What's Cooking?
by Melissa D.
What was cooking in the kitchens of our past? In this gallery you will learn about common kitchen objects used by our ancestors. The artifacts include a Turkish coffee pot, a salt shaker, a tea set, a mortar and pestle and types of utensils. Every object tells a story and we learned how these items were used in the kitchens of our past.
Did you ever wonder why people from different countries each have different foods and customs? Their diet depends on what was available in the area in which they lived, and on their their culture and religion. I found that all people are unique, and what is weird to someone from Japan is normal for people from Syria. A Japanese man eating raw fish and a Frenchman eating snails seems odd to us but not in their own cultures.
Turkish Coffee Pot
Aleppo, Syria
Mrs. Laura D.
My artifact is a Turkish Coffee Pot. This pot was given to me by my Grandma Laura and she received it from her mother when she got married. My great grandma bought it in a little store when she lived in Syria. The store sold all types of valuable handmade items and it was expensive. This Turkish coffee pot has been passed down and it will continue to be passed down for more generations. It will be passed down with the story that my great grandma lived in Aleppo, Syria.
The Turkish coffee pot has much Jewish significance to it. I found out that drinking a cup of Turkish coffee holds as much ritual significance as high tea in England. Syrian Jewish people prepared the coffee in three different ways. There is sweetest, medium-sweet, and unsweetened. To add flavor people also added cloves or cardamom to make the taste perfect.
I also read about a strange superstition some people believe. It is that when people finish their coffee, they turn their cup upside down to make all the remaining coffee drip out of the cup. If the spaces between the coffee remaining are wide, it predicts a long trip. If it has smaller spaces, it indicates a short trip. If there are small blob-like holes, it foretells trouble, and if there are larger ones, the drinker of the coffee will come into a lot of money. I really enjoyed learning the significance of the Turkish coffee pot!
Appetizer Forks
Europe
Moses Abraham Tawil
These appetizer forks were given to my mother from my great grandmother. They were used for eating appetizers and fruits. These forks mean a lot to my family because they make us feel that our relatives are with us when we use them.
My great grandmother loved buying unique and unusual table settings when she went on vacations. She loved setting her Shabbat and holiday tables with fun settings to entertain her family when celebrating these Jewish holidays.
Salt Shaker
Japan
Tunee G.
This salt shaker is very special to my family because it belonged to my Grandma Tunee. This was a souvenir from her travels.
When my family and I came to visit she would take out these unusual salt shakers.
Salt has a Jewish significance. In the times of the Bet Hamikdash salt was used on every korban (sacrifice.)
Demitasse cup
Beirut
Lorraine Stessler
This demitasse set was given to Marlena's great grandmother, Rose Dana C. by her great great grandmother, Pauline Dana, who brought it when she first came to America. It has now been passed down to Lorraine Stessler, Marlena's grandmother.
It was used to entertain her friends and family. She loved having company and serving Syrian coffee in the tea set. She would make her own pastries and serve them with the coffee when people came over. It was very special to her.
Mortar & Pestle
Egypt
Marrie H
My grandmother got her mortar and pestle from her mother, Rachel. My grandmother remembers her own grandmother using it, but the mortar has existed since the 1200's. The mortar is a masher that mashes foods like garlic, onions, coriander, black peppers, and other small foods. The bigger mortar was used to mash rice and meat to make kebbe. You just take the pestle and pound the food into the cup. All of them are made from brass.
My grandparents visit Egypt often and said that until today people there still use the mortar and pestle. In Israel, many small restaurants use the mortar today. In the old days, in-laws would give a mortar to the bride as a shower gift.
All the Jewish families in Egypt used the mortar and pestle in the old days because no electric grinders existed then. My great grandmothers and my grandmother and my great aunts all used it.
Tray
New York City
Elliot Bibi
This tray is significant because it was created by my grandfather's grandfather whom he had never met. Everyone knows my family because my great great grandfather was known for his art; he was famous. Even policemen knew him. Once he didn't get a ticket because a policeman knew of him.
It shows that among the Jewish people there were some very creative and talented people. My great great grandfather made this very nice tray. He worked for Louis C. Tiffany who was a famous American artist.
Turkish Coffee Pot
Lebanon
Julia Kassin
The significance of this Turkish coffee pot is that my great great grandmother used the coffee pot to make coffee. Then my great great grandmother passed it down to my great grandmother and she always used it. When my grandmother wakes up in he morning she would always smell the coffee and always knew she would wake up to a good morning. My grandmother has it now and never uses it but she leaves it in her display case and remembers how her mother made the coffee and how it smelled. She gave it to me and now I treasure it.
It was a Syrian Jewish tradition to drink turkish coffee, and make it using this type of pot.