Cooking the books: Six exciting new Jewish foodie reads
Alex Galbinski looks through new books with the wow factor for the discerning Jewish News cook
Alex Galbinski is a Jewish News journalist
Good Food by Sina Mizrahi
Recipe writer and photographer of the blog Gather A Table, Sina Mizrahi shares more than 160 recipes inspired by her Middle Eastern roots and the places she has called home.
The flavours are fresh and bold and the recipes include dishes for casual and holiday meals, home-made spice blends, Instant Pot directions and tips to increase your confidence in the kitchen.
Artscroll/Mesorah £31.40
Sephardi by Hélène Jawhara Piñer
Hélène Jawhara Piñer, who has a PhD in history, medieval history and the history of food, has meticulously researched the history of the Sephardic Jews.
Using sources from the 13th century onwards, such as medieval cookbooks, Inquisition trials and poems, she has recreated recipes (adapted for modern cooks) and created new ones to ‘bear witness to the culinary richness of the Sephardim, conversos, who were able to bring their cuisines to life wherever they went’. A feast for the senses as well as the memory.
Academic Studies Press £29.50
52 Shabbat by Faith Kramer
Food writer and recipe developer
Faith Kramer shares recipes and flavours from around the world to help you spice up your Friday night meal.
Recipes are divided into chapters based on the seasons, along with sections on side dishes and accompaniments, desserts and fundamentals.
Recipe pairings are suggested, incorporating easy substitutions to make Shabbat meals accessible for any lifestyle.
The Collective Book Studio £29.99
Vegan, at Times by Jessica Seinfeld
If you’re a meat-eater, fear not, as Jessica (the wife of the also-famous Jerry) won’t try to convince you to become vegan or shame you for eating meat (she and her family aren’t vegans either).
Instead, she wants to show you how easy it is to be a vegan at times, by cooking flavoursome, affordable and robust plant-based meals whenever you want – be that every day, once a week, or just once in a while.
Gallery Books £22.23
Freekeh, Wild Wheat and Ancient Grains by Ruth Nieman
Ruth Nieman combines the ancient history of the Israelites with new ways to cook and enjoy grains from which our modern way of life has distanced us. She shares recipes using freekeh, once collected by Ruth in Boaz’s wheat fields in Bethlehem, as well as ‘wild wheats’ including emmer, spelt and Khorasan and ancient grains such as barley, sorghum and teff.
She also tells the stories of the people who grow and harvest the grains, smoke the fields and hull the husks.
Prospect Books £20
Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple by Aran Goyoaga
While this is not a Jewish cookbook, Aran Goyoaga – founder of the blog Cannelle et Vanille – who comes from the Basque region, northern Spain, has included some heimishe recipes suitable for the coeliacs or gluten intolerant among us, including challah (one of her most-requested recipes) and babka. The recipes, all of which offer dairy-free subsititutions or are naturally vegan, include breads, cakes, pies, tarts, biscuits and cookies. Sasquatch Books £25.95
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
