Historic Savannah Foundation is pleased to host a special lecture on “Jewish Foodways in the Lowcountry South” as part of the 2024 Lecture Series, “People, Stories, and Places that define Savannah.” This cultural discussion will feature Kugels & Collards authors Rachel Barnett and Lyssa Harvey as well as Congregation Mickve Israel’s Rabbi Robert Haas on Thursday, April 18 at the HSF headquarters, located at 321 E. York St., Savannah, GA. Attendees are invited to a wine reception at 5:30 p.m, with the lecture starting at 6 p.m.

The discussion will include Rabbi Haas addressing Savannah’s significant Jewish history, and authors Barnett and Harvey exploring the unique history and experience of Jewish foodways in the Lowcountry South.  

Barnett and Harvey’s book, Kugels & Collards, is a collection of recipes and essays from Jewish families who arrived in the South from 1791 to the present day. Published as a project of the Columbia Jewish Heritage Initiative and sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina and Historic Columbia, the book uses food as a lens to view the Jewish experience in the South and explores the merging of Southern and Jewish elements into the foodways that now define Lowcountry cuisine.

“We often focus on physical representations of history through buildings or monuments, but history can also be experienced through recipes that have been passed down for generations,” says Historic Savannah Foundation CEO and President Susan Adler.

 Historic Savannah Foundation’s 2024 Lecture Series is open to the public. Reservations are recommended, as space is limited. Attendance is free for Historic Savannah Foundation members and $15 for non-members.