Before we start talking about Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews difference food eating tradition, let’s differentiate and understand what the difference between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews is.
Sephardic Jews are from Mediterranean countries, like Spain and Portugal (“Sephard” is translated “Iberian Peninsula” from Hebrew). Sephardi are also subdivided into Sephardim (Jews from Spain and Portugal) and Mizrachim (Jews from Middle East and Northern Africa). The first Jewish settlers in America where Sephardic and organized their congregations in New York and Philadelphia. Most of the Jews in Israel are now Sephardic, particularly Mizrachim.
Ashkenazi (“Germany” from Hebrew) means the areas of land alongside the Rhine River. German tribes long time ago resided in these areas. Most of the Jews living now in America are Ashkenazi, as they are descendants of those big groups of Jews, who migrated from Germany in 1800s.
And due to this difference in locations and surroundings of Jewish people in different areas, where they lived, Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews different food eating traditions developed.
One of the main Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews different food eating traditions is that Sephardic food is more exotic, while Ashkenazi food is a lot more familiar and casual, for instance, traditional Ashkenazi food is gefilte fish or matzo ball, while Sephardic common foods are hummus and shakshuka.
Ashkenazi cooking traditions are less influenced by local cuisines, than Sephardic food cooking traditions. Sephardic Jews are mostly living according to Orthodox Judaism laws. Its is easy to notice Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews different food eating traditions during such holidays, as Passover, when Sephardic Jews are allowed to eat corn, rice, beans and peanuts (Ashkenazi don’t eat such products during Pesach). Sephardic Jewish cooking traditions are more integrated with local cooking traditions.
So where do the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews different food eating traditions come from? The main reason for such differences lies in location and the weather conditions. Ashkenazi Jews live in colder regions, such as Russia, Germany, Eastern Europe, and Sephardic Jews live in such warm areas as Morocco, Spain and Portugal, and other Mediterranean countries. For this reason, in colder areas the Jewish cuisine has to be more nutritious and heavier. At the same time, in Ashkenazi cooking you will usually see a lot of meat, pastry, bread, potatoes, pickled products, and so on. The sunny weathers of Mediterranean countries cause the use of such products, as fruits, spices, fresh vegetables, fish and other in Sephardic cooking. Use of such products in cooking makes meals a lot healthier, and at the same time more bright and colorful.
In some sense Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews difference in food eating traditions is not as significant, as it might seem. For example, there are some dishes, which are the same for both Ashkenazi and Sephardi, but they might be called differently and are cooked with minor variations (like special spices and flavors or different way of cooking the same ingredients).
And it’s not only the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews different food eating traditions that make the Jewish cuisine so varied, as nowadays Jews live all over the world in many different countries. Their cooking is slightly influenced by the countries they live in. Visiting Jewish homes around the world you would definitely be able to see Jewish dishes cooked with Moroccan or Russian flavor, Polish or American traditional products, but the taste of Jewish dishes is always delicious, no matter, Ashkenazi or Sephardic Jews cooked them.
