Category: Holiday Food
Episode 4 – Charoset: And Other Symbolic Holiday Foods
Charoset is eaten at the Passover Seder, but unlike many other foods, its origins are a bit less clear. It is certainly ancient, but it isn’t mandated in the Torah, as is matzah. Furthermore, we know that it is a symbolic food, but what EXACTLY is it a symbol of? By exploring charoset, as well as many other symbolic foods […]
What Is Kitniyot?
Before I even get into the discussion explaining what kitniyot is, I need to express a caveat. The very topic I am about to explore is one that often leads to heated discussions and debate full of emotion and passion. I will not be making suggestions about what any person should or should not do or believe, nor about the […]
Episode 2 – Matzah: The Food That Sustained Us
Matzah (or matzo) is arguably the most Jewish Food there is, eaten annually for Passover, especially at the seder, the formal Passover meal. This episode explores the origins of matzah, what differentiates it from other flatbreads, how it has changed over the millennia, how important it was throughout Jewish history, and what are some of the popular Jewish Foods that […]
What Are Keftes de Prasa?
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 […]
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 […]
Traditional Jewish Foods for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is an interesting holiday for the Jews. Certainly we are quite familiar with the concept of a thanksgiving feast; in Hebrew it is called a seudat hoda’ah, and it is commonly done for personal reasons by Jews around the world. But since, in America, it is one of the most widely observed holidays, yet does not come with accompanying […]
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 […]
Shavuot Foods – Deeper Than Dairy
When I first started this blog, over two years ago, one of the earlier posts I wrote was about the significance and meaning of eating dairy foods on Shavuot (the holiday that Jews will be celebrating this coming weekend). I reread that post last week in relation to a few interview requests I received, and since many of my current […]
A Traditional Purim Food (That ISN’T Hamantaschen)
The spirit of the Purim holiday (which is coming up next week), is one of near-reckless abandon, which shines through in the traditional Purim foods. This crazy-fun party holiday is one on which drinking is encouraged, even to excess (more on that in a future post), a festive meal is mandated, and gifts of food are traditionally exchanged between Jewish […]
The Jewish Connection to a New Years Soul Food Classic
One of the amazing things you uncover when you study food is the similarities between foods of different cultures. Flavors, cooking methods, symbolism and more — when similar things crop up in the cuisines of distinct cultures, they underscore how connected we all are, rather than the things that separate us. A symbolic New Years food from the American South […]