Skip to content
Taste of Jewish Culture

Taste of Jewish Culture

Food History, Plus

  • Home
  • About this Site
    • Who Am I?
    • About the Book
  • Hear Me Speak
  • Press
  • Contact

Tag: Israel

Beyond Bourekas: On Boyos and Bulemas
February 3, 2022

Beyond Bourekas: On Boyos and Bulemas

Classic Foods by FunJoel0 comments

Do you know what boyos and bulemas are? You may have even eaten one without realizing it, but more on that later. Some time ago, I wrote a post about the Jewish history of bourekas, mentioning in it that they were one of three Sephardic pastries commonly referred to as “The Three B’s.” Boyos and bulemas are the other two. […]

Read more
Understanding Israel… One Cup of Coffee at a Time
January 28, 2022

Understanding Israel… One Cup of Coffee at a Time

Articles by FunJoel6 comments

I had a lot of fun writing my latest article for The Nosher, all about Israeli culture and history, as seen via its coffee! In it, I answer such questions as: Why can you get espresso at any Israeli gas station? Why do some Israelis still order instant coffee there anyway? Why do Israelis call instant coffee a “miracle?” How […]

Read more
The Multicultural Jewish Food of Machane Yehuda
January 20, 2022

The Multicultural Jewish Food of Machane Yehuda

Classic Foods by FunJoel0 comments

As the most globalized nation on Earth, the Jewish people have a cuisine that is notoriously hard to define. But as Claudia Roden wrote in her The Book of Jewish Food, just “because a culture is complex this does not mean it does not exist.” Our food is multicultural, because we have been influenced by the foods of the people […]

Read more
2021: The Year in Jewish Food
December 28, 2021

2021: The Year in Jewish Food

Uncategorized by FunJoel0 comments

In what has now become an annual tradition, I’d like to welcome you to my Jewish Food Year in Review. To see how much (or little) has changed since last year, here is 2020’s Year in Jewish Food post. While the world has not yet fully emerged from under the cloud of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a lot to […]

Read more
Alternate Chanukkah Food Traditions and Their Surprising Sources
November 29, 2021

Alternate Chanukkah Food Traditions and Their Surprising Sources

Holiday Food by FunJoel0 comments

What are the Jewish Foods classically connected with Chanukkah (or Hanukkah, Chanuka, Hanuka, etc., choose your spelling…)? Most people would point to latkes or sufganiyot (potato pancakes or jelly doughnuts), or any of many other fried items from around the Jewish world, as the “traditional foods” for this holiday. And while I will not complain about fried yumminess (most things […]

Read more
My Jewish Food History Lecture Tour Schedule
October 5, 2021October 27, 2021

My Jewish Food History Lecture Tour Schedule

Food Talks by FunJoel7 comments

So I am heading to the States in a week, and will be delivering lectures on Jewish Food History, spread out over the next month. I would love to see many of you, either at lectures, or just to meet up in person. Below you will find my speaking schedule. A few with different titles are actually the same talk, […]

Read more
Yom Kippur Chulent (For Real)
September 15, 2021

Yom Kippur Chulent (For Real)

Holiday Food by FunJoel0 comments

One of the more intriguing things I’ve come across during my research on Jewish Food was a recipe for a Yom Kippur Chulent. (More accurately, it was a Yom Kippur Hamin, though I recognize that the term chulent is more recognizable for a number of my readers, so I grudgingly use it for ease of understanding!) I don’t mean a […]

Read more
The Freaky Ancient Grain Still Prepared Today and Connected with the Season
May 4, 2021May 9, 2021

The Freaky Ancient Grain Still Prepared Today and Connected with the Season

Classic Foods by FunJoel2 comments

If you’ve attended Hebrew School, or one of many Jewish Summer Camps, you probably know the Hebrew word for Spring: Aviv. It’s an ancient word, that appears multiple times in the Jewish Bible. The only problem is… it doesn’t mean Spring. Or at least it didn’t in Biblical times. Back then, it described a food product, one that is still […]

Read more
Respectfully Responding to Reem Kassis (Re: Bagels)
April 13, 2021

Respectfully Responding to Reem Kassis (Re: Bagels)

Classic Foods by FunJoel1 comment

If you spend time reading on the Internet about food history or Middle Eastern cuisine, chances are you recently saw a post by Palestinian-American cookbook author Reem Kassis in which she claimed that the bagel has origins in the Arab kitchen. I first came across it when my friend Sarah forwarded me an article from Serious Eats in which Ms. […]

Read more
The Classic Jerusalem Dish That Stands Up Against The Insta-trends
September 29, 2020

The Classic Jerusalem Dish That Stands Up Against The Insta-trends

Classic Foods by FunJoel1 comment

So many eateries these days build their concepts on how well a dish photographs. Instagram has changed the way people eat, and even the way some restaurants cook. Call me crazy, but while looks are important, the way a food tastes is way more significant! That’s why it is good to know that true classics hold up in popularity, even […]

Read more

Posts navigation

Older posts

About

Exploring Jewish Food History and its links to Jewish Culture.

Mailing List

My newsletter goes out no more than once a month. Stay updated on my writing, speaking engagements and other Jewish food info.

(By clicking “Sign Up” you agree to receive periodic emails.)

Subscribe

To get every post from this site when they are posted, CLICK HERE.

Any Questions?

What do you want to know about Jewish Food? ASK ME and I’ll try to answer in a future blog post!

Contact

Email: jewishfoodbook@gmail.com

Follow/Share

Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Instagram
Follow by Email
RSS
Twitter
Tweet
LinkedIn
Share
WhatsApp

Categories

Tags

Greece (5)Ashkenazic Food (10)Jerusalem (7)chulent (5)Pesach (7)Alcohol (6)Rosh Hashana (4)hamin (5)America (6)shabbat stew (7)bagel (5)Poland (8)Italy (8)Sephardic Food (8)pork (5)kosher (4)bourekas (4)Turkey (4)schmaltz (4)Hungary (5)Germany (5)Israel (13)Passover (9)

Recent

  • May 04, 2022 Kosher USA (from The Jewish Food Bookshelf)
  • Apr 27, 2022 Ashkenazi Food: Unrecognized Diversity
  • Apr 20, 2022 Cooking Jewish Culture: Passover Onion Rolls
  • Apr 05, 2022 Media Updates
Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Esfahan by OptimaThemes.