Merrymaking and over-indulgence are encouraged in Purim celebrations. Esther’s good looks, luck and wherewithal saved the Jews in the Persian Empire from being annihilated. What followed, on the 14th of Adar, was the world’s first Purim party, an occasion of great levity. Purim is an occasion to be loose, relaxed and happy, and, perhaps, to…
This Purim, let’s move beyond the cookie, bringing a touch of the holiday to the breakfast table with a delectable, easy-to-make breakfast pastry. Last weekend, at a friend’s potluck, Max pointed emphatically to a plate on the table and said “cookie.” The fact that the object of his desire was actually a plate of biscuits…
An American junk-food classic meets the traditional Purim pastry. The result? Fun and festive hamantaschen (that just happen to be vegan). You definitely don’t have to be a kid to enjoy them. Makes about 12 2 tablespoons ground flax seed combined with 6 tablespoons water (you can also use two beaten eggs, but the pastry…
Undone’s Himalayan Sea Salt bar. It’s a big day for when I visit. Of course, I think to myself. It’s the week before Valentine’s Day. “We just got a bunch of orders,” says Adam Kavalier, who co-founded the company with his wife, Kristen. Behind us, a grinder barrel whirs, churning 70-plus pounds of beans and…
My food worlds collided this week when I went online to order my weekly haul from , the Israeli-owned CSA (consumer-supported agriculture program)-type thing I subscribe to, and found — among the mostly-local fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and artisanal culinary treats — a gorgeous-looking heart-shaped challah from Hot Bread Kitchen. I contacted the bakery, which…
The seven species are pomegranate (above), grapes, dates, figs, olives, wheat and barley. Why do we eat fruit of the Seven Species on Tu B’Shvat? The Seven Species of the Bible are a central feature of the celebration of Tu B’Shvat, which this year occurs in late January. The reason usually given for eating foods…
Dates, one of the seven species traditionally eaten on Tu B’Shvat, are represented in Deuteronomy (8:7-8) by their honey, called devash in Hebrew. Authentic biblical honey is as dark and thick as molasses, but it has its own rich flavor and isn’t quite as sweet as regular honey. You can buy it already prepared as…
Methuselah date palm, grown from a 2,000-year-old seed found at Masada, is now in kibbutz Ketura. The history of the date palm in Israel is inextricably bound to the history of Israel itself. A great presence whether massed in plantations or growing wild in a desert oasis where they indicate water, their straight, unbranched trunks…
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