Page 343 A discussion of Jewish and Italian dishes:
"In honor of Regina, we"re having Spezzatino di Vellello Milanese, which is from a Jewish recipe and a take-off on 'Ossubuco' - a northern Italian dish with veal and sprinkled with gremolata, which you can smell for yourselves!" said Nick.
Regina inhaled appreciatively - - -
"You see, Regina is right on about there being many similarities between Jewish and Italian cooking!" said Nick, "You see, Rome was more than just a religious and political center with certain foods standing out as pure Romano. In fact quite a few foods that were thought to be typically Italian actually have Jewish origins.
"See, people have a way of turning things around and attributing ownership when it's not accurate," said Regina, "For instance because Jews lived in Poland and Russia for so long many dishes of both countries are not even considered Jewish in Europe - like herring in sour cream, rye bread and borscht, which are considered as Jewish in the United States. Other dishes like gefilte fish and bagels, though probably not created by
Jews, are all considered to be Jewish."
