The last time I was in Israel was at the time of one more war in Gaza. People looked anxiously at the sky, scared of the falling debris of Hamas’s mortars. Those who lived closer to the border with Gaza took their deck chairs out to the hills and rooftops every evening. While drinking beer…
Tea smoked salmon and sweet potato curry. Jews living in India experienced peace, tolerance and respect for millennia. The subgroups of Jews living there were quite distinct from one another in their practices, folkways and food. The Jews of Kerala, around the city of Cochin, are often seen as a single unit — but they…
Turns out there’s hope for the president’s bagel predicament. When Forward Editor-in-Chief Jane Eisner what type of bagel he liked best, he waxed nostalgic over the poppy-with-a-schmear he used to pick up at the original H&H Bagels on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He expressed shock that the iconic establishment had bitten the dust — it…
This is an occasional column in which the writer evaluates a new cookbook by making some of its recipes, sharing the dishes with friends and asking her guests what they think of the results. She recently cooked her way through “The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen: A Fresh Take on Tradition,” by Amelia Saltsman. With an Iraqi…
This is the fourth in a series of pseudonymous essays by The Treyfster. The pieces explore the forbidden milk and meat foods from the point of view of a person who used to keep traditionally kosher. I once spent an hour or so meditating on the biblical verse from Exodus 23:19 “You shall not boil…
A Canadian classic, now in its 14th printing, offers basic information about Judaism, along with . What do you do when you’re stranded on a desert island and one day you remember you’re Jewish? It’s been so long since you observed anything Jewish that you have only a vague idea how to organize, or re-organize,…
1) “Hudson Street” kibbeh with bulgur teardrops, spiced beef, pinenuts and preserved lemon yogurt at in New York 2) Green shakshuka with spinach, asparagus, pickled onion, zucchini and goat cheese with honey from New York’s Shuka Truck 3) Ice cream sandwich made with chocolate semifredo between two tahini cookies, with cherries and pistachio at Zahav…
Oh, to have lived in New York when the Danish was king! For the first part of the 20th century, the buttery pastry could be found in virtually every bakery and diner across the city. Filled with raisins, sweetened cheese or jam, they were the ideal on-the-go breakfast indulgence to complete a cup of coffee…
דאָס בוך איז גרונטיק געפֿאָרשט, לעבעדיק אָנגעשריבן — אָבער אידעאָלאָגיש באַפֿאַרבט
