The Venetian Jewish ghetto turned out to be a surprising cultural crossroads and culinary mixing bowl—and one of the many dishes adapted and enjoyed by Venice’s Jews was artichoke risotto. As Venice marks 500 years since the creation of the ghetto and and as the new spring crop of artichokes Read more…
No traditional Jewish-Italian hamantashen exists. But don’t worry. One thing I learned early on and I see played out every year in recipe compilations is that these triangle-shaped pastries, like kids in their Purim holiday costumes, can be just about anything. Even deliciously Italian-themed. Hundreds of years ago, that would Read more…
At Hanukkah, what comes before the frying? The oil, the very precious olive oil. I set out to learn more about olive oil and its connection to holiday, history, and heritage—and celebrate the flavor of the oil in a delicious Italian recipe, Spaghetti Aglio e Olio. Besides sporting simply beautiful flavors of Read more…
Looking for Hanukkah ideas? Try this special version of my rice and cheese balls, which landed on the Jewish Food Experience’s “Top 10” List—the fried foods to explore after you’ve had your fill of latkes and sufganiyot. And although these Italian-inspired delicacies make a good fit for the deep-fried holiday, Read more…
The Italians excel at making simple ingredients delicious, something I’ve admired over and over again on my Jewish-Italian culinary exploration. Take bruschetta. This appetizer that you find in both Italian and Jewish-Italian recipe collections is simply toasted or grilled bread, garlic, and good extra-virgin olive oil—ridiculously basic and ridiculously irresistible. Read more…
Every year I seem to find a new way to love butternut squash, and this year it’s as part of my new recipe, Butternut Squash Bomba di Riso. It’s an Italian-style risotto rice casserole that I originally developed for Sukkot but that would warm up any cool night. Read my post over Read more…
This cheesecake really is as luscious as it looks here. It’s just the right balance between sweetness, creaminess, and hazelnut-chocolatey goodness. It’s so creamy that I added “mousse” to the title. And even better? This is a no-bake cheesecake, making it especially friendly to the warm weather season when you Read more…
Passover, let me introduce you to my newest sweet friend, the chocolate lava cake…wait, what? You know chocolate lava cake’s Italian grandmother? Seriously? Yes, that’s right. Lava, molten, or pudding cakes with that luscious liquid chocolate center might seem like a hot, hot, hot contemporary fad, but the concept has Read more…
A request for a nondairy “green” dip for Passover this year got me thinking about what I could make using as many fresh ingredients as possible—as well as thinking about Passover challenges from previous years. On the Jewish Food Experience Web site, read my featured post about this new original recipe. When asked Read more…
Years ago, I found a recipe for a clementine cake made with ground almonds. This sponge-style cake (getting most of its body from beaten egg whites) enticed me as a contrast to a Christmas dessert buffet of heavy, creamy, and chocolate-y confections. The way my imagination rendered the recipe, it Read more…
Although they are scrumptious, hamantashen aren’t the only thing to enjoy for the holiday of Purim, beginning sundown on March 4. After all, you need a little something to counterbalance all that sugar, right? According to culinary historian Gil Marks, one traditional Jewish-Italian dish for the holiday is the Venetian Read more…
Spring might seem pretty far away for many of us (I write as a wicked winter wind howls outside my window), but in Israel, the earliest blooming trees are starting to shake off winter. Marking that is the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, or the new year for trees. One of Read more…
This recipe pretty much had me at crusty pasta. But then it got even better. The top and bottom crispy layers of thin egg pasta noodles (tagliatelle) give way to a tender interior of soft noodles and beef and sausage—all unified by a broth-based sauce. Besides pasta with crunch, I Read more…
Chocolate babka caught my eye, well, first because of the chocolate, of course. But it also intrigued me because it keeps company this time of year with other sweet yeast breads stuffed with more sweets—the German stollen and especially the Italian panettone usually scented with citrus and filled with dried Read more…
If you’re lucky enough to be bringing dessert (my favorite assignment) to Thanksgiving or another holiday gathering this season, you’ll likely be making or buying a pumpkin pie. And that’s one pie that truly benefits from a dollop of homemade whipped cream (if dairy will be permissible). This year I Read more…