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| Jewish Delicacies Beguile the German Capital | |
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| BERLIN — Beige, boiled and usually packed in a gelatinous goo, gefilte fish is not the sort of dish that typically excites foodies. | BERLIN — Beige, boiled and usually packed in a gelatinous goo, gefilte fish is not the sort of dish that typically excites foodies. |
| But the plump pink terrine prepared by the New York chef Jeffrey Yoskowitz for Nosh Berlin, a weeklong food festival celebrating Jewish cuisine, was baked fresh and gluten-free. | But the plump pink terrine prepared by the New York chef Jeffrey Yoskowitz for Nosh Berlin, a weeklong food festival celebrating Jewish cuisine, was baked fresh and gluten-free. |
| “Gefilte fish can be sexy,” Mr. Yoskowitz assured the 150 people who gathered in late March in Kreuzberg, in the western part of Berlin, to taste some of the delicacies that had all but disappeared from the city’s shops and restaurants after World War II. | “Gefilte fish can be sexy,” Mr. Yoskowitz assured the 150 people who gathered in late March in Kreuzberg, in the western part of Berlin, to taste some of the delicacies that had all but disappeared from the city’s shops and restaurants after World War II. |
| In the past decade, thousands of young Jews from North America, Israel and former Communist states in Eastern Europe have emigrated to Berlin, lured by affordable rents, a growing technology scene and vibrant night life. They brought with them a taste for the sweet and savory dishes that had crowded their families’ dining tables at home. | In the past decade, thousands of young Jews from North America, Israel and former Communist states in Eastern Europe have emigrated to Berlin, lured by affordable rents, a growing technology scene and vibrant night life. They brought with them a taste for the sweet and savory dishes that had crowded their families’ dining tables at home. |
| Faina Shikher, a 22-year-old Moscow transplant, marveled at Mr. Yoskowitz’s chic presentation of gefilte fish, which is not an actual fish but typically a ground mélange of whitefish, carp and pike. | Faina Shikher, a 22-year-old Moscow transplant, marveled at Mr. Yoskowitz’s chic presentation of gefilte fish, which is not an actual fish but typically a ground mélange of whitefish, carp and pike. |
| “It was very different from the ones our grannies made,” which she said were more like bone-filled globs. | “It was very different from the ones our grannies made,” which she said were more like bone-filled globs. |
| That is part of the point. “It can’t just be nostalgia; it can’t just be your bubbe’s cooking,” Mr. Yoskowitz said, using the Yiddish word for grandmother. “This is a living food tradition.” | That is part of the point. “It can’t just be nostalgia; it can’t just be your bubbe’s cooking,” Mr. Yoskowitz said, using the Yiddish word for grandmother. “This is a living food tradition.” |
| Other Jewish transplants to Berlin, though, long for childhood favorites made just as they remember them. Enterprising expats have stepped in to satisfy their cravings for blintzes, kugels and kasha varnishkes, and to appeal to the denizens of the city’s flourishing foodie scene. | Other Jewish transplants to Berlin, though, long for childhood favorites made just as they remember them. Enterprising expats have stepped in to satisfy their cravings for blintzes, kugels and kasha varnishkes, and to appeal to the denizens of the city’s flourishing foodie scene. |
| Laurel Kratochvila, the food festival’s co-organizer and a native of Massachusetts, moved to Berlin six years ago and was appalled by what passed for a bagel at the city’s bakeries and cafes. Most were dry, stale and slathered with mayonnaise. | Laurel Kratochvila, the food festival’s co-organizer and a native of Massachusetts, moved to Berlin six years ago and was appalled by what passed for a bagel at the city’s bakeries and cafes. Most were dry, stale and slathered with mayonnaise. |
| “There was a lot of bagel ignorance in this town,” she said. | “There was a lot of bagel ignorance in this town,” she said. |
| So Ms. Kratochvila, 33, began slinging her own dough. She pored over old cookbooks and food blogs, adapting traditional recipes to make use of local ingredients. She served platters of her fresh bagels and traditional schmears to customers at Shakespeare & Sons, the English-language bookstore and cafe where she worked. | So Ms. Kratochvila, 33, began slinging her own dough. She pored over old cookbooks and food blogs, adapting traditional recipes to make use of local ingredients. She served platters of her fresh bagels and traditional schmears to customers at Shakespeare & Sons, the English-language bookstore and cafe where she worked. |
| When the hunger for her bagels began to rival the demand for books, the shop moved in 2014 to a larger location with an industrial kitchen. Today, she churns out as many as 18,000 bagels a month, supplying the bookstore and other cafes around Berlin, she said. | When the hunger for her bagels began to rival the demand for books, the shop moved in 2014 to a larger location with an industrial kitchen. Today, she churns out as many as 18,000 bagels a month, supplying the bookstore and other cafes around Berlin, she said. |
| Ms. Kratochvila and the chefs and food writers who participated in the Nosh Berlin festival are helping to fill in the gaps in Jewish cultural traditions since World War II. In 1933, roughly 160,000 Jews lived in Berlin, about a third of the Jewish population of Germany at the time. When the Soviets liberated the city in 1945, only a few thousand Jews remained, according to the Jewish Museum Berlin. | Ms. Kratochvila and the chefs and food writers who participated in the Nosh Berlin festival are helping to fill in the gaps in Jewish cultural traditions since World War II. In 1933, roughly 160,000 Jews lived in Berlin, about a third of the Jewish population of Germany at the time. When the Soviets liberated the city in 1945, only a few thousand Jews remained, according to the Jewish Museum Berlin. |
