ABOUT THE BOOK The Mensch Chef: Or Why Delicious Jewish Food Isn't an Oxymoron... Real Jewish food, without the guilt: Now, there's a challenge, and Mitchell Davis is up to it.

"Somewhere between the Exodus from Egypt and the migration to New York City's Upper West Side, Jewish food got a bad rap," writes Davis. He freely acknowledges that Jewish food is perceived as old-fashioned, greasy, and overcooked. Even the Jewish food that has gone mainstream -- bagels and rugelach, for example -- often end up a pale flavor imitation of their true selves.

Davis comes to the rescue with this collection of basic Jewish recipes, served up with big doses of humor. This is not a comprehensive book with impressive recipes, he says modestly. He wants readers to think of it more as the Ashkenazi ABC's, a book for those who want to cook Jewish food several times a year, probably during the holidays.

Davis offers delicious recipes for the mainstays of the Jewish table: gefilte fish, chopped liver, knishes and perogis, kugels, three kinds of brisket, roast chicken, carrot and sweet potato tzimmes, and all kinds of kosher desserts. He's got the basics, too: how to render schmaltz (both beef and chicken), how to make egg noodles and challah, and how to boil a beet are some of the instructions offered. Although the collection is clearly intended for the not strictly observant, each recipe comes with its own kosher status (milchig, fleishig, or pareve) and a tidbit or two (bissel in Yiddish) of advice. His mother's favorite recipe direction: "Salt it like you're salting the road."

The last sections of the book are particularly helpful -- a glossary of Jewish culinary terms, sources for specialty foods, and a strong list of other Jewish cookbooks. FROM THE PUBLISHER Great Jewish Food, Without the Guilt Here's the ideal cookbook for anyone who wants great recipes for matzo balls, mouthwatering kugel, or perfect brisket, but who can live without the how-to-host-a-seder advice or the laws-of-keeping-kosher overtones that dominate so much of Jewish cookery. The Mensch Chef is not just a cookbook; it's the new Bible (or maybe Talmud) of Kitchen Judaism, whose great questions don't concern eternal life, salvation, or evidence of a divine being, but rather: What's the difference between kreplach and knaidelach? How do you roast a chicken? Can you really make Passover cake that's edible?