Category: Culinary History
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Empanadas
Makes 12–15 medium-sized empanadas Though many think of empanadas as South American savoury handheld pastries, they are in fact originally from Spain. The author of the Shulchan Aruch – Rabbi Joseph Caro (1488–1575) – writes about empanadas in his treatise on Jewish law. Empanadas travelled east with the Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, and many say that…
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In Search of the Lost Hummus
To Jump straight to Recipes with Chickpeas or to this Weeks Friday Night Menu. My Savta, my most significant “food-spiration” personality, the woman who remains the best cook ever (and whose family was Israeli for generations unknown and cooked only Israeli or Middle Eastern food), never once prepared hummus. Looking back, this seems—to my modern…
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Bagels: A History
Daniel and I have spent the last week in New York City, seeing friends and family but above all it seems we have spent the week eating bagels! Every single day, I have managed to have a bagel, perfectly toasted, filled bagel. I thought I would share with you one of my favorite histories, the…
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Matzah and the Holocaust
& Seder Essentials As many in the Jewish world gear up for Pesach, I’m also preparing for the March of the Living . I’m beyond privileged to be joining March of the Living UK this year as an educator, and I’m sure I will be sharing more about the experience. For now, though, as I…
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The Paradox Matzah
A Yemenite family celebrating the Pesach Seder at their new home in Tel Aviv in 1946. Photo: Zoltan Kluger/Israel Government Press Office Despite how difficult the last six months have been, even though October 7th started on the last day of Sukkot, Pesach is nearly upon us. And even in the darkest moments of our…
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Challah History Part 3
Covenant & Rollercoasters: “What matters in a covenant is not how big or small the group thereby included is, but the commitment. It is the undertaking of responsibility for others, knowing that they too undertake responsibility for us. In a covenant, what matters is not wealth or power but the transformation that takes place when…
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Challah History Part 2
& Interfaith Head Covering This week I had my first interfaith conversation since the 7th of October. Daniel and I have been involved in numerous interfaith initiatives since taking up our communal roles in 2014. It was, in fact, a big part of our lives. On the 5th of October we hosted an interfaith gathering…
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Challah History Part 1
Enjoy the amazing photo by the one and only Blake Ezra There is a Jewish belief that we can do positive commandments and teach Torah in honor of another person, so that our prayers on their behalf are answered. This week I will be making challah, and in my prayers will be my cousin Ari…
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Let’s Talk Babka
& Small Histories It’s hard to imagine that a cake, which you can probably buy in most Western bakeries today, was virtually unknown outside of Jewish bakeries in America and Israel until the 1950s. It took a 1994 episode of Seinfeld to bring it world renown. In the last 10 years, everyone has jumped on…
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Ptitim: The Food of Israeli Resilience
& a direct link to contribute to families and soldiers in the South of Israel in need. Can we talk about food at a time like this? Israel is at war. My children, my parents, my whole family live in Israel, except for a handful who don’t. They are fulfilling their dreams and a biblical…