Many well-known Jewish comedians and entertainers got their start performing at Borscht Belt resorts in the mid-20th century, including Mel Brooks, Jackie Mason and Joan Rivers. Actor and singer Eddie Fisher\u2019s career began at Grossinger\u2019s \u2014 legend has it that Eddie Cantor \u201cdiscovered\u201d Fisher while he was performing at the resort.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Like other Catskills hotels, Grossinger\u2019s was also beloved for its food. Though Jennie Grossinger\u2019s rye bread recipe was not included in her popular 1958 cookbook<\/a>, it did take on a life of its own as Grossinger\u2019s Country Club Rye Bread, which began mass production in 1954. It was the first kosher rye bread baked under rabbinical supervision by a major baking company, according to The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n The launch of Grossinger\u2019s Rye Cracker Board is meant to appeal to a broader audience, beyond the people who normally purchase kosher packaged goods, Salomon added. \u201cThis is all part of this kind of Catskill rebranding, if you will,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The rye crackers made their debut this past weekend at the third annual Borscht Belt Festival<\/a> in Ellenville, New York, dedicated to the Jewish nostalgia of the Catskills region. They will also be available for purchase online<\/a>, and customers can expect to see it on select grocery store shelves in the New York metro area by September, Salomon said.<\/p>\n Dalewitz, a \u201cserial entrepreneur,\u201d is president of Grossinger\u2019s Foods, which expects to put out a full line of Grossinger\u2019s branded kosher foods with Streit\u2019s, including an applesauce and possibly a wine.<\/p>\n \u201cThis brand is about food, but also about family, legacy, and laughter,\u201d Dalewitz said in a press release. \u201cWe\u2019re making something you\u2019ll love whether you remember the Catskills or are just discovering them.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the Grossinger\u2019s television show<\/a>, Salomon is producing the series with Alan Zwiebel, an early \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d writer who spent his childhood summers at the Catskills resort. \u201cThe Mountains\u201d will follow \u201cthe untold, multigenerational story of Jennie and Elaine Grossinger, the formidable matriarchs who transformed a humble Catskills boarding house into an empire of leisure, elegance, and resistance,\u201d according to Deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t Former Grossinger\u2019s proprietor Elaine Grossinger Etess, the daughter of Jennie Grossinger, poses with film and television producer Harris Salomon. (Courtesy Harris Salomon via JTA)<\/p>\n Salomon, whose previous credits include producing \u201cThe Dr. Ruth Show,\u201d acquired the rights to the Grossinger\u2019s family story in 2019, after the second season of \u201cThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel\u201d aired, in which the characters spend a significant amount of time at a Borscht Belt resort<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way they created that whole patina of the Upper West Side in the 1950s and 60s was just so beautiful,\u201d Salomon said of the hit Prime Video series, which ran for a total of five seasons. \u201cIt was bringing back a part of not only Jewish New York, but bringing back a part of New York that was genuinely lost, and it was so rich. I mean, even though I didn\u2019t live it, I had heard about it, and I think it was a part of the folklore, if you will, of all New Yorkers. And I wanted to do the same thing with the Catskills.\u201d<\/p>\n Salomon, who grew up in Westchester, told the New York Jewish Week he never had the opportunity to go to Grossinger\u2019s, which closed for good in 1986.<\/p>\n \u201cI was from a slightly younger generation, but it always fascinated me, because it was a lost world, really,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Salomon added that he hopes \u201cThe Mountains\u201d will be released \u201csometime in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
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