#shannon sarna

[kelly-clarksons]

kellyclarksonshow: Spreading holiday cheer with Michael Fassbender and the cast of #Mufasa @ lionking — @ aaron_pierre1 @ tiffmonet & @ kelvharrjr! PLUS highlighting another great org giving back @ prospectortheater and sampling #Hanukkah dishes with @ shasarna!

[mariacallous]

Paul Hollywood, you’ve gone too far.

Recently, the celebrity chef and co-host of “The Great British Baking Show” took to Instagram to share a hot take about Jewish food. Namely, that he thinks pickles are “absolutely disgusting.” In the approximately 30-second video shared on @britishbakeoff, Hollywood goes on a diatribe against the fermented cucumber. “As far as I’m concerned, they’re straight from hell,” he opens. He proceeds to bash pickles’ taste and appearance, comparing the popular snack to slugs and saying they “look terrible” and are “not human food at all.” 

We here at The Nosher could not disagree more. Pickles are a sour, bubbly and crunchy symphony of flavor. They’re a delicacy, and what’s more, they are an integral part of the Jewish menu. (Though, pickled vegetables are prominent in many cuisines across the globe, and not exclusive to Jewish food.) As Nosher Senior Editor Rachel Myerson once wrote, “[Pickles] were ever-present on my grandmother’s Shabbat table alongside chopped liver and egg and onion, a permanent chaperone to the pastrami sandwich at Jewish delis, and packed into self-serve containers at falafel and sabich shops in Israel.”

Additionally, Jews are central to the story of how pickles became so popular in the United States; Jewish immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries helped to bring pickles into the American consciousness through their sale of Kosher Dills and Half-Sours. 

This isn’t the first time Paul Hollywood has gotten Jewish food wrong. Famously, in season five, episode 2 of “The Great British Baking Show,” the contestants were challenged to make Hollywood’s recipe for an eight-strand “plaited loaf” with an even, golden bake. Not once during the episode does Paul or anyone else use the word “challah.” Even worse, when judging the “plaited loaves,” Hollywood claims “[braiding bread] is a skill which is dying off.” Considering the fact that Jews have braided challah for centuries and many continue to do so on Shabbat every week, Hollywood’s claim is simply not true. As Emily Burack wrote at the time, “It is quite possible that Paul, and everyone else on the show, has no Jewish friends.”

The entry for Paul Hollywood’s plaited loaf recipe in his 2012 cookbook “How to Bake” is equally misguided. First, the recipe is titled “Cholla Loaf,” which spells challah in a way that no Jewish person has likely ever spelled it. Additionally, he writes in the recipe description that challah is “traditionally served at Passover,” a holiday where Jews avoid eating bread and other leavened products.

Paul’s lack of accurate knowledge when it comes to Jewish food came up once more in season eight of “The Great British Baking Show,” when the contestants were challenged to make twisted rainbow bagels; another of Hollywood’s recipes that is inspired by Jewish food. 

“Paul Hollywood, neither a New Yorker nor Jewish, is a recognized expert in bread. But it was clear from this technical challenge that he has no idea how to make a proper New York bagel,” Shannon Sarna wrote in 2020. “At some point while tasting the results of the challenge, he even commented that a crispy exterior means that the bagel is overdone. I’m not sure he has ever visited New York City, or even tasted a bagel.”

Yikes. What’s next, Paul? Will you verbally assault lox? Claim bourekas are triangle hot pockets? Where does the madness end? We humbly suggest that whether it’s challah, bagels or pickles, you perhaps consider leaving the Jewish food recipes and hot takes to the experts.

[jamiesfootball]

9 people you'd like to get to know better

I was tagged by @babytarttdoodoo - hiiiiiiiiiiiiii : )

I actually got tagged in this on my main blog but I am a busy bee so I will simply provide DIFFERENT ANSWERS here we go-

3 Ships: Jamie Tartt/good food, Jamie Tartt/cuddles, Jamie Tartt/that thing he does with his pockets

First Ship Ever: the first one I remember was a local ferry that did day trips to a nearby island where I grew up. I'm sure there was one before that though

Last Song: Two Little Girls - Ani DiFranco (Carnegie Hall version - holy fucking shit)

Last Movie: The last one before the last one was..... oh, it was Us (2019)

Currently Reading: Last time I actually limited myself on how many books I named (I am doing some fic research so I am doing a lot of sporadic reading).

