Amy Kritzer - Sweet Noshings: New Twists on Traditional Jewish Desserts

NEW TWISTS ON TRADITIONAL JEWISH DESSERTS

AMY KRITZER,

Founder of

Text and Photography 2016 Amy Kritzer

First published in the United States of America in 2016 by

Rock Point, a member of

Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.

142 West 36th Street, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10018

quartoknows.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners.

All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no responsibility is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied. We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book.

Digital edition: 978-1-62788-954-4
Hardcover edition: 978-1-63106-179-0

Food photography by Amy Kritzer

Photograph

Author Photographs by Tim Kyle

Author Photograph by Juliet Mullins

Interior design by Marc J. Cohen

To Andy pooh, who loves cookies.

And to Bubbe, who is already bragging to her friends at the JCC.

I almost started an all-cupcake blog.
Arent Jew glad I didnt?

It was late November, close enough to Thanksgiving that most of our clients were out of the office. But far enough away that I still had to sit at my desk and pretend I had work to do. I started browsing cooking blogs, as I often did after exhausting Facebook, but this time I had a different purpose. I was thinking of starting my own. It would be a fun hobby, and a little break from my current cubicle-monkey existence.

Initially, my mind went to desserts. I love a good celebration, and cupcakes say Im here to paaar-taaay. Plus, is there anything better than baking a treat for someone and seeing them nearly pass out from enjoyment?

Then I talked to my brother Andrew about it. He was, and is, my go-to source for business questions. He wondered if I would want to bake cupcakes every week. Forever. And maybe they were just a bit trendy? He had a point.

He was the one who suggested Jewish food. (I wont take the credit for the idea, but the name What Jew Wanna Eat was all mine!) I loved the concept immediately. Jews and food just go together. You can hardly have one without the other. As a child, I thought of bagels, blintzes, and rugelach as just food, not Jewish food. And they were such an integral part of growing up Jewish. I thought of sweet and tangy brisket at Rosh Hashanah, whitefish salad at a bris, Manischewitz at a bar mitzvah, and blintzes at Shavuot. Where there are Jews, theres food. And kvetching. And worrying. But mostly food.

Its amazing how a smell or taste can bring you back to a specific place. I have a very distinct memory of making rugelach with my Bubbe in her sunshine-yellow floral wallpapered kitchen: rolling out circles of dough, sprinkling the cinnamon-sugar filling, and rolling the croissant-like cookies while sneaking a few nibbles of raw dough. (She would shoo me away just before it was time to clean up.) It was a recipe my Bubbe learned from her Bubbe, which made it extra-special.

I made my very first post on What Jew Wanna Eat for Hanukkah in 2010. Latkes immediately came to mind, but I wanted to put my own spin on things. Sweet potato latkes! And cinnamon applesauce. While it wasnt my most creative recipe, it was a start, and I was hooked. That ideaof taking traditional recipes and modernizing them with current ingredients and techniquesbecame my signature. I like paying homage to the classics, making them funand then feeding them to willing friends and boyfriends (much to their delight). Because isnt that what cooking is all about?

After a few months of blogging, I was totally in love. I had already made a few amazing Internet friends, and I counted the minutes until I could get back in the kitchen. I knew cubicleville was no longer for me, so I quit my job and attended culinary school, did supermarket demos (look out, Rachael Ray!), taught cooking classes, and even sold Jell-O shots at a piano bar. I had never been happierand Ive never looked back.

But lets back up a second. What the heck is Jewish food anyway? I once posed this question on my WJWE Facebook page. The answers ranged from kosher food to bagels and lox and even Chinese food. (If youve ever been to a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Eve, you get it.) Responses also included foods like knishes and shakshuka. Jewish food represents our history as a people; it connects us to our past and our future. But just as Jews have adapted and evolved with each new place we call home, so should our food. Even if that means covering macaroons with rainbow sprinkles. Mmm, sprinkles.

There is something comforting in traditions, for example, kneading challah dough just as our relatives once did. Its almost as if your Bubbe is right there in the kitchen with you. But there is also something powerful about taking those traditions, and making them our ownmaking new classics with flavors that incite memories but taste current.

Living in Texas, I like to incorporate local spices. If you look at the history of Jewish food (I highly recommend Gil Markss tome The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food), youll see Jewish food has always evolved. Some of the foods we know and love today were hardly around a hundred years ago, let alone thousands. Who says they cant continue to grow with new flavors and techniques?

We have access to more ingredients than ever before: exotic spices, fruits, grains. This isnt the land of potatoes and beets our ancestors had. There is no reason you cant throw a little cayenne into chocolate rugelach or a splash or ten of whiskey into a honey cake.

And then, of course, there is kosher. Does Jewish food have to be kosher? Thats a debate for a whole other day. And while everything in this book is kosher (bacon in dessert is just plain wrong any way you look at it), I do use a lot of dairy. Because lets face it: Butter and cream taste good. And Id rather eat a fruit salad than go near margarine myself. I offer substitutions whenever possible, so I hope everyone can enjoy these recipes!