Passover (Chag Ha Aviv, or the holiday of spring) is meant to do more than recall the story of our Exodus from Egypt; it also is a time to celebrate the abundance of earth’s newest bounty of vegetables and herbs that have just sprouted. Nearly 60 days ago, on Tu’Bishvat we planted seeds that would…
Allison Kaplan Sommer took a foraging walk with Israeli Chef Moshe Basson. Check out what she learned here and read on for Passover recommendations and recipes from the chef. Maror When most of us think of bitter herbs on the seder table, we think of bottled beet colored or white horseradish bought at the grocery…
Yesterday, I listened to a country song on the radio, a lyrical lament of a time gone by, as country songs often are. But one line made me laugh: “sittin’ around the table don’t happen much anymore.” It doesn’t, at least not at my house Sunday through Thursday. Though my kids are still small, we…
American Jews are no strangers to competition. One might even say it’s the coin of the realm, especially when it comes to academics, the law, sports and synagogue politics. All the same, it might very well surprise you, as it did me, to learn that competition also encompasses the realm of food. No, I don’t…
I don’t know when it happened, but one day I started liking a little spice in my food. It started slowly, little by little, and before I knew it, I found myself sprinkling red pepper flakes or squirting Sriracha on many of my meals. Not to say that I don’t appreciate non-spicy cuisine. On the…
From Tu B’Shvat (Jewish Arbor Day), we may develop a clearer understanding that the well being of trees is intimately connected to the well being of all creation. From the point of view of practical Jewish philosophy and everyday living, the “Tree of Life” symbolizes the wisdom of the Torah: “Man is like a tree…
The date palm is tall and majestic. The olive tree locks oil in its plentiful fruit that anoints kings. The bountiful orange trees were the crown jewels of early Zionism. Yet it is the humble almond tree that grabs our attention when we celebrate the new year of the trees, Tu B’Shvat. According to the…
“Stop picking,” my grandmother always scolded, swatting away our little hands. “There won’t be enough for everybody else.” While waiting for the men to return from synagogue, my grandmother and all the women in our family busied themselves in the kitchen, beautifully arranging plates of food. We grandchildren stealthily poached samples from those plates, grabbing…
The way I always saw it, Shabbos dinner was a meal with a sizable reputation to uphold. It had to be not only festive, but also massive. When I was a kid, weekday dinner would involve a main dish, a side dish, maybe a salad. But a typical Shabbos meal at my parents’ house was…
In the Northeast, as winter creeps upon us and the weather seems to only get colder and brisker, one food seems to continually pop into my appetite: soup. As a self-proclaimed soup aficionado, I frequently find myself preparing new soup recipes, testing them out at Shabbat meals. Since my lentil soup proved a pre-fast hit…
Some know chef Mitchell Rosenthal from his favorably reviewed Town Hall, Anchor & Hope, and Salt House restaurants in San Francisco. Others associate him with his many years working with famous names like Paul Prudhomme and Wolfgang Puck. But what few know, is that Rosenthal got his start cooking traditional Jewish food at (the recently…
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