Books I listed last time: The Beautiful and The Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson. Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, and I will soon be starting The Ice Swimmer by Kjell Ola Dahl.

Books that didn't make the list last time: Why Does He Do That by Lundy Bancroft. Anger Management for Everyone, by Raymond Chip Tafrate, Howard Kassinove. Angry All The Time, by Ronald T. Potter-Efron. My Every Day Lagos, by Yewande Komolafe. The Ultimate Nigerian Cookbook, by Chy Anegbu. Modern Jewish Comfort Food, by Shannon Sarna. Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football, by David Winner and Jessica Cage.

Currently Watching: MacGyver (2016) (i have tentatively made another sideblog for it)

Currently Playing: with my cats

Currently Consuming: water to combat weather-induced dehydration

Currently Craving: a good writing groove

Once again I am lazy an will only tag one person and that person is *spins wheel* @asteria-argo (should you choose to accept)

[batboyblog]

thank you so much. your words are so sweet and thoughtful, you are a very lovely person for taking your time to talk to a stranger online when you had no obligation to. you're incredibly kind.

it's incredibly funny that you mention challah specifically, because one of the things i did after learning about grandma's story was researching a lot more about jewish customs in eastern europe. in doing so, i learned about babka. it's a bread with chocolate rolled into the dough, something i grew up eating - mostly my mom's version, but when we visited my grandparent's house grandma would make it for us with crushed walnuts. i loved it so much as a kid one of my first worries when my teeth started changing was 'how am i gonna eat grandma's chocolate bread now'. We called it chocolate bread, because up until the point of my research I had no idea it was called babka, or that it was a jewish desert from eastern europe. i keep catching these little things our family does that i thought nothing of until now, and that i keep learning are jewish customs. i have no idea how grandma managed to keep the recipe for it, she was so young when she migrated. maybe it was her sister, she was 4 years or so older. and to think that it survived to me and my cousin is striking. grandma is very old now, so i dont want to talk to her about this and risk upsetting her or making her sad, and i wish id had their brother to talk to - from what our aunt says, he was a lot more open about being jewish, albeit not about having fled Poland. So this has been a unique conversation for me. Thank you for letting me open up.

What you say about learning touches me. I want to learn more, to keep learning about this and to do so before Grandma passes on. She and her siblings were so brave, it's an honor to even think of having that story with me.

i hope you know deep in your heart that your words have given me a warmth like none other. thank you.

I love babka! and it is amazing they kept the recipe (and wonderful)

if you like cooking/baking I'd recommend picking up King Solomon's Table, Honey Cake & Latkes: Recipes from the Old World by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Survivors, The Book of Jewish Food, Modern Jewish Baker by Shannon Sarna, Jew-ish by Jake Cohen

any ways on your grandmother, in the last few years my 3 living grandparents passed away in their 90s and I miss them very much. I found each of them much more interested in telling their stories, talking about people who died before my parents were born. This was particularly true after my grandfather's older brother passed and my grandmother's sister. I think we as people have a need to share and an obligation to speak of the dead. I don't know her, but I hope you get to talk about this or at least some part of it, ask whose babka recipe it is, did her mother teach them both? or just her older sister who showed her? or was it their big brother? were they bakers in the old country? I know it gave my grandmother a great deal of comfort when she got Alzheimer's to share photos of her parents with us and tell their story before it was too late, I think focusing on the end of the story is maybe a mistake, she had a life before that and I hope maybe she can remember it for what it was, good.

We're all running out of time with them, every year they do The March of the Living, a march between Auschwitz and Birkenau, in 2019 the march was lead by 70 survivors, in 2022 the first post-Covid march, just 8 and people are saying it might be the last that has any... time is running out. When they're gone, it won't be gone, but our ability to... touch it, to see past horror to find the people the real people, it'll be so much harder

oh I'd also recommend Born to Kvetch, Just say Nu, and Rhapsody in Schmaltz by Michael Wex since at a guess Yiddish was your grandma's first language.

any ways good luck with all this, I do think you should talk with your grandma, just be sensitive in how you do it

shalom and good luck.

[if-i-am-not-for-me]

What do you do when you're unemployed, taking a parentally-supported mental health sabbatical, and it's Friday? You bake challah.

