From pushcart peddlers to gourmet take-out: New York City's iconic foods of Jewish origin, 1920 to 2005.

279 Pages·2006·5.168 MB·English

by  Jennifer Schiff Berg

Sponsoring Committee: Professor Amy Bentley,
Chairperson
Professor Jonathan Zimmerman
Professor Warren Belasco
FROM PUSHCART PEDDLERS TO GOURMET TAKE-OUT:
NEW YORK CITY'S ICONIC FOODS OF
JEWISH ORIGIN, 1920 TO 2005
Jennifer Schiff Berg
Food Studies
Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health
Submitted in partial fulfillment
Of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in
The Steinhardt School of Education
New York University
2006
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UMI Number: 3199966
Copyright 2006 by
Berg, Jennifer Schiff
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Copyright © 2006 Jennifer Schiff Berg
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I hereby guarantee that no part of the dissertation which I have submitted for
publication has been heretofore published and/or copyrighted in the United States of
America, except in the case of passages quoted from other published sources; that I am
the sole author and proprietor of said dissertation; that the dissertation contains no matter
which, if published, will be libelous or otherwise injurious, or infringe in ant way the
copyright of any other party; and that I will defend, indemnify and hold harmless New
York University against all suits and proceedings which may be brought and against all
claims which may be made against new York University by reason of the publication of
said dissertation.
Jennifer Schiff Berg
September 1, 2005
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■J"
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Along the way, I was fortunate to receive guidance
and mentorship from many people. I thank my committee,
who patiently and generously read many versions. I
could not possibly have completed this project without
Amy Bentley- colleague, friend and advisor, who
shepherded this project, counseling me since the very
beginning; Jonathan Zimmerman, for his encouragement,
positive nature and teaching me to love historical
research and Warren Belasco for helping me see the big
picture and editorial advice. I am profoundly grateful
for their guidance and persistent questioning.
I thank all my colleagues in the Department of
Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health for their
advice, friendship1, moral support and collegiality. I
especially thank my Chair, Judith Gilbride for
understanding this year's pressures, Marion Nestle, for
originally encouraging me to pursue a PhD, Domingo
Pinero, Beth Dixon, Kristie Lancaster and Sharron
Dalton for assuming coaching roles. I thank Mimi
Martin, who shared all of the highs and low throughout
this entire process. I thank Kelli Ranieri, Lisa
Sasson and Marcia Thomas for friendship and laughter,
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Liz Young for internet wizardry, Tomoko Okada for
bibliographic and formatting assistance, Joy Santlofer
and Damian Mosley for picking up my slack. I
appreciate the feedback from the Department's other
doctoral students, Richards Petrow's editorial advice,
the Feast and Famine Colloquium and my friends and
colleagues in the Association for the Study of Food and
Society (ASFS) for listening to these chapters
throughout the years. Thank you to Cara de Silva and
Annie Hauck-Lawson, friends and colleagues who share my
love for New York City, inspiring me throughout this
project. Special thanks go to Elizabeth Arnold for
always believing that I would complete this
dissertation (even when I had serious doubts) and to my
mother, Ivy, for her editorial and thematic advice
throughout the dissertation, and saving my sanity in
the final months.
Finally, I thank my family who shower me with love
and joy and teach me what matters most in my life. I
thank my daughter Elizabeth and son William for
cheering me on, understanding my absences the past few
months and tarting on enjoying these dissertation foods
the past few years . Most importantly, I thank my
husband Mitchell, for his love, commitment, laughter
and patience. He convinced me to take on this
IV
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challenge and made endless sacrifices during the years.
I am truly blessed.
I dedicate this dissertation and my degree to my
father's memory, the man who first taught me how to eat
lox "wings" and the joys of salty, Jewish food. I miss
him every day.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
LIST OF TABLES ix
CHAPTER
I NEW YORK CITY, JEWS AND FOOD:
A BACKGROUND 1
Introduction 1
Iconic Symbols 6
Literature Review 12
Role of Place, Community
Bonding and Religion 13
Immigration, Acculturation
and Ethnicity 17
Memory and Nostalgia 19
New York City's Food History 24
A New Look at Jews, New York and
Food: A Three Phase Model 26
Revisiting Symbolic Ethnicity 35
Methodology 4 0
Sources Used 45
Absence of Evidence 4 8
Chapter Outlines 53
Where is the Bagel? 56
Concluding Thoughts 62
II FROM CAVIAR WARS AND SEX DISCRIMINATION:
FOOD CHAOS AT ZABAR'S 64
An Ethnographic Look 64
Zabar's and "Jewishness" 70
Defining "Jewishness" 72
Jewish Mass Immigration 77
Entrepreneurial Ventures 84
Zabar's History 88
Evolving Demographics, Evolving
Cuisine 94
Chaos and Conflict at Zabar's 96
Continued
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Conclusion: Buying out of
"Jewishness" 105
III THE BEARABLE WHITENESS OF FOAM: THE RISE
AND FALL OF THE NEW YORK EGG CREAM 108
Introduction 108
Egg Cream Passion 109
The Semantics of "egg" and "cream" 113
Egg Cream Debates: Ownership and
Method 116
Semiotics of the Egg Cream 119
The Rise and Fall of Egg Cream
Popularity 124
Jews Become "White" 132
Foods Become "White" 140
Concluding Thoughts 142
IV BRING BACK THE BELT: NATHAN'S HOT DOGS
AMERICAN NATIONALISM AND CHANGING
JEWISH VALUES AND IDENTITY 145
Introduction 14 5
The Hot Dog, Coney Island and
Nathan's Link: An Early History 150
Transformation from Jewish Food to
New York Food to National Food 157
Nathan's and Competitive Eating
In American Culture 162
The Contest's History 165
Phase I 168
Phase II 171
Phase III 173
The Contest's Mechanics 176
The Contest Unwrapped 179
American Nationalism Defined 185
Foods, Jews and Class Revisited 193
V UPDATED FOOD, ALTERED ETHNICITY AND AN
EVOLVED CITY: NEW YORK CITY'S JEWISH
INFLUENCE 195
Introduction 195
Deli: "De-ethnicizing" Jewish Food 196
Portion Size and Jewish American
Abundance 198
Continued
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Making Choices: Individual Agency,
The Kosher Paradox and Recreating
Jewishness 205
Marketing Jewishness 211
A New Look at Walter Benjamin's
"Aura" 221
Final Thoughts- A Changing City:
Egg Creams to Empanadas,
Knishes to Jamaican Patties 226
BIBLIOGRAPHY 231
APPENDICES
A INTERVIEW CONSENT FORM 261
B FOOD ADVERTISEMENTS 262
C TABLE 1: THE SOCIO-CULTURAL ECONOMIC
MODEL OF NEW YORK CITY ICONIC JEWISH
FOOD 264
D TABLE 2: HOW CONSUMPTION EVOLVES THROUGH
THE PHASES 265
E TABLE 3: HOW COMMERCIALIZATION AND
PACKAGING EVOLVES THROUGH THE PHASES 266
F TABLE 4: HOW PLACE AND INSTITUTIONAL
STATUS EVOLVES THROUGH THE PHASES 267
G HOW CLASS EVOLVES THROUGH THE PHASES 268
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