Tel Aviv Festival Highlights Lost Culinary Traditions of Kaifeng’s Jewish Community in China
Foodish, the culinary division of the ANU Museum (formerly Beit Hatfutsot), is hosting a festival dedicated to the cuisines of vanished and little-known Jewish communities worldwide. Among the most intriguing is the Jewish community of Kaifeng, located in Henan province, central China. Kaifeng was historically significant as a former Song dynasty capital and a key Silk Road trading hub, with its local cuisine reflecting a blend of cultures and traditions. Unlike the spicy and oily Chinese cuisines familiar in the West, Kaifeng and Henan cooking emphasize subtle aromatic balance.
Sinologist Noam Orbach, who researched Kaifeng Jews at the Hebrew University and lived in the city for several months, explains that the community existed from the 12th to the 19th century. Jewish merchants, likely from Persia, India, or Yemen, settled there and built a synagogue in 1163. During the Ming dynasty, the emperor granted Jews seven Chinese surnames to integrate them into society, which helped preserve their identity after the community dissolved. A devastating flood in 1642 destroyed the Jewish quarter and synagogue, killing many. Subsequent destruction and assimilation, including intermarriage with Chinese locals, led to the community’s disappearance by the mid-19th century.
Kaifeng’s cuisine included dishes such as red and white rice puddings influenced by Islam and a unique peanut halva labeled halal. The community was nicknamed the "Tendon-Pulling Sect" for their practice of removing the sciatic nerve from meat, distinguishing them from their Chinese neighbors and resembling Muslim dietary restrictions. Today, very few identify as descendants of Kaifeng Jews, and official recognition is complicated by Chinese government policies and Jewish law differences. Some descendants have immigrated to Israel and undergone conversion.
As part of the festival, Chef Ronen Eliyahu at the Hilton Hotel in Tel Aviv will present three dishes inspired by Kaifeng’s culinary heritage, including veal cheek dumplings, smoked lamb shoulder with naan, and crispy fried sea bass with rice flour. Orbach notes that these creations are imaginative interpretations due to limited historical records. Kaifeng remains a modest, overlooked site with a unique cultural legacy, though the Chinese government denies the current existence of a Jewish community and has removed historical markers.
The Foodish festival (July 26-30) will also feature dishes from other obscure Jewish communities worldwide, including India’s Bene Menashe, Peru’s Bene Moshe, Italy’s San Nicandro Jews, Russia’s Subbotniks, Uganda’s Abayudaya, and Brazil’s Amazonian Jews, showcasing a diverse global Jewish culinary heritage.