I used the Basic Challah recipe from Modern Jewish Baker by Shannon Sarna. Obviously, I didn't execute it perfectly. The three-strand loaf was underproved, and the six-strand loaf was likely overworked, which inhibited rise. I also misread the recipe and put in twice as much oil as called for (I did manage to decant a bit back out of the bowl), which certainly would impact rise.

The flavor is good, if a bit bland. I wish I had used all honey instead of mostly cane sugar, I think it would have added more flavor to the loaves. But it tastes amazing with a little butter and a generous drizzle of wildflower honey (clover honey is trash, fight me). I'm sure it will also pair well with the many fruit butters and preserves I have in the fridge.

My next baking project will be bagels, once I acquire malt barley. I think I shall top them with roasted garlic Better Than Bouillon. Garlic is always a good choice.

[captaintiny]

Here is my non-exhaustive list of Jewish Cookbooks. I have tried at least one recipe from each one, and emphasised my favourites!

The Jewish Cookbook - Leah Koenig

Modern Jewish Cooking - Leah Koenig

Portico - Leah Koenig

The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook - Leah Koenig

Fress - Emma Spitzer

Cherish - Anne Shooter

Shabbat - Adeena Sussman

Babka, Boulou & Blintzes - Michael Leventhal

The Book of Jewish Food - Claudia Rosen

Bene Appetit - Esther David

Cooking alla Giudia - Benedetta Jasmine Guetta

Jewish Flavours of Italy - Silvia Nacamulli

Jew-Ish - Jake Cohen

I Could Nosh - Jake Cohen

The Jewish Holiday Table - Naama Shefi

100 Best Jewish Recipes - Evelyn Rose

King Solomon's Table - Joan Nathan

Modern Jewish Baker - Shannon Sarna

Totally Kosher - Chanie Apfelbaum

The Artisanal Kitchen: Jewish Holiday Kitchen - Raquel Pelzel

Yiddish Cuisine - Florence Kahn

Alright jumblr, I need some new cookbooks.

What's your favorite Jewish cookbook?

(Also if anyone has any Chinese cookbooks I would be happy for recs there too)

[jewishbookworld]

Modern Jewish Comfort Food by Shannon Sarna

Modern Jewish Comfort Food by Shannon Sarna

100 Fresh Recipes for Classic Dishes from Kugel to Kreplach A satisfying collection of Jewish comfort food with classic dishes and modern variations. Comfort food varies from person to person, family to family, region to region. As the author of Modern Jewish Baker and editor of The Nosher, Shannon Sarna has always wanted to tell the story of the Jewish people through food and continues to do…

[ronniefein]

Would you believe -- Homemade Pita?

Modern Jewish Baker by Shannon Sarna

When I got Shannon Sarna’s new book, Modern Jewish Baker, I wanted to run into the kitchen and start baking. It’s that kind of book – based on a few beloved, classic, Jewish bakery basics (challah, bagels, babka and so on) plus an amazing number of inventive variations that sound too seriously compelling to miss.

Exactly my kind of cooking.

One problem. I have to lose weight and get my glucose at normal levels before my doctor’s appointment next month.

OY! Which of these fabulous bakery items should I make and still be on the straight and narrow path until the doctor thing is over?

Challah was out because, ok, I had tasted Shannon’s pull-apart spinach-cheese version at the book launch party and had to stop myself from eating more only because it would have been rude and gluttonous not to leave some for the other guests.

Bagels? No way, because then I’d eat a couple of those fat, crispy-crusted, puffy-inside things, load them with cream cheese and lox and then have to promise to start my diet “tomorrow.”

Rugelach or babka? Tell me the truth -- could you eat just one piece?

Me either. I had several samples at that launch party and – see above for thoughts on my ability to control myself if I had this stuff in my kitchen.

So it was down to either matzo or pita.

I chose pita because matzo means butter. Lots of it, or matzo brei loaded with sour cream, so, no.

Pita it was, because then I could have it with the hummus I could make with the recipe from the book and that’s healthy, right? Also, how much pita can one person eat? It's plain old bread, no chocolate or cheese or other extras.

Believe it or not, one person can actually eat quite a bit of plain old pita when it’s this good. Plus, it is really a thrill to see those yeasty rounds come out of the oven and actually look like packaged pita! (But taste much fresher and better). I felt like a triumphant teenager who had baked her first cake. Who knew you can make pita at home?! I’ve been at this cooking thing for years and years and never did it before.

