Historic Savannah Foundation will host a special discussion on “Jewish Foodways in the Lowcountry South” as part of the 2024 Historic Savannah Foundation Lecture Series, “People, Places and Stories 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 Historic Savannah Foundation’s headquarters, located at 321 E. York St. Attendees are invited to a wine reception at 5:30 p.m. The discussion will start at 6 p.m.

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. “We’re delighted to have Rachel, Lyssa and Rabbi Haas lead this informative discussion on Jewish foodways in the Lowcountry and encourage everyone to join us for this next installment in our popular lecture series.” 

Additional speakers in HSF’s 2024 Lecture Series include Becki Harkness and Sarah Ward discussing “Nominating the Kiah House for the National Register of Historic Places” in honor of Preservation Month on May 16 and Patt Gunn discussing “Susie King Taylor and the Making of Taylor Square” on June 20. 

For more information about the HSF Lecture Series, please visit myhsf.org.