The Woman Who Made Microwave Cooking Into An Art
Image by iStock
At one point, James Beard Lifetime Award winner, cookbook author and culinary pioneer Barbara Kafka owned 13 microwaves. She even gifted her daughter with a microwave when she was headed off to medical school. In 1987, Kafka became a household name with her book “Microwave Gourmet,” the result of years spent puttering with her microwaves, during a time when microwave cooking was not viewed as legitimate by respectable chefs. “I hate it, I just hate it,” food doyenne Julia Child once said about Kafka’s cooking methods.)
If you’ve ever cooked your dinner in a microwave, you have Barbara Kafka to thank.
Kafka was married to Viennese Jewish immigrant Ernest Kafka and made sorrel soup, or schav, for Shavuot. Her chicken soup recipe is a thing of wonder (one of her tips: put the chickens in the dish whole for chicken in the pot).
She was also a ‘Russ and Daughters’ fan, as she mentioned in this interview: “But better is to go across the street, and go to Russ and Daughters for the fish and next door to the dairy store, then go to the bread place to get your little knishes.” Her One Pan Roast Chicken is likewise the perfect Shabbat dish.
I’ve made whole meals in the microwave and I know I have Barbara Kafka to thank. She was 84 when she died this week on June 1 in her Manhattan home. Rest in peace, Barbara Kafka. The food world will miss you.
Shira Feder often cooks in the microwave. She’s at [email protected]
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Make a Passover Gift Today!
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 3
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 4
Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Pope Francis’ final speech called for ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza war
-
Opinion Shackled, imprisoned and subjected to false accusations, Kilmar Abrego Garcia recalls the fate of Captain Alfred Dreyfus
-
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
-
Culture In Pope Francis, a voice for interfaith dialogue and against antisemitism
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.