medieval Jews enjoyed large meals only on Shabbat, festivals, circumcisions and weddings. For example, the Jews of Rhodes, according to a letter of Ovadiah Bartinura, 1488, lived on herbs and vegetables only, never tasting meat or wine. In Egypt, however, meat, fish and cheese were obtainable, in Gaza, grapes, fruit and wine. Cold dishes are still relished in the East. Generally, only one dish was eaten, with fresh bread daily. Some Jewish dishes frequently mentioned in Yiddish literature from the 12th century onward are brätzel, lokshen, pasteten, fladen, beleg. Barscht or borscht is a Ukrainian beet soup, best known are the berkes or barches (challah) eaten on Shabbat, and shalet (cholent), which Heine commemorates, and which the Spanish Jews called ani (hamin). Shabbat pudding, kigl or kugel in Yiddish, is also well known. Modern era In the United States, in particular, Jewish cooking (and the cookbooks that recorded and guided it) evolved in ways that illuminate changes in the role of Jewish women and the Jewish home. Jewish cuisine has also played a big part in shaping the restaurant scene in the West, in particular in the UK and US. Israeli cuisine in particular has become a leading food trend in the UK, with many Israeli restaurants now opening up sister restaurants in London and beyond. In the 1930s there were four Jewish bakeries in Minneapolis within a few blocks of each other baking bagels and other fresh breads. Jewish families purchased challah loaves for their Sabbath meal at one North Side bakery. There were two kosher meat markets and four Jewish delicatessens, one of which began distribution for what would become Sara Lee frozen cheesecakes. The delis sold sandwiches like corned beef and salami. In Chicago Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe ate a type of oatmeal cereal called krupnik that sometimes had barley, potatoes and fat added, and milk when it was available. Orthodox Jews continued to observe kashrut. Sweatshop laborers carried bagels, knish and herring to work. Jewish cuisine variations Jewish cuisines vary widely depending on their regions of origin, but they tend to be broadly categorized into Sephardi (Iberian and North African), Mizrahi (Middle Eastern and Central Asian) and Ashkenazi (Eastern and Central European) families. Still, there is significant overlap between the different cuisines, as Jews have often migrated great distances and as different regions where Jews have settled (e.g. Southeastern Europe) have been influenced by different