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Jennifer is the author of “A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma Fritzie's Kitchen” (a collection of recipes and stories from her family) and “Too Good To Passover: Sephardic & Judeo-Arabic Seder Menus and Memories from Africa, Asia and Europe” (an anthropological cookbook of Passover customs, Seder foods, and recipes from the Jewish communities of North Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, and Middle East).
THE PASSOVER STORY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF REMEMBERING Since the horrible October 7th attack on Israel and the subsequent rise in antisemitism …
With the majority of Jews in the United States being of Ashkenazic or Eastern European descent, there is a specific interest in …
Meatball dishes are popular in many cuisines around the world and some of the earliest recordings of meatball recipes can be found …
Hanukkah (from the old Hebrew verb khanakh meaning “to dedicate/consecrate”) is an annual Jewish celebration that commemorates the time when a group …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com Hanukkah (from the old Hebrew verb khanakh meaning “to dedicate/consecrate”) is an annual Jewish celebration that commemorates the …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com If you’ve always liked the idea of traditional American pumpkin pie, but simply never became much of a …
Did you know that in some Sephardic homes there is the custom of presenting a special Seder plate before the Rosh HaShanna meal, just like one does …
It’s the season for recipe testing for my Passover cookbook, and as I did with my first cookbook (A Fistful of Lentils) …
Each spring, Ginette Cohen would pack her suitcase with quatre épices and a box of Spigol spice packets, and fly from France …
After nearly 100 years, Streit’s Matzo Factory on the Lower East Side will be moving out. It’s especially sad to me because I …
Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Noam Sienna about his research and discoveries regarding henna in the Middle East and Mediterranean, and …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com The kosher food industry is getting more and more creative with their Passover food products, making life during …
Photo by Alan Caplan: “Ben & Jerry’s Charoset Ice Cream,” Israel
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com Silan (also known as Ha’lek) is an an ancient Babylonian date honey or syrup that many Iraqi Jews today prepare …
My friend Sarah Abrams just returned from a trip to Holland and sent me this photo of matze in the supermarket. The packaging …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com One cold January morning, I ran down to meet with Shmuel Legesse and learn how to make Ethiopian …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com Two months before Passover, Deanna Marcus starts saving her onion skins (yellow, white, and red), while June Hersh remembers her …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com Passover is almost synonymous with spring, and in Indian Jewish cooking all herbs, vegetables and fruits used for the …
“My mother never wanted a cleaning lady to help (for Passover) because she believed that wherever you were cleaning your chametz, you were also …
Today is Tu B’shevat, the Jewish holiday celebrating the new year of the tree in Israel, marking the beginning of its fruit bearing cycle. In …
As I complete the interview portion of my cookbook (with a total of nearly 85 interviews of individuals from 18 different countries!), …
As I continue to work on my Passover cookbook, I am struck by certain parallels between Passover and Thanksgiving. Just as Thanksgiving is …
This past April it dawned on me that I hadn’t even thought of creating a chapter on Georgian Jews for my Passover cookbook. …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com I had heard and read about a drink made from melon seeds, and it had always intrigued me. …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com Inspired by a simple rhubarb and scallion recipe in Amnun’s Bukharian cookbook, I decided to try working with …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com From Libya to Georgia, several individuals described to me the process of making their own special wine or …
Are you interested in learning about Sephardic food and history, right where it happened? Check out my friend Janet Amateau’s cultural walking tour, …
For the second night of Passover we went to a Tunisian Seder at Jennifer and Philippe’s on the Upper West Side. The …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com For the last night of Passover to break the bread fast, many Tunisians will go to a Tunisian …
Below is a list of all the necessary Seder foods, along with the variety of ingredients that individuals from all over the …
Dried fruit and nuts are among some of the most important ingredients used during the Passover holiday. Usually some kind of dried fruit (such …
