Now nearly five decades old, TV pioneer Molly Goldberg s work is creating a new audience for traditional Jewish cooking. And now he s helping others do the same. Originally issued in 1955, the book taught a generation of young cooks how to make potato latkes, liver and dumplings and carrot tzimmes, just like the ones from Grandma s kitchen. Readers trusted the author, even though she wasn t a real person. The program aired first on radio, then moved to TV in 1949.
Many critics view it as the first hit TV sitcom.
The series brought Jewish family life in the Bronx into millions of homes across the United States. To her viewers, Molly became everyone s idea of a Jewish mother, able to resolve even the most difficult situation with some of her homespun wisdom and a little potato kugel. So when Molly came out with a cookbook, fans snapped it up. Although the narrative was fiction, the recipes were authentic. The book became a standard reference for young women who wanted to cook the way their mothers and grandmothers did, at least for holidays and special occasions.