Updates (about me and others)

Just a few quick updates about my work, and also about a few friends and colleagues.

First and foremost, I want to announce my upcoming return lecture tour in the United States! After a very successful trip in the fall of 2021 (the picture above is from my homecoming lecture in the synagogue I grew up attending), I have booked a return visit for 2 1/2 weeks at the end of February and beginning of March. I specifically aimed to reach communities on this visit that I did not get to last time around, so I am currently booked in South Florida, Las Vegas, Maryland, Manhattan (which I did go to last time around), and Buffalo. You can check my events page to see my upcoming schedule, and I will update it as more information comes in. A few events are private or booked for the local community only, but others are open to the wider public.

That being said, I do have some openings still in the schedule, so if your community would like to hear me speak, even though this is fairly last minute, I’d love to try to make it work. In particular, I had a Shabbat program booked for February 24-25 in South Florida which unfortunately had to be canceled late in the game. So I’d love to book something else for those days, ideally in the same area (Miami, Hollywood, Boca, etc.), though I am open to going somewhere else so long as I can fly there on Friday morning and get out on Saturday night. Additionally, I have open days currently on Monday Feb 27 and Wednesday Mar 1, so if it works out schedule and location-wise, I’d be happy to book something then as well. If you’re interested, please be in touch! Finally, if you’re interested in just meeting up along the way, I’m free during the day most days, and would be happy to see if we can work something out.

Recent Press

I’ve also had some coverage recently in a few articles, that might interest you. I was honored to be interviewed for the newsletter of the new (soon-to-be-opened) Galilee Culinary Institute, an exciting new venture in the north of Israel. In the interview, I got to speak a little about my views on Jewish Food, Israeli food, and some personal background as well. And I should say that if you’re looking for a unique culinary school experience, you should definitely look into GCI!

Additionally, Faith Kramer, who recently released 52 Shabbats: Friday Night Dinners Inspired by a Global Jewish Kitchen, cooked one of the recipes from my free e-cookbook Chulent & Hamin: The Ultimate Jewish Comfort Food. She made the Kurdish mevoseh with kubbeh dumplings, and included her take on the recipe in her article for J. The Jewish News of Northern California.

Spreading the Love

Finally, I wanted to share some news about friends and colleagues whose work I admire. For starters, two much anticipated Jewish Food books are now available for pre-orders. Adeena Sussman (with whom I recently held an awesome Zoom discussion about Shabbat stews from around the world), has a realease date of September 5th for her upcoming Shabbat: Recipes and Rituals from My Table to Yours, her follow-up to Sababa. I look forward to seeing both her traditional recipes and her fresh takes on older classics!

Leah Koenig, meanwhile, recently announced that her long-awaited book Portico: Cooking and Feasting in Rome’s Jewish Kitchen will be released on August 29th. Italian Jewish cuisine is having a bit of a moment, with two recent cookbooks on the subject being released, Cooking alla Giudia by Benedetta Jasmine Guetta and Jewish Flavours of Italy by Silvia Nacamulli. But Italian Jewish cooking (like Italian cooking overall) is rather varied by region and community (a topic I address in relation to Shabbat stews in the book I am writing). So I am very much looking forward to learning more about Roman-Jewish cuisine via Leah’s new focused work on teh subject!

Last but not least, I wanted to highlight a recent article. In “Waste with Taste: Peels, Stems, Tops and More” for Moment magazine, Micah Siva writes an interesting article focusing on traditional frugal Jewish cooking methods for a more sustainable kitchen. One of the people she interviews is Sibel Pinto, founder of Action Kashkarikas, a project aimed at inspiring people to waste less in the kitchen. I had written a (much less in-depth) article about such foods for The Nosher some time ago, and had the pleasure of meeting Sibel during my recent visit to England in December, where we both spoke (and attending each other’s talks) at Limmud Festival. And I will likely be meeting Micah soon, as she is coming to visit Israel shortly!

So, pre-order those books and read those articles! And if you want to see me in the States, be in touch!

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