How Baba’s Surprise Pastries Kept Our Family Together

Good food is worth a thousand words—sometimes more. In My Family Recipe, a writer shares the story of a single dish that’s meaningful to them and their loved ones.

The packages began arriving in early April, a few weeks after the pandemic confined m…

Good food is worth a thousand words—sometimes more. In My Family Recipe, a writer shares the story of a single dish that's meaningful to them and their loved ones.


The packages began arriving in early April, a few weeks after the pandemic confined my father to his home. The first box contained sambusac, Iraqi pastries filled, variably, with chickpea paste, salted cheese, or a mix of nuts, sugar, and cinnamon. The next box carried kubbot, deep-fried Iraqi dumplings with ground meat, cumin, cardamom, and pine nuts. After that came jars of quince jam and Tupperwares of stuffed grape leaves, which we shared with our neighbors. The fifth box—this time at my son’s request—delivered gaurag, a crunchy Iraqi flatbread, packaged in enough Bubble Wrap to survive the flight from Los Angeles to the Bronx intact. It did.

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Our Community’s Most Treasured Hanukkah Traditions

Synonymous with Hanukkah are, of course, menorahs, dreidels, and latkes, but the larger meaning of the holiday is very much steeped in tradition, which translates to the food, decor, games, and practices that are held dear and passed along in Jewish fa…

Synonymous with Hanukkah are, of course, menorahs, dreidels, and latkes, but the larger meaning of the holiday is very much steeped in tradition, which translates to the food, decor, games, and practices that are held dear and passed along in Jewish families around the world.

We reached out to our staff and community to share their most treasured Hanukkah traditions with us, from seasonal foods to beloved gifting practices, in hopes they’ll bring a little light to this year’s holiday. Read on for some heartfelt stories, and maybe pick up a new tradition to bring home along the way.

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Why Did Hanukkah Become ‘Jewish Christmas’?

Every December, my holiday season officially begins when I arrive at my parents’ home and see the Star of David ornament glimmering from the branches of the Christmas tree. We don’t go to church; we eat latkes with our Feast of Seven Fishes (though Han…

Every December, my holiday season officially begins when I arrive at my parents’ home and see the Star of David ornament glimmering from the branches of the Christmas tree. We don’t go to church; we eat latkes with our Feast of Seven Fishes (though Hanukkah is almost certainly already over). Yet on December 25, there are a few moments that bring about true feelings of fellowship, dare I say spirituality, even for a group of distinctly not religious people.

“Christmas is America’s most popular national holiday,” writes Rabbi Joshua Eli Plaut in A Kosher Christmas: ’Tis the Season to Be Jewish. It’s the only federal holiday with a religious foundation that is celebrated both privately and publicly—in religious and secular households; in houses of worship and civil spaces. “Whereas Jews in the United States can participate in Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day celebrations, Christmas does not belong to all Americans…If not celebrating Christmas, then what is a Jew to do on Christmas in America?”

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My Nana’s Best Hanukkah Dish Was the One She Didn’t Make

I loved pretty much everything about my Nana. But her cooking? Well, that left something to be desired. We shared a passion for food, but not a palate—she stashed bite-size candy bars between the cushions of her couch, while I claimed salad as my favor…

I loved pretty much everything about my Nana. But her cooking? Well, that left something to be desired. We shared a passion for food, but not a palate—she stashed bite-size candy bars between the cushions of her couch, while I claimed salad as my favorite food at the ripe old age of nine. She was known to serve Cheetos on a silver platter at cocktail hour, and did a full-body jig with a glint in her eye when anyone mentioned dessert. I, on the other hand, planted gardens on the rooftops of museums and built a career on the backs of rare vegetables.

Still, when it came to Jewish food, Nana was discerning. She grew up in a kosher household, where “the meat was salted to death,” and she got used to looking beyond her own home for the good stuff—chopped chicken liver, pickled herring, matzo ball soup. While her friends cultivated their hand in the kitchen, she honed her skills for sourcing. Every holiday, she would pose the familiar question to the family: “What should we have for Hanukkah dinner?” We humored her, pretending that there was actually a choice to be made, while knowing full well that a tomatoey, slow-cooked brisket and simple roast chicken was the extent of her repertoire. A lover of anything fried and salty, though, she did get down with some greasy latkes.

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26 Hanukkah Recipes to Celebrate the Festival of Lights

Hanukkah, the Jewish celebration of light, is just around the corner and you can bet we’re breaking out the frying pans, potato graters, and tons of oil. But a whole lotta latkes (although delicious) aren’t the only way to observe the Festival of Light…

Hanukkah, the Jewish celebration of light, is just around the corner and you can bet we’re breaking out the frying pans, potato graters, and tons of oil. But a whole lotta latkes (although delicious) aren’t the only way to observe the Festival of Lights. There are so many crispy, crunchy dishes that commemorate the miracle of oil. From traditional roasted chicken and braised brisket to unexpected crowd-pleasers like asparagus latkes, here are 26 of our favorite fried foods.


Traditional Hanukkah Foods

1. Slow-Roasted Chicken With Extra-Crisp Skin

Celebrate the Festival of Lights with this foolproof roast chicken that’s perfect for a crowd, and especially great for beginner cooks hosting their first dinner for the Jewish holiday.

