A favorite of the Ladino kitchen, the recipe for this traditional cookie dates all the way back to medieval Spain Our friend (Queen) Esther bakes the most amazing ma’amul cookies. Ma’amul are a traditional shortbread semolina cookie filled with dates, nuts and spices that originated in the Levant. They are very popular for every family…
For Purim, the Jewish communities of North Africa bake a special Purim bread roll called Ojos de Haman (eyes of Haman), with a whole egg cradled in the bread, with two strips of dough on top forming an X. The first time I remember receiving a mishloach manot is as a very young girl in…
Love is precious and this Persian Love Cake is the perfect way to show a little love to your friends and family. The stars were aligned the night I met Neil. It was February 10th, 1989 and it was at a Moroccan themed party held by the Sephardic Educational Center. My brother’s friend Yvette encouraged…
Ever since I was a small child, Dafina has been a favorite food. This Moroccan hamim (Shabbat stew) is the ultimate comfort food It’s been six years, dear reader! Six years of cooking and taking photos, sharing our recipes and stories, as well as trying to describe food using only one “delicious” per article. To…
I knew we had to reimagine my couscous salad with all the fruits of the land. Traditionally, the holiday is marked by eating fruits and nuts, honoring what grows and sustains us. Twenty years ago, I was watching Bobby Flay make tabbouleh on the Food Network and that inspired me. I had leftover couscous sitting…
These nostalgic pinwheel cookies are simply delicious. Perhaps you’ll bake them and create special memories for a child in your life. With the recent loss of my beloved Papi, my brothers and I are in the heartbreaking process of clearing out our parents’ home. It is emotional work, made up of long days sorting through…
This salad hits all the right notes—vibrant and satisfying, hearty and flavorful. Recently, I heard that most people have given up on their New Year’s resolutions by the second Friday in January. As someone who’s always writing about food, reading about food and watching food on social media, I think about food a lot. The…
This dish is so very simple to make, always delicious and extremely comforting For many, many years, on Friday nights, my mother-in-law Becky would walk into our Los Angeles home carrying her yellow Dutch oven. The heavy pot was tightly wrapped in a towel and inside sat her red rice. She would look at Neil…
Some recipes are not just about food. They are about memory and the people who taught us how to gather around the table for the simple pleasures of love and laughter and a well-made crêpe. My cousin Simy is the undisputed crêpe master of our family. At any celebration, at any brunch, if Simy was…
Like so many recipes of the old school genre, making potato kubbah requires time and patience. But the reward is great — completely yummy and totally comforting. The best Sundays of my youth were spent at Bondi Beach—its unique natural beauty, beach vibes and cosmopolitan vibrancy spoiled me for life. On one side of Campbell…
This week Rachel and I are thrilled to share our column with our friend Rinat to tell us about a unique Hanukkah tradition involving women. Last Thursday, Rachel and I fried up some burmuelos and took photos for The Jewish Journal. I was hungry and ate more than my fair share of these delectable cloud…
The name Messod means blessing and good fortune and my father was fortunate to live a life overflowing with both. In naming my father Messod, my grandparents, who spoke Haketia (a form of Judeo-Spanish) bestowed a blessing of goodness, blessing and good fortune. My father was born in 1930 in Larache, an ancient port city…
Baking challah is therapeutic and satisfying and I’m especially grateful for the spiritual opportunity to do the mitzvah of ha’frashat challah. It began as an experimental baking project when I was a busy young mother with three young children and adorable little nieces and nephews. As pre-schoolers, every Friday my boys brought home miniature loaves…
Chestnuts are really the unsung ingredient of festive holiday fare. We hope you enjoy this incredible recipe for golden turkey breast with potatoes and chestnuts. Chestnuts will always be a wintertime favorite for me. When I was younger, my father had his own way of celebrating the winter season — he would come home with…
This moist, tender cake perfectly balances fresh orange essence with the earthy notes of extra virgin olive oil. My father was literally the dark, handsome, silent type. A man of deeds, not words. Every morning, he would leave the house early. But before leaving, he would bring my mother a tray of toast in bed…
At my home, chicken is on the menu every Friday night. I can serve soup, salads, fish but a roasted chicken is always the star of the meal. Our friend Esther is blessed with a busy life (a lot of chesed and volunteering) and a home filled with family and lots of friends. She is…
Flan was popular in medieval Spain and Sephardic cooks were known for their simple, elegant desserts, transforming eggs, sugar and milk into something silky and soothing. Flan, a soft, creamy custard with a clear caramel topping, has always been close to my heart. As a young boy growing up in the port city of Larache…
We hope next time you bake challah, you try this wonderful savory babka recipe. Serve it warm with a pat of butter or a dollop of sweet jam. Between the ancient stone structures of the port city of Jaffa and the ultra-modern skyscrapers of Tel Aviv lie the charming, narrow streets of Neve Tzedek. It…
This recipe connects my family to generations of Moroccan Jews who ended their week the same way. Long before I light my candles, the smoky scent of my Moroccan fish signals that Shabbat is coming. Like my mother and my grandmothers before me, I serve my family and friends this flavorful, saucy fish dish every…
This hearty harvest veggie soup recipe includes my favorite cooking technique — roasting vegetables on a sheet pan. There’s an old Ladino saying, “Vinieron los huesos a su lugar,” which roughly translates to “Your bones have come back in their place.” It is a colloquial way of describing something that is restorative, to body and…
This classic slow-roasted chicken and rice dish is most emblematic of the Babylonian kitchen. Years ago, when Sharon and I were part of the Sephardic Educational Center’s Young Professionals, a large group of us would meet every Shabbat at Kahal Joseph Congregation. After the services, David and Sue, Sharon’s parents, would host all the singles…
