Category: starters
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Hearty Minestrone Soup
Adapted from Silvia Nacamulli’s Jewish Flavours of Italy – Silvia’s book is lovely and a brilliant way to get to know one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities in Europe. Filled with family stories, history, and delicious kosher Italian recipes. This is a nourishing, comforting soup — thick with vegetables and Italian flavor. You can make…
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Debbie’s Onion Dip
This dip was inspired by our daughter’s friend Debbie. Our daughter Odelle loves everything about Shabbat: the holiness, the rest, the family time, the food — especially the salatim appetizer spread served with fresh challah. At Debbie’s house, she tried this amazing onion dip and couldn’t get enough of it; together we did our very…
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Large-Batch Fried Onions
A freezer stash of fried onions is one of my greatest kitchen time-savers. With almost no oil and a clever water-start method, adapted from America’s Test Kitchen, these onions cook quickly, evenly, and with incredible sweetness. I like to use Spanish onions for this recipe as they’re larger (which means less peeling) and I find I cry less when…
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Apple Butter
The ancient Jewish community of Persia (modern-day Iran) have a beautiful tradition of dipping apples and challah into apple butter — a smooth apple compote scented with cinnamon and cloves. If honey isn’t your thing, try apple butter instead. Recipe curtsy of Zahava Kahen. INGREDIENTS: Yields about 2½ cups METHOD: MAKE AHEAD: Keeps in the fridge for…
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Kreplach
Around the 16th century, Eastern Europeans started making filled pasta; probably the influence of both the Tartar invasion from Asia in the East and Italy in the South. Regardless, this was innovative. As hard as it is for us to imagine, it hadn’t occurred to the people of Northern Europe to boil their pasta; they…
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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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Israeli Salad Gazpacho
No self-respecting Spaniard would look at this soup and call it gazpacho. Traditional gazpacho is a humble soup born of frugality — a way to use up leftover vegetables, thicken them with stale bread, and create something nourishing and refreshing from scraps. It’s the Spanish expression of what the Italians call cucina povera — “the poor kitchen”…
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Falafel
Homemade falafel, fresh out of a fryer, is among the most delicious things one can make with chickpeas. Eaten across the Middle East and frequently referred to as the national dish of Israel, these little balls of joy can be found on street corners and supermarket shelves the world over. Such is their popularity that…
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Spinach and Feta Rolls (or Pie)
No Shavuot would be complete without these ubiquitous Balkan rolls of spinach and feta. That said, after every single year I’ve made them—and made a total fool of myself eating far more than I should—I ask, “Why only once a year?” Don’t be like me. Make these, and make them often! INGREDIENTS: METHOD: To Make…
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Hungarian Cherry Soup
A heady, creamy, sweet-and-tart soup served ice cold—a taste of Shavuot, the Catskills, and Carpathian nostalgia in every spoonful. I always wonder whether it’s nature or nurture that shapes our taste buds. I’ve yet to meet someone from Eastern Europe—especially the Carpathian Mountains, where my father’s family comes from—who isn’t obsessed with cherries. My father,…