Unlike my previous “What is…” post, this one does not look at a sub-community’s cuisine, but at a dish that is widely eaten by many different sub-communities. Keftes de Prasa, in brief, are leek fritters, beloved and eaten extensively throughout the Sephardic diaspora. From the above picture, you can see they look rather similar to potato latkes, but with some […]
Category: Classic Foods
So DID a Jew Invent Fish and Chips?
On more than one occasion in my writing, my Food Talks, and my tours in Machane Yehuda Market, I have repeated the statement that Fish and Chips, the great British favorite, was actually invented by a British Jew. I had read about this in multiple places, and it seemed legit to me. Then, a few weeks ago, I saw a […]
Wanna Date?
My latest article for The Nosher is out, and in it I discuss the Jewish people’s long and passionate love affair with dates. The fruit, that is. From ancient Biblical references, both literal and metaphoric, to ritual observances and customs, this shriveled brown sweet thing crops up repeatedly throughout our history. When you blend that with modern Israeli daring and […]
Jewish Food that Isn’t Ashkenazi or Sephardi
When I give my tours in Jerusalem’s open-air Machane Yehuda Market, I say something in my intro that sometimes confuses my guests. In discussing the diversity of foods that we encounter in the market, I explain there are foods from Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, and “Jews who are neither.” Usually, I get quizzical looks from those who can’t envision Jews […]
Five Metaphors for Israeli Cuisine
Many people argue that there is no such thing as Israeli cuisine. I find that argument ridiculous, and driven by ulterior motives, rather than a desire to actually uncover truth. Every country has its own cuisine (or cuisines), and Israel is of course no different. When I give my food talk “A Land of Milk and Mufletta: At the Crossroads […]
The Passover Foods That Unite Us
On Passover, many people highlight the food customs that divide Jews into different groups. One of the “worst offenders” in this context is kitniyot; Ashkenazi Jews have the custom not to eat foods such as rice, corn, sesame, and beans, while many non-Ashkenazim have no issue consuming such foods on the holiday. Still, as I wrote previously, it isn’t like […]
Jewish Food That Bugs You
So those burgers in the picture are not your standard type. But more on that a drop later. I want to focus on a topic that might bug some of you, but really shouldn’t. Kosher edible insects! For those who don’t already know it, hearing about kosher bugs might be somewhat surprising. We don’t eat pork or lobsters, but locusts […]
Media Updates
A few recent media updates for y’all… I had a lot of fun chatting with my friend Leah Jones for her podcast Finding Favorites, that explores people’s favorite things, without using an algorithm. Of course, for my favorite thing, we chatted at length about Shabbat Stews from around the world, the topic of the book I’m working on. So if […]
T’fina Pkaila: Something Old-New for the New Year
When it comes to cooking for the Jewish holidays, people fall along a menu-selection spectrum that runs from fully traditionalist (“I make what my mother made, which is what her mother made”) to rather adventurous (“I want to serve something new for the new year”). I’ve typically leaned towards the latter end of the spectrum, though I still look for […]
My New FREE Cookbook
Hey there! I’m happy to annouce the launch of my FREE giveaway cookbook, Chulent & Hamin: The Ultimate Jewish Comfort Food. As you probably know, I’m writing a book that explores the history of the Shabbat stew. This ecookbook is connected with that larger project, and contains 12 international (and delicious) recipes — a chulent recipe, a few hamin recipes, […]
