Kugels & Collards: Savoring our Three Years of Success

By Rachel Barnett and Lyssa Harvey

Kugels & Collards began as a project of Historic Columbia’s Columbia Jewish Heritage Initiative. Begun in 2017, we have collected and published over thirty stories and fifty recipes from Columbia’s Jewish families. From a Lithuanian kugel recipe that made its way to South Carolina to flanken soup cooked for carnival workers at the State Fair to the southern fried chicken that graced many a Rosh Hashanah table, memories of food and family abound in Kugels & Collards.

One of the goals of Kugels & Collards has been to explore the “Southern Jewish” foodways.  Often embodied in local cultures that define Southern cooking, among the influences were African American traditional Southern cooking. These influences combined with traditional Jewish recipes, many from our immigrant grandparents and great-grandparents, birthed a food culture. The diversity of South Carolina’s Jewish food world is a thread that ties together the old and new.

Through this project, what we have come to know, is that food stories mark time and place for so many of our Kugels & Collards contributors.  We have gathered stories, photos and recipes from annual Jewish Food Events, family members, friends, long time Columbia residents and some that have only been here a few years. We have told stories of immigrants and Holocaust survivors that have come to America and to Columbia, SC without photos and recipes. Sharing their food memories of the past has been a way to remember for the next generation.  We have built a shared community through telling favorite Columbia Jewish food stories! 

Some individuals have written their own stories, some have been told to us, and some folks have been interviewed.  While sharing stories people have laughed, cried, and just smiled remembering times that revolved around food.  A couple of highlights from the past three years:

·       We recorded Belle Field’s (OBM) story. She was 102 at the time we interviewed her. She wrote a cookbook and remembered everything!  Belle’s story will be published in 2020!

·       One of our contributors mentioned the Jewish Food Booth at the SC State Fair. This sparked conversation and another story by Jackie Dickman wrote about her father’s role in the SC State Fair Jewish Food Booth in the 1950s and 1960s.

Thanks to the wonderful staff at Historic Columbia, especially Katharine Allen and Chandler Yonkers for helping to create this unique site.  The stories posted have revisited memories around the table and kitchen.

As the creators of Kugels &  Collards it has been an honor for us to witness how this blog has become a place to gather and store memories, recipes and photos of so many.  The community that we are building keeps growing. During this stay at home time, food has become almost a lifeline for daily activity for many. Cooking lessons, sharing recipes via digital platforms has become the new normal. Many of us are discovering how to cook for the first time or learning new techniques (sour dough starter or bread baking anyone?). It is against this backdrop that Kugels & Collards may be more important than ever. We know that there are so many more Southern Jewish food stories that people want to share.  One of our favorite outcomes is learning that everyone wants to talk about food!  We invite you to connect with family and friends by sharing your family’s food stories and recipes.

Let us know if you want to be part of the Historic Columbia’s Jewish Heritage Initiative by telling your Columbia food story with Kugels & Collards.