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Every Good Holiday Party Needs Latkes

I am known for throwing overly ambitious dinner parties. Sometimes they work out really well—usually when my guests are smart and bring lots of beer and a hefty salad. Sometimes they do not, and I’m pretty sure everyone ends up going throug…

I am known for throwing overly ambitious dinner parties. Sometimes they work out really well—usually when my guests are smart and bring lots of beer and a hefty salad. Sometimes they do not, and I’m pretty sure everyone ends up going through McDonald’s drive-thru when they leave my house.

My problem is that my imagination often outpaces my organization skills, which, I'll be honest, were never really that strong to begin with. 

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The Comforting Fusion of Matzo Ball Ramen

I hustled into Shalom Japan in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on a stormy Friday night. It was dimly lit inside and had all the ambience of a casual Japanese ramen joint. Inside the bathroom, there was an enlarged photo of a Levy’s Jewish Rye ad from the ’60s…

I hustled into Shalom Japan in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on a stormy Friday night. It was dimly lit inside and had all the ambience of a casual Japanese ramen joint. Inside the bathroom, there was an enlarged photo of a Levy’s Jewish Rye ad from the ’60s, which read “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy's real Jewish Rye” in large black letters, with a picture of a Japanese boy dressed in a white shirt and red tie holding his sandwich next to an open bag of Levy’s Jewish Rye.

There was only a handful of tables. I grabbed a seat at the bar with an open view of the kitchen to my right. A native New Yorker I had met in Berlin happened to be in town at the same time and joined me. I saw chefs Aaron Israel and Sawako Okochi busy at work and turned my attention to the menu, giving it a cursory glance. But we both already knew we were getting the matzo ball ramen soup. How could we not?

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Shannon Sarna Refers to Herself As A Pizza Bagel

I’m a pizza bagel (or a “matzo-rella” stick, depending on your preference), by which I mean I am Italian and Jewish—specifically, Sicilian and Eastern European Ashkenazi—which heavily influences everything I do in the kitchen. Italian- and Jewish-Ameri…

I’m a pizza bagel (or a “matzo-rella” stick, depending on your preference), by which I mean I am Italian and Jewish—specifically, Sicilian and Eastern European Ashkenazi—which heavily influences everything I do in the kitchen. Italian- and Jewish-Americans (and especially those of us from New York) have much in common: guilt, family, tradition, and of course, a passion for food.

While no food writer speaks for an entire culture, it’s important to note that “Jewish food” in particular is not a monolith. My family hails from Poland and Ukraine, which influences my palate and cooking style. And while many Americans are most familiar with Eastern European-inspired Jewish food, the Jewish people have lived in or been exiled to wide-ranging lands all over the world, including Syria, Tunisia, Lithuania, Yemen, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Iran, and Mexico—just to name a few. Much as I love matzo ball soup, pastrami sandwiches, and babka, there are so many other uniquely Jewish-American dishes, and stories, to tell.

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13 Celebratory Chicken Recipes for Rosh Hashanah

I grew up a Korean-American Presbyterian girl in New York’s lower Westchester county, in a town that was predominantly Irish and Italian-Catholic, but was also home to many Jewish-American families. I will always credit my best friend, Liz, who lived n…

I grew up a Korean-American Presbyterian girl in New York’s lower Westchester county, in a town that was predominantly Irish and Italian-Catholic, but was also home to many Jewish-American families. I will always credit my best friend, Liz, who lived next door, for being my gateway into a lifelong exposure of Jewish culture: lighting candles on Hanukkah; accompanying her to temple where we’d chase each other (instead of her going to class); cracking up over Mel Brooks movies on our sleepovers; her trying to teach me to read Hebrew; and how my first teaching job out of college was at a Hassidic preschool in Stamford, Connecticut.

As Morah Caroline, I taught children how to make challah, led brachas before meals, and kept Kosher in my professional life (while downing non-kosher everythings at her nearby apartment after work). The memories of being an “honorary member” of a Jewish family remain truly some of my happiest, and still make for the best times as an adult, right down to having a hora at my Korean-Presbyterian-Taiwanese-Colombian-Catholic wedding!

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12 Questions About Schmaltz With Jake Cohen

Jake Cohen’s debut cookbook, Jew-ish, has the challah and latkes and matzo ball soup. But it also has biscuits with pastrami and milk gravy, kugel-ified mac and cheese, and pumpkin-spice babka. Which is to say, it’s Jewish but it’s also, well, Jew-ish—…

Jake Cohen’s debut cookbook, Jew-ish, has the challah and latkes and matzo ball soup. But it also has biscuits with pastrami and milk gravy, kugel-ified mac and cheese, and pumpkin-spice babka. Which is to say, it’s Jewish but it’s also, well, Jew-ish—a refreshingly personal take on how traditional recipes fit into messy modern life.

“I get very heated about steering away from my family’s tradition when it comes to many Jewish foods (just wait until you read my thoughts on brisket!),” Jake writes in the introduction. “But at the end of the day, we must celebrate any form of Jewish culture, old or new.”

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