Have a hankering for ginger noodle kugel? Curious about how to make the best sweet potato latke? You’re in luck: “From Our Kitchens: Recipes and Stories from the Boston Jewish Community” is available for order now.
More than 150 women throughout Boston’s Jewish community offered up beloved recipes for the new book, vetted and perfected in 12 test kitchens throughout the area. Dishes skip from modern to traditional, Sephardi to Ashkenazi. All are kosher, but aside from that, anything is fair game. It’s not all kugel and matzah ball soup, either: Recipes are divided by season and tailored to events ranging from Shabbat dinners to backyard barbecues and seaside picnics, from challah to spicy Buffalo cauliflower bites and burgers and salads. Of course, there are dessert recipes for each season, too.
Learn to make deconstructed roasted tzimmes; whipped feta dip with marsala figs and pistachios; noodle kugel with ginger, cardamom and pistachios; traditional and sweet potato latkes; vegetable frittatas; cornbread salad with avocado and more.
All are from the heart: no intimidating zillion-step dishes or professional cooks here. In fact, recipes are interwoven with personal stories from the contributors, showcasing why the food matters so much to them. Home cooks snapped photos of their creations, too.
“It’s all about tradition. We’re all tied together by food and by tradition and by memories. Food binds us together, and it’s a connector. We share it in good times and bad times and have stories about it, and regardless of who you are and where you come from and what you do now, you have that bond over the memories,” says Judith Forman, CJP’s associate director of women’s philanthropy. “It’s different from other cookbooks because it’s a labor of love that came to be from members of our own Boston Jewish community. Not too many cookbooks can tout that group.”
The $54 purchase represents a multiple of 18, the numerical value of the Hebrew word “chai,” meaning life. All proceeds benefit CJP’s work of building communities of learning and action to better our world.
