Hip Kosher: 175 Easy-To-Prepare Recipes for Today’s Kosher Cooks by Ronnie Fein. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2008. 228 pp. $16.95.

 OK, quick, when you hear the word "kosher," which foods come to mind? Gefilte fish, brisket, matzah ball soup, I hear you say. Kugel, challah, hot pastrami sandwiches.
 
 All tributes to the Jewish soul, Semitic comfort food, if you will, even darn tasty — but hip? No, I hear you exclaim with a skeptical edge to your voice, kosher food may be a lot of things, but trendy is not a word usually bandied around dietary-law observant kitchens.
 
 Well, what if cooks in those kitchens were preparing chicken with dates and toasted almonds, grilled salmon with pineapple-mango salsa or feta cheese quiche?
 
 Yes, says cookbook author and freelance food writer Ronnie Fein, with a little imagination and careful planning, those dishes can be just as kosher as matzah ball soup.
 
 Besides, Fein notes, much of the recent growth in sales and availability of kosher food products comes not from Jews or even from Muslims, Seventh-day Adventists or Jevovah’s Witnesses, all of whom might follow some laws of kashrut for their own religious reasons.
 
 Rather, many people who have turned to kosher food have done so because they believe that being kosher "is a cleaner, purer, more humane or healthier way to eat," the author writes.
 
 Kosher cooks used to be mostly of Eastern European descent, but today, they come from divergent backgrounds. Those "kosher home cooks have been exposed to the international tastes that influence modern American cooking trends," the author notes.
 
 Like all American cooks, they want to create quick, tasty meals. This book will help them in that regard by making it easier to adapt modern recipes for the kosher kitchen.
 
 But before demonstrating how, there is the obligatory "What Does Kosher Mean?" chapter, followed by an intriguing discussion of what the hip kosher cook keeps in his/her kitchen.
 
 So what manner of produce does the modern kosher cook keep on hand? Well, there’s the more traditional lemons, parsley, scallions, garlic and fresh herbs. But, in addition, look for limes, fresh ginger and fresh chile peppers.
 
 In the refrigerator and freezer, old-time staples still to be found include mayonnaise, yogurt, and frozen spinach, corn and peas. Less traditional feta cheese, olives and frozen pizza dough are there, as well.
 
 In the cupboard are the usual canned beans and tomatoes and packaged lentils and pasta, along with chicken, beef and vegetable stocks and sauces. But did your grandmother even dream of hoisin sauce, harissa and schug (hot condiments), sesame oil and coconut or soy milk?
 
 The book’s 175 recipes are grouped into 11 chapters — soup, salads, grains and pasta, fish, meat, poultry, eggs and dairy, sandwiches, vegetables, desserts and miscellaneous basics.
 
 Some of the "hippest" include rack of lamb with lemon-coriander crumbs, roasted pistachio-crusted salmon, rice salad with raisins and cashews, roasted asparagus with wasabi mayonnaise, and double-chocolate pudding and granola parfait.
 
 What’s that? You say you’re off to kasher your kitchen?