But I will again! This stuff is not only tasty, but fun to make.

And the hummus was quite good too!

I’ll start the diet tomorrow.

This book is a winner.

[booksandblintzes]

Modern Jewish Baker - Shannon Sarna

Modern Jewish Baker – Shannon Sarna

As an avid fan and follower of Shannon Sarna on The Nosher, I have been looking forward to the September release of her cookbook Modern Jewish Baker for months. And I mean “looking forward to” at the pre-ordered, delivery tracking, and mailbox stalking level. Even with such great expectations, Modern Jewish Baker did not disappoint.

The book is divided into 7 main sections with “master recipes”…

[mahjonggandme]

THE HISTORY OF MAH JONGG SNACKS!

THE HISTORY OF MAH JONGG SNACKS!

The wonderful Faye Scher shared a link from My Jewish Learning – this link took us to “The History of Mah Jongg Snacks” written by “The Nosher” (explained as a “blogging tour of all things Jewish food, recipes, and news, written by Shannon Sarna and other Jewish food lovers.”). If you have been a reader of this blog over the years then you know how important I think snacks are to our beloved…

[lifedeathanddinner]

A Happy, Hopeful New Year

In a blink we went from scorching, arid summer into crisp, clear autumn. Rosé to red wine. Watermelon to pomegranates. Strawberry shortcake to pumpkin-spice challah.

Pumpkin-spice challah? Well, yes. I’m not talking about the artificially flavored pumpkin spice of so many frappuccinos, of course. I’m referring to the gorgeous, fragrant holiday bread above. I used a recipe from Shannon Sarna’s wonderful “Modern Jewish Baker,” which augments her classic recipe with a generous mixture of warming spices along with some puréed pumpkin and a smattering of pepitas and flaky salt. The resulting loaves (the recipe yields two) are mildly sweet and spicy, crunchy on the outside and pillowy within. The flavor says Fall in no uncertain terms. 

I wrote about this recipe for The Forward in 2017. The article is here, and contains a link to the recipe.

Challah is always celebratory, whether braided into a straight, oval loaf or the round ones reserved for Rosh Hashanah. Why do we make round challah for the High Holidays? Sarna eloquently explained it this way in an article she wrote for her website, The Nosher:  

“There are many explanations: the circular nature of our year and seasons, or how a round challah resembles a crown, thus crowning god the king on the New Year. And there is also another explanation, that it is a way to distinguish the already sacred challah as something even more special and distinctive for the New Year. How is this night different from all others? Sweetness and fluidity and hope for the coming year.”

This extra-special challah, then, represents my hope for a particularly sweet New Year after several that have been, frankly, pretty sour. 

By the way, I’m looking forward to reading and using Sarna’s brand new cookbook, “Modern Jewish Comfort Food.” More on that another time.

Meanwhile, shana tova — a good year — to all. 

[pacosemnoticias]

Investigadores querem substituir pesticidas das maçãs por algas marinhas

Um consórcio internacional de investigadores está a estudar a substituição de pesticidas por compostos de algas marinhas no tratamento de doenças que afetam as peras e as maçãs, foi hoje anunciado.

"Historicamente usadas como fertilizantes, agora, com o conhecimento que temos, podemos desenvolver soluções biotecnológicas para a utilização dos compostos que [as algas] produzem na resolução de problemas críticos da agricultura, como algumas bactérias e fungos que causam graves perdas económicas", afirmou à Lusa Marco Lemos, o responsável científico do projeto.

O docente do Politécnico de Leiria e investigador do respetivo Centro de Ciência do Mar e do Ambiente (MARE), em Peniche, explicou que, sendo uma solução mais sustentável e natural, os investigadores estão também a contribuir para "a melhor qualidade dos frutos nos seus processos de conservação, promovendo produtos ainda mais seguros e de qualidade acrescida para o consumidor".

No último ano, os investigadores selecionaram quatro algas marinhas encontradas entre Peniche e Viana do Castelo, cujos compostos extraídos mostraram capacidade para eliminar fungos responsáveis por doenças na fruta como a sarna, a moniliose ou a estenfiliose.

Depois de ensaios realizados em plantas dentro de estufas, os especialistas preparam-se para estes novos fungicidas naturais em pereiras e macieiras.

