Hip Kosher by Ronnie Fein, De capo Press, 2008. 288 pages.
Who would have foreseen that eating and cooking kosher would be so cool?
The latest kosher food trend is not necessarily fueled by the traditional Jewish market. The people at the forefront of this trend are Muslims, Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah Witnesses, kosher consumers for whom the Jewish dietary laws are not a faith-based mandate. The newest kosher crowd is made up of a variety of people, including vegetarians, vegans, those with food allergies and those who are lactose intolerance, people who describe themselves as health conscious, people concerned with animal welfare, those interested in organic food and those who may believe that being kosher will help them connect with the more spiritual side of the food they are consuming.

Hands up. Anyone that does NOT fit into one of these groups? This cookbook is for the Messianic Era, and what a mélange of food the messiah will have to choose from!

HIP KOSHER, is for those on their way to becoming kosher, for whatever reasons and for those already observing dietary laws and hipsters in need of getting something new, modern, and easy on the table. No K foods here. That is, no kugels, kreplach, knishes, kneidel or kishke here. Here you will find a fusion of the best of all ethnic and international fare with readily available ingredients from aisles in the supermarket you may have not walked down before. You will be surprised at just what foods have hechshers if you look.

Some of the tantalizing dishes have names like Edmame Succotash, Sauteed chicken breasts with avocado and tomatoes (that sounds like a keeper for Israelis) and roasted haddock with tangerine-paprika panko crust. While the recipes were enticing, photos would have made them even more so.

This is a kosher cookbook without a holiday section but I did find a great flour-less chocolate cake, ideal for Passover. This one, in particular, was double chocolaty and a cinch to make.

Do you really need another kosher cookbook? Well, yes, for the recipes, and for that special person who may need to know that being kosher and hip is the way to go today.

This book is available at:
Gur Arieh Bookstore, Yoel Solomon St 8, Jerusalem
Tel: 02-625-7486. Fax: 02-625-4265