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 […]
Tag: Italy
Updates (about me and others)
Just a few quick updates about my work, and also about a few friends and colleagues. First and foremost, I want to announce my upcoming return lecture tour in the United States! After a very successful trip in the fall of 2021 (the picture above is from my homecoming lecture in the synagogue I grew up attending), I have booked […]
Jewish Food Names We Rarely Think About
When people think about Jewish Food names, they often come up with those that are derived from Hebrew, Yiddish, or Ladino, or those that are clearly tied to Shabbat, holidays and other Jewish celebrations. And yet, there is another category of Jewish Food names that many overlook, but which are the most obvious, since they display their Jewishness as openly […]
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 […]
Alternate Chanukkah Food Traditions and Their Surprising Sources
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 […]
Thank God for Food Spoilage
Traditional Jews have a wide array of food blessings, based on the type of food being consumed. We thank God with a different bracha (blessing) for creating grain products, fruits or wine, for example. These add up to an expression of our gratitude to the Creator for providing us not just with sustenance, but with a variety both nutritionally and […]
Respectfully Responding to Reem Kassis (Re: Bagels)
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. […]
No, Virginia, Haman Did NOT Have Pointy Ears
Hamantaschen: those triangular stuffed cookies that so many of us eat on Purim. What do they actually have to do with this holiday? The answer is actually more complicated than you might think, but not as asinine as some might make it out to be (i.e. there actually is some mild significance). The most common explanations you will hear are […]
The Unknown Jewish History of Bourekas
Bourekas are one of those foods that are uber-popular here in Israel, and becoming better-known around the world. But many people don’t know their country of origin — Turkey — and even fewer know that they were actually invented by Turkish Jews. Bourekas (or burekas or borekas or however you choose to spell them) are actually a true Jewish Food, […]
Mimouna Mutations and More
Particularly interesting about Jewish Food are the special food-related customs of specific Jewish communities around the world. The Malida ceremony of the Bene Israel Jews around Mumbai, the Ethiopian Beta Israel’s Sigd festival (as they break their fast) and Seudat Yitro (Feast of Jethro) for the Jews of Tunisia are but a few examples. But even more interesting is when […]
