For this edition of From the Jewish Food Bookshelf, I wanted to talk about the second of my top three resources for Jewish Food History. I previously wrote about Gil Marks’ excellent Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, which I reference repeatedly when looking into a topic. John Cooper’s Eat and Be Satisfied: A Social History of Jewish Food is a different […]
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 […]
Shabbat Stew Bonus Foods
Who doesn’t like a bonus? Whether it is extra money from your boss at year’s end or the proverbial cherry on top of your sundae, bonuses put an extra smile on our faces because the base was already good in itself and now we get even more goodness to add to it. And wouldn’t you know it? Jewish food has […]
The Persian Food that is the Most Jewish: Gondi
One of the more interesting sub-cuisines in our diverse canon is Persian Jewish Food. The Persian community (from what is today known as Iran) is one of the oldest Diaspora communities, dating back at least over 2600 years. The community’s food is aromatic, colorful and full of vibrant flavors. Yet, it is among the lesser known cuisines to non-Persian Jews. […]
Kosher USA (from The Jewish Food Bookshelf)
I’ve written a bit previously about American Jewish Food, a particularly rich and varied topic. Examples of such posts include my exploration of Jewish-American deli and the review that included books on bagels and knishes. But those posts have only barely scratched the surface, and there will be many more to come. But for now I want to focus on […]
Ashkenazi Food: Unrecognized Diversity
Anyone who has read my blog regularly knows that I try very hard to explore Jewish Food beyond the Ashkenazi staples that so many people think of when they think of Jewish Food. However, I also do my best to “defend” Ashkenazi food against the attacks I see as unwarranted. People think of it is boring, un-tasty, and monolithic. In […]
Cooking Jewish Culture: Passover Onion Rolls
Every year my mom used to make her Passover rolls, and over time I’ve seen many people use a generally similar recipe. Not sure when this was started or by whom (though I’m guessing it is Ashkenazi, as others would eat kitniyot, more than relying on matzoh meal), but it became very popular. I’ve tweaked it a bit, improving it […]
Media Updates
Just a brief post to update you all about some recent media appearances that you can still check out (and one old, but still relevant one). I am the guest on the most recent episode of the Jewanced podcast. (The date in the picture above was from when we recorded it, and it was viewable on Facebook.) One of the […]
New Passover Foods For Your Seder
I often hear people asking for new Passover foods, bored with the same stuff all the time. And while I clearly respect tradition, for this holiday especially I feel there is at least an argument to be made for not exclusively cooking what your mother and grandmother did. (Years ago, I even wrote an article — with recipes — just […]
The Best Way to Make Chulent
Although the book I am writing focuses on the history of the Shabbat stew (chulent, hamin, dafina, etc.), along the way I have also come across lots of interesting side notes and tidbits that accompany the story of the dish itself. In addition to things such as its influence on many other dishes around the world, extra “bonus” foods that […]