The Big Schmear Podcast

Who knew there would be so much to say about the history of the dairy restaurant? Ben Katchor begins the story for us during biblical times in the Garden of Eden (the first restaurant) and takes us on an amazing world-wide ride through his new book, The Diary Restaurant.  Our conversation is the perfect way to dig into the holiday; so sit down with a pot of tea, some cheesecake and listen while Ben gives me insight into his book and the world of dairy. Chag Sameach to all.

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My guest on this episode is Amanda Dell, Program Director from The Jewish Food Society. The work they are doing to capture and archive Jewish family recipes and recipe stories from around the globe is critical to our understanding of our history. Amanda talks here about the many programs available through The Jewish Food Society and includes information on the pivot they’ve done since COVID-19. A great example is this program with Hila Alpert for Shavout: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-the-kibbutz-to-tel-aviv-conversation-shavuot-cooking-w-hila-alpert-tickets-104987873556. 

I hope you enjoy the episode AND the recipe which is accessible through the link above.

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Koval Distillery Founders:  Dr. Sonat Birnecker & Dr. Robert Birnecker, Master Distiller & CEO

I am talking with Sonat Birnecker from my favorite distillery, Koval. These days they aren’t just producing their excellent whiskeys – they’ve pivoted; big time. They are now in the new business of producing hand sanitizer! It turns out that helping in a crisis is not such a simple matter. Sonat describes this new focus in a most humble and thoughtful way. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation.

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As most of us continue with the stay-in-place orders I decided to invite Gabrielle Spatt of The Blue Dove Foundation to talk with me about Mental Health Awareness Month. The Blue Dove Foundation focuses its resources on the Jewish community to help us work through mental health and substance abuse issues. In this episode Gabby and I talk about the importance of sharing a Shabbat meal.  It’s a great opportunity to check-in with those we love and share stories about how we are meeting the challenges of preparing healthy meals and keeping up our spirits.  Gabrielle has some easy and helpful food suggestions to give us. And their website has lots more resources at: thebluedovefoundation.org.

I hope you find this episode helpful. Wishing all of you good health.

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I had great fun talking with Carolyn Sherman Gutierrez of ISH. Who knew horseradish could be so versatile? Or come in so many flavors? I’ve had fun experimenting at home (too much time) and even got my husband on-board! But that’s really only part of the story. What is so cool is that Carolyn took this hobby of her dad’s and made it into a serious business on her own. Hope you enjoy the episode. AND if you are the first two people to email me at: [email protected] Carolyn will send you a package of 4 jars (they’ll go way faster than you think) so you’ll get to sample all four flavors! I hope to hear from you soon 🙂                                                                                                                                                                      Happy Listening!

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Liz Alpern and Jeffrey Yoskowitz, co-founders of Gefilteria join me to talk about creative ways to think about Passover during this time of Covid-19. Passover will be a challenge for sure but maybe we can find a silver lining.

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Meet Amy Zitleman, Co-Founder and CEO of Soom. Haven’t heard of them yet? