Mordechai - Simple fare: spring and summer

I am drawn to food and its inherent beauty. In this book, I have collected a sampling of the way I like to cook, dailyboth at our studio and for my family. The recipes are seasonally inspired, good, and wholesome. It is food as it should be: nuanced, bright, and gorgeous. This is about how we cook and eat every day in our home and with our loved ones. Journey I grew up surrounded by food, as it was the backbone of immigrant traditions in a new environment.

My family brought their cultures and traditions and expressed their love through meals of plenty. Their story (and their food) was a complex and varied one rooted in Jerusalem in the 1950s, a time in which ethnicities from around the globe were melding together in a young country. Influences from the Middle East and Eastern Europe were converging to formulate a new community. When my family then immigrated to the United States, they brought these melded cultures with them. As I developed my own viewpoint, these influences, along with my current journey, created my own path. I was always fascinated with food.

I was drawn to its beauty and also moved by its cultural significance. I studied as a photographer, and in 2005 I did my masters thesis on the food in my home, through the scope of its maternal lineage. A few years later, I began Sunday Suppers, a communal cooking space, and became more and more immersed in the world of food. I was photographing and also cooking. Exploring, eating, and finding my own sense of things. I met amazing chefs and cooks, and was continually inspired in our collaborative atmosphere.

Sunday Suppers evolved into a hub and a center point for community and inspiration. At the space, we hold community dinners and events that bring people into the kitchen. The premise is to cook together and enjoy the culture and beauty of food through connectivity. I believe food should capture your spirit. Your food, I believe, is a compilation of your journey in lifeit collects bits and pieces as you go. From youth and culture, from travel, and from day-to-day experiences.

It is also, very much, an evolution. My own story and viewpoint sit on the pages ahead. As you read, I hope you will see a true love and celebration of food. That is what this book is about. My hope is that it liberates you and allows you to learn a few great techniques that will honestly make you a better cook. More than anything, I hope it inspires you to find the same joy in cooking as I do.

Foods ability to bring people together is unparalleled. It is at the foundation of our cultures; it is the goodness we can bring to ourselves and others. When we celebrate food and retain its inherent quality, we nourish ourselves and our lives. We take the time to source good ingredients and produce. We support our local farmers and artisans, and we help sustain a beautiful cycle of goodness that extends to the people around us. Food At Sunday Suppers, Ive had the opportunity to experience and make food as a cultural connector.

At the studio, we create food that is gorgeous and fun and sometimes off-beat. We cook all the time, and we experiment with colors and flavors. Sometimes these are simple studio meals, and other times they are larger community dinners for twenty to fifty people. Food, in our studio, brings people together: It is a day-to-day community affair. As a mother, I cook almost all our meals (yes, even after long studio days). I feel this is important, and it is how I can nourish my (little) family and myself.

I know where my food is coming from: I try to buy seasonally, from farmers and local purveyors. With all this said, I also know the challenges of a very busy schedule and weekday life. And so I have found my way: making grains and a soup on a Sunday night, and sometimes roasting some vegetables for the week. Ill often make double the amount of dressing so we can have it in the refrigerator. I keep lots of greens, eggs, avocados, and fresh breads on hand at home. Format Ultimately, the purpose of this book is to compile all these meals from the studio and our home and bring them forth as a resource for simple and beautiful food.

The journey is unending, but this is a starting point. This book will be a two-volume one, with Fall / Winter upcoming. Each family and home has their own story, their own way. If there is a contribution to be made here, it is simply to tell our path and food story. If it happens to inspire you to cook, to visit a market, and to experiment beyond the norm, that would be an achievement. The recipes are meant to be utilitarian and straightforward, but simultaneously unique and inspiring.

The word simple is used often and is meant to impart a sense of ease, not intended to be simplisticthese recipes are aimed to be inspiring without being out of reach. Aspirational and liberating. Cook with your season, and in your way. Have freedom and lightness in your kitchen; its a wonderful place to be.

If you go to market with the intention to make an oyster mushroom risotto, but the mushrooms are not looking great, or there are no oyster mushrooms in season, you can make an alternate decision. Instead of mushrooms, sage, and Pecorino for your risotto, choose fennel, Parmesan, and thyme. The idea here is to offer alternates, which we call market variations, based on the season and also to give readers guidance on some flavor profiles that work. In this way, readers can feel liberated. Each recipe is built with a few seasonal items, herbs, and flavorings. These original ingredients are underlined.

Beneath the recipe title, you will find two or three alternate versions of the original ingredients. These variations can be substituted for the underlined ingredients and are listed in the same order as the items that they are replacing in the recipe title. Unless otherwise noted, the alternate ingredients can be prepared and incorporated into the finished dish in the same manner as the original. To help you utilize the market variations in the book, there is a Cooks Notes section (see ) that offers measurements and additional information on how to prepare the variations. Be sure to reference that section for further assistance when making a recipe with a variant ingredient.