deli food traditionally or appetizing either???

[Kristin]

Really cute, fun - I didn't finish, but just because of library lending time. Surprisingly exhaustive. Something for everyone - for Jews, it has a lot you know already and plenty of inside jokes, but I daresay I'm not alone in learning some things I'd never heard of before, too. For non-Jews, a great deal to learn is here, but I'd say you have to be a pretty big fan or just really enjoy learning about any culture to be compelled to get into it.

[Karrie Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

***WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK ON AN EMPTY STOMACH***

This was one if the most fascinating books I've read in a long time. Randomly, I know a lot of Jewish foods from watching Seinfeld. Random right?! I really wish I lived closer to a Jewish Deli 😵

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic book discusses popular Jewish deli food - its origins, its preparation and regional differences, both here and in its European roots. I am a fan of the food and thought it was interesting and I liked the illustrations.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very readable graphic presentation of the history of Jewish deli-type foods. It includes interviews with some modern day deli proprietors - places to visit if you have a chance. I thought I was going to be reading a cookbook, but I did enjoy reading this anyway.