February 25, 2021
(JTA) — The heartwarming story has been hard to miss: A law professor is shopping at his local grocery store when sees an elderly woman struggling to get her favorite jam from a high shelf. Why is it her favorite? “I am a Holocaust survivor,” she says. “During the war, the family that owns the company hid my family in Paris.”
Tens of thousands of people — at least — have shared the...
February 12, 2021
By ASMA ALI ZAIN
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (JTA) — Last year, Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a treaty establishing diplomatic relations. But for more than a year earlier, diners in the UAE had already been finding their way to Jewish culture — via the home cooking of a South African expatriate.
Elli Kriel, a sociologist by training who moved here in 2013 when her husband was transferred...
February 11, 2021
By DANI KLEIN
(JTA) — Many industries were harmed in 2020, perhaps none as deeply as the hospitality sector. Nearly one in six U.S. restaurants had closed as of December, according to data from the National Restaurant Association.
Kosher establishments were not immune to the economic consequences of the pandemic: We saw iconic kosher restaurants permanently close this year, including Abigael’s in Manhattan, Casablanca in New Orleans, Wolf & Lamb...
January 16, 2020
(JTA) — Gladys Bourdain, who convinced an editor to publish the first article written by her chef son Anthony, has died.
Bourdain died in hospice on Friday in the Bronx, New York. She was 85.
She worked for nearly 25 years as a copy editor at the New York Times beginning in 1984, “developing a reputation as a strict grammarian on the culture and metropolitan desks,” according to an obituary...
November 07, 2019
NEW YORK (JTA) — Michael Solomonov, the award-winning Philadelphia restaurateur who was the first Israeli-born recipient of a James Beard Award, has joined the advisory council of an Israeli culinary school set to open in 2021.
Solomonov announced he was becoming the inaugural member of the school’s advisory council at a press conference in New York last week alongside Lior Lev Sercarz, an Israeli chef involved in the project.
Both...
September 27, 2019
By MOLLY YEH
This slow-cooked brisket is featured on season 4 of Molly Yeh’s Food Network show “Girl Meets Farm,” which captures her life on a sugar beet farm. Flavored with apple cider and maple syrup, it embraces Rosh Hashanah food traditions and, best of all, can be enjoyed at any time of day.
Serve with carrot hash with eggs and pesto for a decadent brunch, as seen on “Girl...
July 18, 2019
By SUSAN BAROCAS
When my 7-year-old son and I traveled to Budapest in 2002, we arrived at my friend Katalin’s flat at 11 a.m. It was already over 90 degrees F. and there was no air conditioning. We could barely make it up the five flights after some 30 hours of travel, but of course we were hungry.
Katalin, the daughter of Holocaust survivors who returned to Budapest after World...
July 08, 2019
By ALIX WALL
With summer barbecue season finally here, Americans everywhere will be firing up their grills and feasting on their favorite foods.
But many of our culinary indulgences come with a cost. We’re not just talking about foods that are overly salty, fatty and sugary. There are foods that actually raise your risk for developing cancer — including some much-loved American Jewish classics.
“You want to have a diet...
March 20, 2019
(JTA) — Chinese-Jewish chef Molly Yeh was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for best culinary host for her show “Girl Meets Farm.”
In an Instagram post, Yeh wrote that she is “completely verklempt” to be nominated.
View this post on Instagram
completely verklempt to be nominated for an emmy!!! ???? i am in the category of best culinary...
October 26, 2018
By JOSEFIN DOLSTEIN
(JTA) —Kristin Eriko Posner recalls feeling torn right before she finalized her conversion to Judaism. Though she felt an affinity to the religion from a young age and was eager to embrace the faith of her now husband, she worried that converting would negate another important part of her identity.
“I got really scared that if I became Jewish, it would overshadow the Japanese parts of myself,...