More than any other food, I feel that baba ta’mar are a tangible reminder of my Babylonian roots In 1942, my dashingly handsome grandfather Aba Naji arrived in Al Azair, a village in the south of Iraq, not far from Basra. Located on the shores of the west bank of the sweeping Tigris River and…
This delicious Bak’lawa Cake is a perfect marriage of Middle East meets American pound cake. My quintessential memory of my grandmother Nana Aziza is of sharing a cup of tea with her. Tea was a ritual for her and she always brewed a perfect cup. Of course, she called it “chai,” the Arabic word for…
T’bit is the Iraqi/Babylonian version of cholent, a wonderful slow cooked chicken and rice dish. There is nothing quite like watching a romance blossom. Last February, our friend Esther flew to Argentina with her daughter Miriam for the wedding of Miriam’s best friend, Raquel. Over the weeklong festivities, the groom’s close friend Oren spotted sweet Miriam…
The acidic pop of the cherry tomatoes contrasts deliciously with the herby umami of the almond basil pesto. Last Thursday morning, at Trader Joe’s on La Cienega, I was being my usual ridiculous self. I had two carts — one for Shabbat food for my home and one for a grazing table for the Sephardic…
My childhood memories are filled with cookies. Even more than they love cakes, Moroccans love their cookies. Ask an American child “What is your favorite cookie?” It’s most likely that they will answer, a chocolate chip cookie. But for me, the question of my favorite cookie is more complex. My childhood memories are filled with…
This week, Sharon and I share a a skillet chicken recipe that tastes like home. I am in possession of three passports. I was born in Petach Tikva, Israel. I grew up in Sydney, Australia. My family moved to Los Angeles when I was in high school. That’s a lot of moving around. And we…
The crown jewel of the Babylonian Jewish kitchen, kubbah are shells made from semolina stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, Italian parsley and onion. When Rachel and I started publicizing our latest Kubbah class, I was pleasantly surprised to hear from so many of my Ashkenazi friends that kubbah is one of their favorite…
A couple of Sundays ago, my family and I were blessed to celebrate the centennial birthday of my mother-in-law, Becky. A couple of Sundays ago, my family and I were blessed to celebrate the centennial birthday of my mother-in-law, Becky. Of course, turning 100 deserves a huge celebration. But over the last six months, she…
All of the seven species play a popular part in the cuisine of Sephardic Jews. But this week, Sharon and I wanted to highlight two particular ingredients — olives and nuts. When I met Alan 24 years ago, I told him that when my father takes him to his garden and shows him his plants…
When Neil and I found out that Rabbi Bouskila would be returning to Los Angeles for the bar mitzvah of close family friends, we knew this was our opportunity to throw a Farewell (until we see you soon) Party. If you’ve read our column over the years, you’ll know that the Sephardic Educational Center is…
A nutritional powerhouse, farro contains protein, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. I was definitely born with a piece of marzipan in mine! Traditional Moroccan sweets and desserts are delectable and oh so tempting. I start with one. I find it really hard to stop eating…
The wonderful thing about soups is that they are so nourishing and so comforting. Prepping the vegetables does take a little time, but once you throw everything in the pot, soup requires zero effort. As a young schoolgirl, many of my afternoons were spent at my grandparents home in Rose Bay. After school, my brother…
For Sephardic Jews, meatballs are rarely eaten with pasta. More often meatballs co-star with vegetables like potatoes, peas, zucchini, butternut squash, green beans and okra. For the extended Yaakovy family, Friday, October 6th was a joyful celebration of the festival of Simchat Torah at Kibbutz K’far Azza. At the end of the dinner, mother Sigal…
My memories of Hanukkah in Morocco revolve around the joy of family gathering together. My memories of Hanukkah in Morocco revolve around the joy of family gathering together. We lit one beautiful menorah presented to my parents by my mother’s father on the occasion of their wedding. My parents met and married in Larache, an…
One of the first, most harrowing images of the Hamas attacks of October 7th is of a wide-eyed and terrified Noa Argamani on an ATV surrounded by terrorists. It is heartbreaking to watch her cry out in fear, pleading ““Don’t kill me!” She reaches out her arms to her handsome, bearded boyfriend Avinatan Or. But…
My family and I celebrated our first Thanksgiving in Palm Springs in 1973. We had arrived in Los Angeles from Casablanca, Morocco, just after the Yom Kippur war. My family and I celebrated our first Thanksgiving in Palm Springs in 1973. We had arrived in Los Angeles from Casablanca, Morocco, just after the Yom Kippur…
Sharon and I decided we would make a batch of these very typical Israeli rolled-up cookies. When my cousin Dorit asked if her 15-year-old son Itay could fly from Israel to stay with us for the Summer of 2008, my answer was “Sure!” The more the merrier. Over the years, during our visits to Israel,…
Adeena Sussman’s latest New York Times bestselling cookbook “Shabbat” is an intensely personal love letter. Adeena Sussman’s latest New York Times bestselling cookbook “Shabbat” is an intensely personal love letter. An ode to her grandmother Mildred, her mother Steffi and her older sister Sharon, as well as the “sacred bubble” that her parents created every…
We really wanted to do something to gather women to show unity for Israel and to raise our voices in prayer for Israel and her brave soldiers Last week, Sharon and I organized A Challah Bake for Israel. It was a leap of faith because we didn’t have a lot of time to get the word…
It’s hard to write about something as trivial as food at a time when our beloved Israel is at war and when we are anxiously watching every heartbreaking bit of news. It’s hard to write about something as trivial as food at a time when our beloved Israel is at war and when we are…
A soup that reminds us how small we are in the scheme of the Universe. A soup that reminds us that life is a cycle and that we must go on, no matter that our hearts are completely shattered. Since the savage attacks targeting our brothers and sisters in Israel, we have all cried and…
