A symbol of hospitality, families bake batches for holidays, family celebrations and visits with friends and relatives. If you are friends with any Sephardic or Middle Eastern Jew, you’ve probably heard of ka’ak, traditional ring shaped cookies. Ka’ak are flaky, crispy and savory, sometimes generously coated with sesame seeds or flecked with anise. Deceptively simple, they…
This recipe is traditional and personal at the same time, which feels fitting. Natalie and I met at the Dr. Sandwich restaurant on Olympic Boulevard, when she introduced herself after recognizing me as one of the Sephardic Spice Girls. I was lucky enough to meet her sweet children and lovely husband and we felt like instant…
Nowadays, as a mother and grandmother, I need to cook healthy, nutritious meals and sweet potatoes are one of my favorite ingredients. My career in retail started early. As young children, my brother Rafi and I would accompany my mother to various Westfield malls in Sydney, where she worked as a manager at David’s World of…
This week we share our column with one of our favorite Instagram bloggers, New Yorker Jeff Mosczyc (pronounced Mah-zik). As the son of a German immigrant father and a first-generation Hungarian mother, his mouthwatering, meat-centric recipes reflect his Ashkenazi background. Father’s Day is bittersweet. The patriarch of our family, my charming, devoted paternal grandfather Aba Naji…
Who doesn’t love potatoes? And this potato carpet recipe is sure to satisfy the potato lovers in your life. Forgive me, dear reader, if I bore you, but my heart is full. My heart is filled with gratitude and joy that each of my three girls has reached momentous milestones in their lives, Baruch Hashem. Over…
This creamy, saucy pasta is a perfect way to showcase the delicate green vegetables of spring — fresh asparagus, green peas and fava beans. Last week, I flew to New York to attend my eldest daughter’s graduation from my alma mater, Yeshiva University. Of course, every trip to NYC is just an excuse to eat at…
I especially love the way Kalamata olives play against fish, adding a perfectly intense and satisfying umami profile. Bathed in the warm, golden glow of the afternoon sun, the ancient ruins of the Parthenon and the Acropolis stand sentinel above the city of Athens. Strolling through the narrow cobblestone streets, these ancient ruins draw my eye with…
With Memorial Day here and the official start of the summer grilling season, we offer you a recipe for delicious for Moroccan-spiced chicken skewers. Of all the sights and sounds and smells of my (almost) eight years in Casablanca, one of the most striking is the memory of the street vendors who gathered around small charcoal…
Let’s just say, Shavuot gives us a wonderful, guilt-free excuse to indulge in this guava mango cheesecake! My grandmother did not have elaborate silver candelabra for her Friday night candles. As a little girl, I can remember her sitting at her kitchen table, a silk chiffon scarf casually draped over her head, lighting her candles,…
I learned to bake scones as a young girl in Australia. I’m still amazed that simple ingredients like a bit of flour, butter and whole milk can be transformed into such delicious bites. For the past 26 years, it has been my privilege to host our family Mother’s Day brunch. I love doing it. I…
While I may never taste authentic Iraqi masgouf, the moist, flaky, bites of this delicious fish recipe is a flavorful compromise that I can live with. In the telling of his youth in Baghdad of the 1940s, my father often spoke of the mighty Tigris River. It flowed directly in front of his childhood home…
Nowadays, most Fridays find me breading and frying schnitzel. At the age of seven, I staged an angry, foot-stomping protest. For my entire life until then, the week had revolved around Friday night kiddush at my grandparents’ home in Rose Bay. My grandmother always served Kubbah (meatballs encased in a semolina shell) in an okra…
The transmission of these bureka recipes from generation to generation is a way of retaining heritage and history in Sephardic communities around the world. Let us introduce you to the original bureka. The bureka is a tangible, edible reminder of the Expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian peninsula in 1492. The shrewd Sultan Bayezid…
This challah has a soft, fluffy, airy texture, with a wonderful chewy crumb, a hint of sweetness and an enticing golden crust Alongside all the esoteric wisdom that is imparted during the holiday of Pesach, there are some really basic, but rather important lessons that this holiday has imprinted on me. The first lesson is…
They are perfect for a Mimouna table because they are flourless and can be baked during Passover, before Mimouna. Mimouna is the joyous celebration of springtime and good fortune, of friends and family. It’s a huge party to mark the conclusion of Passover and to invite blessings for the beginning of the agricultural season. In…
Every Passover, I prepare a truly delicious gluten-free granola. I use lots of nuts and seeds (pistachios, walnuts, almonds and pumpkin seeds) and dried fruits (apricots, dates and cranberries). One of the most breathtaking experiences in my life was flying over the Italian Alps. In 2013, my 17-year-old niece Devorah was studying at the Chabad…
This creamy blended soup is filled with lots and lots of vegetables. Leeks and onions, carrots and celery, turnip and potatoes, all punctuated by the earthy, buttery, nutty flavor of the fava beans. A few nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with one thought in my head. This year, my beloved Papi…
Morocco has always had a deep connection to almonds, where they have grown for centuries and where they are central to many festive foods. The oil embargo of 1973 and the global economic recession that followed had a direct impact on my family in Sydney, Australia. Mortgage rates skyrocketed and my father had to pivot…
We made this recipe Passover-friendly because who doesn’t need an easy one-skillet dish that is healthy and delicious!?! My uncle Menasse loved a good dark, spicy fish dish. Whenever our extended family gathered around the Friday night table, I enjoyed watching his excitement when the fish course was served. He was the one who would…
Pickling Juice 1 cup water 2 cups white vinegar 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/4 cup sugar 2 tbsp kosher salt 1 tbsp curry powder 1 tbsp turmeric In a large pot, bring the water, vinegar, sugar, salt and spices to a boil over medium heat. Vegetables for Pickling 1…
Tangy, bright and filled with irresistible umami flavor, turshi is the perfect complement to burgers, kebabs and chicken, as well as the perfect foil for eggs and salads. Recently, Alan and I had a very humorous discussion of the psychological divide between Ashkenazim and Sephardim on healthcare. We always joke that Alan knows a lot…