A extração destas algas no mar contribui também para um melhor ambiente marinho, uma vez que, por um lado, são espécies invasoras, afetando a biodiversidade e as comunidades locais, e, por outro lado, desagradam os banhistas nas praias.

O projeto "Orchestra" visa valorizar a fileira hortofrutícola, que representa 14% do valor da produção agrícola da União Europeia, promovendo a substituição dos atuais pesticidas, que são apontados como fatores de risco para o meio ambiente e para a saúde pública, além de reduzir a qualidade nutricional das frutas.

O projeto é financiado em um milhão de euros pelo programa comunitário Compete 2020 e pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.

O consórcio internacional é constituído pela empresa hortofrutícola Campotec, pelos politécnicos de Leiria e do Cávado e Ave, pela Universidade Tecnológica de Shannon (Irlanda) pela Universidade de Vorarlberg (Áustria).

Maçãs e peras cultivadas em Portugal estão entre as frutas com maior quantidade de pesticidas perigosos, indicou uma análise à fruta fresca europeia relativamente a 2019, da responsabilidade da rede de organizações não governamentais "PAN Europa".

Segundo o estudo divulgado na semana passada, as maçãs e peras portuguesas estão no segundo lugar do 'ranking' da maior proporção de frutas contaminadas em 2019. Em 85% das peras portuguesas testadas e em 58% de todas as maçãs testadas foi encontrada contaminação por pesticidas perigosos.

A nível da União Europeia, segundo o estudo, as taxas de contaminação tanto para maçãs como para peras mais do que duplicaram entre 2011 e 2019.

Os autores da análise salientam que "tem havido um aumento dramático de fruta vendida ao público com resíduos dos pesticidas mais tóxicos que deveriam ter sido banidos na Europa por razões de saúde".

Foram analisadas 97.170 amostras de variedades populares de fruta fresca cultivada na Europa, demonstrando um aumento de 53%, em nove anos, da frequência de amostras contaminadas com os piores tipos de pesticidas.

O estudo, segundo um comunicado da organização, contradiz alegações da Comissão Europeia de que os agricultores estão a utilizar menos pesticidas que estão relacionados com cancro e outras doenças graves.

Quase uma em cada três (29%) amostras de fruta foi contaminada em 2019, o último ano relativamente ao qual havia dados disponíveis para os investigadores na altura do estudo.

Em relação a 2019, metade de todas as amostras de cerejas tinham sido contaminadas com pesticidas, um terço (34%) de todas as maçãs estavam também contaminadas, o mesmo acontecendo com cerca de metade das peras e metade dos pêssegos.

[mariacallous]

Tzimmes was always a staple on my grandmother’s Rosh Hashanah table growing up, but I was never much of a fan. It was mushy. It had prunes (ick). But who am I to questions such an iconic dish of the Jewish people? And so despite some lukewarm feelings about this dish, I did try to recreate the dish several years ago for the Jewish new year. Guess what: I failed miserably.

Luckily, my friend and colleague Gloria Kobrin from Kosher by Gloria offered to teach me in her New York City kitchen. Her recipe takes two days to prepare and is a beloved family recipe from her great-great grandma who brought it over to the U.S. from Belarus.

You can watch me and Gloria make her classic family recipe below. But let me say this: It was truly, insanely delicious — nothing like the tzimmes I remember from my childhood. Since that first introduction from Gloria, I have made this recipe nearly every year; it’s rich, sweet, not overly spiced, and a perfect dish every time. Find Gloria’s recipe for tzimmes below.

[what-marsha-eats]

These savory rugelach, from Modern Jewish Baker by Shannon Sarna, pair the flavors of pizza with a traditional Jewish pastry.

[topbooksinethniccooking]

Modern Jewish Baker: Challah, Babka, Bagels & More - Shannon Sarna http://dlvr.it/RF1ltY http://dlvr.it/RF1ltY

[jewishbookworld]

Modern Jewish Baker: Challah, Babka, Bagels & More by Shannon Sarna

Jewish baked goods have brought families together around the table for centuries. In Modern Jewish Baker, Sarna pays homage to those traditions while reinvigorating them with modern flavors and new ideas. One kosher dough at a time, she offers the basics for challah, babka, bagels, hamantaschen, rugelach, pita, and matzah. Never one to shy away from innovation, Sarna sends her readers off on a…