The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen A Fresh Take on Tradition

by Saltsman, Amelia; Madison, Deborah; Valentine, Staci

• ISBN13: 9781454914365
• ISBN10: 145491436X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-08-18
• Publisher: Sterling Epicure

Summary

Here, at last, is a fresh, new way to think about Jewish food. In The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen, Amelia Saltsman takes us far beyond deli meats and kugel to a world of diverse flavors ideal for modern meals. Inspired by the farm-to-table movement, her 150 recipes offer a refreshingly different take on traditional and contemporary Jewish cooking.

Amelia traces the delicious thread of Jewish cuisine from its ancient roots to today’s focus on seasonality and sustainability. Guided by the Jewish lunar calendar, she divides the book into six micro-seasons that highlight the deep connection of Jewish traditions to the year’s natural cycles. Amelia draws on her own rich food history to bring you a warmly personal cookbook filled with soul-satisfying spins on beloved classics and bold new dishes. From her Iraqi grandmother’s kitchri—red lentils melted into rice with garlic slow-cooked to sweetness—to four-ingredient Golden Borscht with Buttermilk and Fresh Ginger and vibrant Blood Orange and Olive Oil Polenta Upside-Down Cake, Amelia’s game-changing approach is sure to win over a new generation of cooks. You’ll find naturally vegan dishes, Middle Eastern fare, and new ways to use Old-World ingredients—buckwheat, home-cured herring, and gribenes—in fresh, modern meals.

Whether you’re Jewish or not, observant or not, Ashkenazic or Sephardic, this yearlong culinary journey through the Diaspora will have you saying, “This is Jewish food? Who knew?”

Author Biography

Since the publication of her first book, The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook, Amelia Saltsman’s name has become synonymous with intuitive, seasonal cooking.  She is regularly sought out for her expertise by such national—and disparate—publications as Vegetarian Times and Fit Pregnancy. She is a regular guest on KCRW’s “Good Food with Evan Kleiman” (National Show) and her writing has appeared in Bon Appétit, Cooking Light, National Geographic Traveler, The Jewish Journal, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Boston Globe. She is also a contributing editor to the annual food-lover’s guide, Eat: Los Angeles. Saltsman appears frequently at such venues as Rancho La Puerta, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Whole Foods Markets, and the offices of Google, as well as at restaurants, cooking schools, farmers’ markets, and Jewish community centers and synagogues around the country. She keeps in touch with her audience through her blog, AmeliaSaltsman.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and is a longtime member and panelist at the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) and Les Dames D’Escoffier International.