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Bezig met laden... Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes from the House That Herring Builtdoor Mark Russ Federman
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Interesting to read how the store and the Lower East side changed through the years. ( ) Fun read, if a bit repetitive. Federman is at his best when telling stories about the Russ family and the customers they serve, though there are complaints about various members of both groups (some good-humored, some not). There's also a little too much overlap between the chapter about the history of the store and the one devoted to the history of the neighborhood, and he does quite a bit of kvelling about the success of Russ & Daughters. He is however mostly humble about himself, relating various times where he objected to a new menu item or business idea, only to be proven wrong. It's this humor and warmth that ultimately makes the book worth reading, particularly for fans of Jewish and/or kosher-style food. This book was purchased by my husband who enjoyed it and gave it to me. Federman links the detailed family history of the family-owned and -run Russ and Daughters to the past and present of New York's Lower East Side. One doesn't go without the other. It all started in the early 20th Century with Federman's grand-father, Joel Russ, his push-cart and the oppressive poverty of the Lower East Side. And continues with the hard-life stories played out by thousands of immigrant families: those successful enough with their push-carts bought store-fronts. These men and women poured their life-blood, sacrificed their time, energy and money into these businesses so they could provide the basics of life to their families. And then little by little, if the back-breaking business was successful they started dreaming, hoping and insisting that their children do better. Many moved out of the teeming, intolerable tenements relocating to the West Side, or to the Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens. Joel Russ did move his family out but had to return during the depression or face losing the store. Eventually they were able to move forward. Federman describes his grandfather as the classic patriarch characteristic of that generation. Joel expected his daughters to work in the store after school and on weekends; not caring about their social lives, and not paying them. But Joel was also progressive and controversial naming the store Russ and Daughters. Once Ida, Hattie and Anne married Joel expected their husbands to work at the store and they did. The store provided the family with a living and it was therefore sacrosanct. Federman explains how the business was not simply handed over to the next generation but sold to them. Joel resisted making changes to Russ and Daughters but each subsequent generation modified the stock, style, and business practices to reflect the changing times, neighborhood and increase their customer-base. Currently, the store is owned and run by Federman's daughter and nephew. A wonderful, very New York story of how hard-work does pay filled with family tales, anecdotes about demanding customers, the impact of changes in the neighborhood, and the pulling power of the store on different family members including Federman himself. Good read but could be shorter. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
The former owner/proprietor of the beloved appetizing store on Manhattan's Lower East Side tells the delightful, mouthwatering story of an immigrant family's journey from a pushcart in 1907 to "New York's most hallowed shrine to the miracle of caviar, smoked salmon, ethereal herring, and silken chopped liver" (Jason Epstein, The New York Times Magazine). When Joel Russ started peddling herring from a barrel shortly after his arrival in America from Poland, he could not have imagined that he was witnessing the birth of a gastronomic legend. Here is the story of this "Louvre of lox" (The Sunday Times, London) from its humble beginnings through the Great Depression, the food rationing of World War II, the passing of the torch to the next generation just as the flight from the Lower East Side to the suburbs was beginning, the heartbreaking years of neighborhood blight, and the almost miraculous renaissance of an area from which hundreds of other family-owned stores had fled. Filled with delightful anecdotes about how a ferociously hardworking family turned a passion for selling perfectly smoked and pickled fish into an institution with a devoted international clientele, Mark Russ Federman's reminiscences combine a heartwarming and triumphant immigrant saga with a panoramic history of twentieth-century New York, a meditation on the creation and selling of gourmet food by a family that has mastered this art, and an enchanting behind-the-scenes look at four generations of people who are just a little bit crazy on the subject of fish. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)641.5Technology Home and family management Food And Drink Cooking, cookbooksLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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