– We bake Jewish cakes every day and it sells like just that. People love them, says Dagny Irene Tonstad-Torsteinbø. She runs Tonstad bakery in Sirdal. It was her grandfather who started making the baking stone in the 1970s. Since then, Jewish cakes have been sold in the bakery. The Jewish cakes are on the counter at Tonstad bakery. Photo: Privat And they are far from alone. The product is sold in many shops, especially in Rogaland. Have changed the name But the bakery Bakehuset has now chosen to change the name. Marketing director at Bakehuset, Gry Merete Thomsen, says that the product that used to be called Jewish cakes is now called smørbrødkeks with them. – We think it gives a good description of an otherwise traditional product in Rogaland. The name has changed this year, writes Thomsen. She further writes that they have no further comments on the name change. This is what the packaging for Bakehuset looks like now. Before, the bakery’s name was Jewish cake. Photo: Elise Pedersen / news – An honorary mention Rabbi Joav Melchior in the Mosaic faith community believes that the debate around the name Jewish cake is important. Rabbi Joav Melchior does not care about the name Jewish cake, but thinks the debate shows that people are trying to take care. – Personally, I don’t care if something is called Jewish cake, if there is evidence to show that it comes from Jewish culture. But the debate is important. It shows that you try to take care and don’t want to drag anyone down, says Melchior. At Tonstad bakery, the store manager says that customers have asked why the cake is called Jew cake, and whether it is right that it is called that. That is why she chose to investigate more closely where the name Jewish cake came from. – From our side, it is an honorable mention. Where we live, it is part of the cultural heritage, and shows that we have always been influenced by the cooking art of others. That is why we will keep the name. Recipe for Jewish cake from Henriette Schønberg Erken’s cookbook from 1914. Photo: Skjermdump / The National Library Various theories about the origin She adds that people with a Jewish background also come to the bakery and buy the Jewish cakes, and she has never experienced them caring about the name. – Then it is right that people know that it is a Jewish recipe, says Tonstad-Torsteinbø. But it is not easy to find out exactly why it is called Jewish cake. news has spoken to several people to get answers, and there are various theories about the background. Where does the name “Jew cake” actually come from? Wikipedia writes that Jewish cakes are the common name for a group of cookies with Sephardic origins in Scandinavian cooking. Sephardic Jews found their way from Spain and Portugal to Northern Europe around the 17th and 18th centuries, according to Wikipedia. Liv London, who has written the cookbook “Jewish food on Norwegian dishes”, also believes that the origin is that Sephardic Jews brought the cake with them 500 years ago, first to Denmark, then to Norway. – I don’t know why it has been named Jewish cakes here, whether it is because it was the Jews who brought it with them, says London. Henriette Schønberg Erken has written a recipe for Jewish cakes in a cookbook from 1914. A search in the National Library shows that the word Jewish cake was used by the Danish author Jeppe Aakjær in 1917. Hatem Ben Mansour, daily manager of the Antiracist Center, says that he knows about Jewish cake , and that he has not heard of negative reactions to the name. – If the cakes have a Jewish origin, then it is very strange if one does not continue to use the name. Then one hides Jewish history in Western Norway. Hatem Ben Mansour, who is the day-to-day leader of the Anti-Racist Centre, has not heard of anyone reacting to the name of the Jewish cake. Photo: ISMAIL BURAK AKKAN / news He says that the most important thing is to consult with those concerned, so that you are sure that you will succeed. – Talk together Joav Melchior in Det mosaiske trossamfund says that the names of food products can be based on negative stereotypes one has towards various minorities or ethnic groups, and that it is important to be aware of what one is saying and the meaning. – But if Jewish cakes are a description of a Jewish dish that has become part of Norway, it is good to preserve it, says Melchior. He emphasizes that he is not an expert on baking, and that he thinks it is more important to talk about what is now happening in the Middle East. – My encouragement is to buy a Jewish cake or sandwich biscuit and invite a Jew or someone else who is feeling bad these days, and talk together. It is perhaps a good thing that you can do the same thing as what you call the cakes.
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– The debate around the name is important – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
