When I was born, my mother gave my father three choices for my name. Sharon, Yael and Tamar. I was always grateful that he didn’t choose Yael because in Australia and America, Yael is often pronounced Yale. But I always wondered why he didn’t name me after his favorite thing in the whole world —…
As I contemplate Rosh Hashana 5787, my heart and mind are a little torn because our youngest daughter Shevy won’t be at the table. Baruch Hashem, she will be celebrating the holidays with her friends, teachers and Rabbis at Midreshet Moriah, a seminary in Jerusalem. I am so happy for her to have this incredible…
What could be sweeter than starting the New Year with a cake? The Ashkenazi custom of serving honey cake for Rosh Hashanah is well known. But in my Moroccan Sephardic family, the tradition is to bake cakes filled with dried fruit and nuts. This special recipe for a Fig, Date and Nut Cake transports me…
As newlyweds, Neil and I decided to travel and just enjoy our first year of marriage. We put off starting a family, not realizing that it’s not really in our power to decide when we will be blessed with a baby. After six months of trying to become pregnant, I felt that something wasn’t right….
For generations, Moroccan Jewish mothers and grandmothers prepared their dafina on Friday, knowing that it would sustain their families on Saturday. This past Shabbat, I made dafina and my home was filled with the unmistakable aroma of this special home-cooked hamin. This past Shabbat was my mother’s hazkara (annual commemoration), the fourth anniversary of the day…
This week, Rachel and I share our column with our good friend Jill Sharfman. She and I became friends when we were both young singles on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I returned to Los Angeles and she moved here too. While our paths crossed in social situations, it was when Rachel and I started…
The huge plus is that a super, simple sheet pan recipe results in a dish that looks so impressive and sophisticated. In the late 1960’s, when my grandparents emigrated from Israel to Australia, they lived in Hurstville. Their house was steps away from the Georges River in the quiet, idyllic Southern suburbs of Sydney. The only…
In the late 1960’s, when my grandparents emigrated from Israel to Australia, they lived in Hurstville. Their house was steps away from the Georges River in the quiet, idyllic Southern suburbs of Sydney. The only drawback was the distance. Hurstville was 15 miles away from Bondi and the Eastern suburbs, the center of Jewish life in…
A classic Australian dessert chocolate coconut slice features a rich, dense, fudgy chocolate base packed with dried coconut, finished with a thick cocoa frosting and generously dusted with even more coconut. The summer after I graduated from Yeshiva University, my parents decided to move back to Australia. They rented a beautiful old house in Rose Bay…
For me, and probably every other Iraqi Jew, kitchri is the quintessential meal of the Nine Days. For as long as I can remember, kitchri has always featured on the summer menu in the kichens of my grandmother Nana Aziza and my mother Nana Sue. A classic of the Iraqi Jewish kitchen, kitchri is both savory…
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…
