During the course of two thousand years of life in the Diaspora, Jews have created a rich culinary tradition. Jewish food encompasses a plethora of tastes and flavors reflecting the particular traditions of the many Jewish communities worldwide specially in Los Angeles. Everywhere in Los Angeles Kosher restaurants traditional Jewish food is prepared according to the rules of kashrut (the Jewish dietary laws), such as the prohibition against consuming certain animals, the adherence to specific ways of preparing the meat for consumption, the prohibition against cooking or heating food on the Sabbath, and the prohibition against mixing meat and dairy products.
In all Diaspora communities in Los Angeles, traditional Jewish recipes in restaurants make use of local cooking practices and customs. Jews used locally available products, absorbed various traditions from their non-Jewish neighbors and interpreted them creatively in keeping with the laws of kashrut. Sometimes the term “Jewish food” is mistakenly understood as referring to the cooking traditions of the Eastern and Central European Jews. However, the cuisine of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern and Central Europe, itself composed of many regional culinary forms, is only one of several of Jewish cooking styles.