| The Jewish community was slow to return when the city was divided during the Cold War and the Communists ruled East Germany. In recent years, more foreign Jews have come to make the German capital their home. | The Jewish community was slow to return when the city was divided during the Cold War and the Communists ruled East Germany. In recent years, more foreign Jews have come to make the German capital their home. |
| One can now regularly find Jewish foods at grocery stores in Berlin, and increased immigration from Israel — the embassy here estimates as many as 15,000 Israelis living in the German capital — means dishes like hummus and shakshuka (a baked egg and tomato dish) frequently appear on restaurant menus around the city. | One can now regularly find Jewish foods at grocery stores in Berlin, and increased immigration from Israel — the embassy here estimates as many as 15,000 Israelis living in the German capital — means dishes like hummus and shakshuka (a baked egg and tomato dish) frequently appear on restaurant menus around the city. |
| “Israelis are convinced that Berlin is the New York of Europe,” said Tal Alon, 41, who moved to Berlin from Tel Aviv with her family eight years ago. In 2012 she started Spitz, the first Hebrew magazine published in Berlin since before the war. | “Israelis are convinced that Berlin is the New York of Europe,” said Tal Alon, 41, who moved to Berlin from Tel Aviv with her family eight years ago. In 2012 she started Spitz, the first Hebrew magazine published in Berlin since before the war. |
| “Germans really want Jewish life back in Berlin because it proves Germany has changed,” she said. | “Germans really want Jewish life back in Berlin because it proves Germany has changed,” she said. |
| Many of the places serving Jewish food in Berlin are kosher-style, but they don’t have the official — and expensive — rabbinical approval to be called kosher. Without having to conform to strict religious dietary laws, these restaurants and cafes can serve as lay centers of Berlin’s resurgent secular Jewish community, and foster inventive cross-cultural mash-ups. | Many of the places serving Jewish food in Berlin are kosher-style, but they don’t have the official — and expensive — rabbinical approval to be called kosher. Without having to conform to strict religious dietary laws, these restaurants and cafes can serve as lay centers of Berlin’s resurgent secular Jewish community, and foster inventive cross-cultural mash-ups. |
| Lauren Lee, the South Korea-born, Canada-raised chef and owner of Fräulein Kimchi in the trendy Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood of Berlin, serves kimchi-ramen burgers and Korean-style tacos. Recently, she added a new recipe: kimchi-fried latkes, a spicy twist on the traditional Jewish potato pancake. | Lauren Lee, the South Korea-born, Canada-raised chef and owner of Fräulein Kimchi in the trendy Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood of Berlin, serves kimchi-ramen burgers and Korean-style tacos. Recently, she added a new recipe: kimchi-fried latkes, a spicy twist on the traditional Jewish potato pancake. |
| Schlomo’s, a cafe also in Prenzlauer Berg, serves, among other things, handmade bagels with cured lox. Except for the Wi-Fi password — MAZELTOV! — the place is more hipster dive bar than Jewish delicatessen. The German-born owner, Nick Carter, 37, who said he had Jewish roots, pumps in a hip-hop soundtrack and hands out decals promoting his other business, a tattoo parlor. | Schlomo’s, a cafe also in Prenzlauer Berg, serves, among other things, handmade bagels with cured lox. Except for the Wi-Fi password — MAZELTOV! — the place is more hipster dive bar than Jewish delicatessen. The German-born owner, Nick Carter, 37, who said he had Jewish roots, pumps in a hip-hop soundtrack and hands out decals promoting his other business, a tattoo parlor. |
| The increased visibility of Jewish and Jewish-adjacent culture in Berlin has not escaped the attention of German officials, who extol in their tourism campaigns the community’s resurgence as “active, vibrant and gaining momentum.” | The increased visibility of Jewish and Jewish-adjacent culture in Berlin has not escaped the attention of German officials, who extol in their tourism campaigns the community’s resurgence as “active, vibrant and gaining momentum.” |
| Some Jews living in Berlin remain leery of drawing too much attention to their culture in a city that has been hostile to their heritage. Others worry about cultural appropriation, or turning their traditions into kitsch. | Some Jews living in Berlin remain leery of drawing too much attention to their culture in a city that has been hostile to their heritage. Others worry about cultural appropriation, or turning their traditions into kitsch. |
| “Jewish culture here is a bit superficial,” said Elad Jacobowitz, a 39-year-old real estate broker from Tel Aviv who moved to Berlin 13 years ago. “It doesn’t fit,” he said, sipping horseradish-infused vodka while listening to a klezmer band at the gefilte fish party during the Nosh Berlin festival. | “Jewish culture here is a bit superficial,” said Elad Jacobowitz, a 39-year-old real estate broker from Tel Aviv who moved to Berlin 13 years ago. “It doesn’t fit,” he said, sipping horseradish-infused vodka while listening to a klezmer band at the gefilte fish party during the Nosh Berlin festival. |
| Toby Axelrod, a native New Yorker who has lived in Berlin for 20 years, worried the city could return to the “Jewish Disneyland” it was in the 1990s, when tour companies shepherded tourists to so-called Jewish sites in Berlin that were of questionable provenance, she said. | Toby Axelrod, a native New Yorker who has lived in Berlin for 20 years, worried the city could return to the “Jewish Disneyland” it was in the 1990s, when tour companies shepherded tourists to so-called Jewish sites in Berlin that were of questionable provenance, she said. |
| Ms. Kratochvila, the bagel-maker and festival organizer, says she treads carefully so as to avoid rhapsodizing Jewish culture. | Ms. Kratochvila, the bagel-maker and festival organizer, says she treads carefully so as to avoid rhapsodizing Jewish culture. |
| “There’s a difference between something being hip and trendy, and something being fetishized,” she said. | “There’s a difference between something being hip and trendy, and something being fetishized,” she said. |