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Discussing a ‘found’ vegetarian Yiddish cookbook

Fania Lewando's Yiddish cookbook, 'Vegetarish-Dietisher Kokhbuhk," was discovered at an antique fair in England in 1995.

Wendy Waxman helped in the translation of "The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook: A Yiddish Culinary Journey."
Wendy Waxman helped in the translation of "The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook: A Yiddish Culinary Journey."Read moreCOURTESY WENDY WAXMAN

Old-time kosher recipes without schmaltz?

Educator Wendy Waxman, who recently discovered an original Yiddish manuscript of a vegetarian cookbook from the early 20th century in Lithuania, will discuss the challenges in translating the work, known as The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook: A Yiddish Culinary Journey, at noon Sunday, March 3 at Brodsky Enrichment Center, 345 Montgomery Ave., Bala Cynwyd.

Samples of the dishes will be available, including cold blueberry soup with sour cream in shooters; zucchini stuffed with rice (topped with tomato sauce); fried cauliflower frittata; and apple dumplings made with puff pastry.

In the early part of the 20th century, Vilna (or Vilnius) was Eastern Europe’s capital for Jewish culture, scholarship, and faith. It was home to Fania Lewando, a pioneer in the Jewish vegetarian movement and a restaurateur. She and her husband were captured by Soviet soldiers while fleeing the Nazi invasion in fall 1941 and never heard from again.

In 1995, Lewando’s book, Vegetarish-Dietisher Kokhbuhk, was discovered at an antique fair in England by a couple who donated it to the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York. Waxman and friend Barbara Mazur put it in the hands of the editorial director of Schocken Books.

Tickets are $18; proceeds benefit the Jewish Family & Children’s Service Holocaust Survivors Support Services. Twenty-nine Holocaust survivors will attend. Copies of the book are available through Jewish Family & Children’s Service or on Amazon.