Exhibiting Jewish Culinary Culture

András Koerner was born in 1940 in Budapest. After receiving his degree in architecture he worked for several years as an architect. In 1967, he moved to the United States, where he continued the same career. Since his retirement, he dedicates his time mostly to writing and organizing exhibitions. He is author of the award-winning Jewish Cuisine in Hungary (CEU Press 2019).

"Andrâas Koerner is the author of a number of critically acclaimed, award-winning CEU Press titles on the cultural history of Hungarian Jews and Jewish cuisine. This volume continues that tradition by discussing the phenomenon of exhibits on Jewish culinary culture in museums and galleries around the world.The first part of the book provides an overview of the cultural history of "foodism" and the proliferation of Jewish museums. In addition, it examines the role of cuisine in Jewish identity. It offers an analysis of the history and recent examples of exhibitions on Jewish culinary culture, a subject that has not received scholarly attention until now.The second part complements this by offering a detailed case study of the book's subject. It showcases a 2022 exhibition in Budapest on the History of Hungarian Jewish Culinary Culture. Andrâas Koerner was the co-curator of the show, thus he is able to offer an insider's account of its implementation - concept, scope, goals, audience, and design. He also openly discusses the compromises made and mistakes committed in the exhibition's preparatory work.This subjective account, quite different from the dry objectivity of catalogues, offers an unusual, behind-the-scenes look at how a complex exhibition like this is prepared. At the same time, the book's appendix includes images of the display boards and some of the exhibited objects - thus it can also stand for a valuable ex-post catalogue"