Hadassah Cook Book

Hadassah Cook Book

Medicine Hat had a vibrant Jewish community: although it numbered only about forty families, their impact on city life was substantial. As S.M. Selchen wrote in the Canadian Jewish Chronicle in 1954, “This tiny Jewish island among a non-Jewish populace of over 20,000 is exceptional material for the study of Jewish stubbornness and Jewish will for survival.” He noted Medicine Hat’s popular Jewish mayor, magistrate, and librarian. In 1947, when this cookbook was published, Medicine Hat’s population was only 13,600 (“Population Data”), but the Jewish community was already well established, as evidenced by its Hadassah organization, a charitable women’s group. Similar branches in Edmonton and Winnipeg also published cookbooks. This book includes several distinctively Jewish notes, such as unleavened holiday foods, “Gefillte Fish,” and an advertisement for kosher sausage. It also features recipes for “Chicken Chow Mein” and “Spaghetti with Meat Balls,” demonstrating the popularity of “ethnic” cooking (however corrupted) by the mid-twentieth century.

Canadian Hadassah Wizo Lillian Freiman Chapter

1947