Just a brief post to update you all about some recent media appearances that you can still check out (and one old, but still relevant one).
I am the guest on the most recent episode of the Jewanced podcast. (The date in the picture above was from when we recorded it, and it was viewable on Facebook.) One of the things I most enjoyed about this is that it is a long-form podcast, not edited down and squeezed into a half hour. Hosts Benny and Dan spoke with me in a free-flowing discussion of all things Jewish and Israeli Food History. We chatted for an hour-and-a-half, so feel free to listen in multiple installments. Lots of fun and interesting stuff that is sure to make you hungry! Find it on most major (and some minor) podcast platforms, or listen on Spotify via the link above.
I was also recently featured in the Jerusalem Post. I was interviewed about the history of the Shabbat stew, a topic I know a little bit about. The article focused on the phenomenon of Thursday night chulent in Jerusalem (though it has also spread elsewhere, by now). While I am still trying harder to find the origins of this “custom,” I maintain (and am quoted in the article as pointing out) that there is something peculiar about this practice that begs for an explanation. Chulent is a dish that was typically started cooking on Friday afternoon and left to stew through the night. If someone couldn’t wait, and snuck a bowl at night on Shabbat, that makes sense, as it was already cooking. But to actually have people selling it on Thursday night means that someone had to actively decide to make that pot a full day earlier! I have some speculations, but when I get up to the contemporary chapter in the book, I will definitely be digging deeper into that.
Finally, with Pesach just a week-and-a-half away, I wanted to offer one more option to help you diversify your Seder menu. Many years ago, when I still lived in Los Angeles, I wrote a short article (with recipes) about feeling free to broaden your Passover food palate.
I wish you all, in advance, a very Happy Passover. Enjoy the food, enjoy your freedom!
