Adaptation of Polish Jews to the Living Conditions in Israel in the Light of Lucyna Cukierman’s Practical Cookbook
Adaptation of Polish Jews to the Living Conditions in Israel in the Light of Lucyna Cukierman’s Practical Cookbook

Summary/Abstract: The history of cuisine, seen through the prism of the Practical Cookbook by Lucyna (Liora) Cukierman (first published in 1957 or at the beginning of 1958 in Tel Aviv), is a great starting point for analyzing the process of Polish Jews adapting to the living conditions in Israel. Here we can see the specificity of the community of Polish Jews in Israel known as Polanim. The model of their families shows the experience of the Holocaust, their culinary habits reflect the traditions derived from Poland, related to the influence of Polish culture, but also natural conditions (such as climate, flora and fauna). The progressing assimilation and acculturation of Polish Jews to the Israeli mainstream resulted in the abandonment of a large part of habits, including the culinary ones. It was not a formal requirement, but it resulted from the pragmatics of everyday life, which required the preparation of dishes corresponding to the local needs and possibilities related to the availability of specific products. It is no coincidence that the end of the popularity of Lucyna Cukierman’s book in the 1970s coincides with the disappearance of the peculiarity of Polish Jews in the public space, in which Jews from the former Soviet Union and African countries became more visible.

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