97 Orchard

[lazarus]

97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families In One New York Tenement by Jane Ziegelman.

Finished this on my Kindle a couple of weeks ago. A fascinating book about a time and place I've read some other books on, so this gave it a new dimension.

I learned some stuff, too. For instance, Home Ec classes and school lunches were started to try "Americanizing" immigrants so they'd quit eating that nasty foreign food and eat good, wholesome American food. The book also covers the rise of New York delis.

Plenty of recipes, although very few I'm tempted to try. And she paints a bleak picture of life in the tenements.

If you're all at interested in food and/or American history, I highly recommend this book. The only points I remove are due to the somewhat abrupt conclusion. It just sort of ended. I'm more used to a thesis-style book, with a summary chapter at the end.