Russ & Daughters: 100 Years of Appetizing
About this ebook
In 1907, a Jewish immigrant named Joel Russ landed in New York City, where he took a pushcart of herring and built a legacy that would pass down through fathers and daughters (and sons and husbands and wives) for more than a hundred years. Four generations later, the ancestral heart of Russ & Daughters continues to bustle on the Lower East Side, with three more locations throughout the city.
Over the course of a century, Russ & Daughters has fed hundreds of thousands of customers, many considering a visit to the original shop on East Houston a family tradition, weekly ritual, or New York experience. Now, for the first time, Russ & Daughters brings its world-famous institution into readers’ homes. Its rich history is told through insider anecdotes from the family and characters on both sides of the counter; illuminating guides to its most famed offerings—smoked salmon, sable, sturgeon, herring, and caviar; and more than 100 cherished recipes for favorite foods like latkes, matzo ball soup, babka, and bagels, among many others.
Nothing can ever replace the experience of taking a number, kibbitzing with a slicer, waiting in line, and ordering your whitefish or belly lox. Yet this book captures some of that infectious Russ & Daughters appetizing spirit, and most importantly, brings families and friends together around the table.
About the author
Niki Russ Federman is the fourth-generation co-owner of Russ & Daughters. At the age of 27, Russ Federman chose to return to the shop in which she grew up. Together with her cousin, Josh, she has grown Russ & Daughters into what it is today, while preserving its cultural and culinary legacy. Russ Federman has been featured in The Sturgeon Queens, the award-winning documentary about Russ & Daughters; television shows such as Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi and Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations; and publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Food & Wine, Zagat, Vogue, and W Magazine. She was inducted into the Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame and has an encyclopedic entry in the Jewish Women’s Archive. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Christopher, and two children.
Josh Russ Tupper is the fourth-generation co-owner of Russ & Daughters. Raised in an ashram in upstate New York, Russ Tupper was working as an engineer in Portland, OR, when the opportunity arose to join his family business at 26. He has been leading Russ & Daughters with his cousin Niki ever since. He has been featured in media outlets such as NPR, Food Network, The Travel Channel, Forbes, The Cut, Kinfolk, Lucky Peach, The New Yorker, and Vogue. He is also one of the subjects of documentary The Sturgeon Queens. Called “the Babka Baron” by the New York Times, Josh has been honored by the Museum of Food and Drink for his contributions to NYC food culture. He has taught at the YIVO Center for Jewish Research and Astor Center. Russ Tupper lives with his wife, Denise, and two daughters.
Joshua David Stein is a cookbook and children’s book author, journalist and restaurant critic. His work includes Notes from a Young Black Chef and My America, with Kwame Onwuachi; Il Buco: Stories & Recipes, with Donna Lennard; The Nom Wah Cookbook, with Wilson Tang; Vino: An Essential Guide to Real Italian Wine, with Joe Campanale; Jang: The Secret to Korean Cooking, with Mingoo Kang and Nadia Cho; Why I Cook? with Tom Colicchio and many more. Among his children’s books are What’s Cooking?; Can I Eat That?; Brick: Who Found Herself in Architecture; Solitary Animals: Introverts of the Wild and The Catalogue of Hugs. He lives in Brooklyn with his sons, Augustus and Achilles.