My students often ask me, “How long can I keep my spices?” This is a hard question to answer as throwing out …
Recently a good friend of mine emailed me a photo of a lamb with only the subject line: “Want to share one …
Dates are used as a base in many of the Middle Eastern charosets. Sometimes they are cooked down into a pure syrup …
Did you know that in Iran it is often the tradition during the recitation of the Ten Plagues to shield the Seder …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com During my fall trip to Roosevelt Island (see post, “Roosevelt Island: My Trip To Instanbul), I visited Jale Turcihin …
Did you know that some of the most Sephardic of Sephardim simply do not eat rice at all during Pesach? Yes, it’s …
Now that Purim is over, many individuals begin their Passover cleaning as early as today, one month before the holiday begins. It …
Did you know that not every community uses a Seder plate? The Libyans instead place large portions of each symbolic food into …
Did you know that in Ethiopia it is the custom every Passover to break all the old ceramic dishes from the previous …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com After my last post (January 6, 2014) I decided that my first draft of Minestra Dayenu had in …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com This past November I bought a roundtrip ticket to Roosevelt Island to meet with Jale, a true …
When I first read about this traditional Italian Passover soup it was really the name that captured my attention. (What a great …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com The last time that Thanksgiving and Chanukah collided it was about 125 years ago, and next week Jews …
Lately I’ve been interviewing individuals from the Levantine countries of Syria and Lebanon. An interesting custom that has been described to me …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com This recipe is adapted from the one that I learned from Amnun Kimyagarov and his wife Zoya during …
One sunny Sunday morning in late August, I ventured out to Queens to meet Amnun Kimyagarov, the author of “Classic Central Asian …
We all know haroset. We all love haroset. And, come on, we all think that OUR family’s haroset is the best, no? …
This past summer weekend in June I took a trip down with my mother and my girls Micah and Sacha to visit …
Yesterday I was reviewing my Passover food interviews from Iraqi Jews, and found it interesting that in all of them the individuals …
Believe it or not folks, the wheat harvesting season for 2014’s Passover matzah has already begun! On June 28th an article was …
During my ongoing research into the Central Asian Jewish community I came across this supposedly well-known Afghani proverb mentioned in several sites: …
In this week’s Passover chapter, I am focusing on the Jewish community from Afghanistan and Bukharia (located today in the southwestern part …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com Even though this may be a dish served for an Iraqi Passover Seder meal, it is not something …
Through my Passover research I came across the concept of a layered matzah pie that is very popular in the Sephardic communities …
Other than Chanukah, Passover is without a doubt the busiest time of year for me professionally. During the month and a half …
An interesting article was written Passover week in The New Yorker about Manischewitz and how they turned commercially made matzah into such …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com Passover has passed over and we are now back to eating our favorite breads, cakes, cookies, crackers, and …
Celebrated at sundown on the eighth or final day of the Passover holiday (the seventh day for Reform Jews and those residing …
According to the Torah, the Paschal (or Passover) lamb (also known as the Korban) was first sacrificed and then offered to God …
As the first Seder approaches tomorrow night at sundown, it is the tradition in many homes to follow the ritual of b’dikat …
The story goes that while fleeing the land of Egypt, the ancient Israelites didn’t have time to wait for their dough …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com Several years ago I was invited down to a Passover demo at Kehila Kedosha Janina, a Romaniote synagogue …
Passover orders are rolling in and I wonder (as I do every year) how I will manage to do all of the …
Many ingredients that are innately kosher the rest of the year, may not be considered kosher during Passover week. While certain foods …
I know that none of these Passover-friendly products are traditional in any way, much less Sephardic, but in the weeks leading up …
©Jennifer Felicia Abadi: www.JenniferAbadi.com One of the most popular dishes on the Seder table is charoset, the fruity spread used to symbolize …
Now that Purim has ended the official countdown to Passover has begun folks! This is the time when many Jews begin the …
On February 12th I gave one of my Jewish food tours of the Lower East Side. I had three people on my …
I have to be honest and say that for a full two years I have been wanting to write a blog that …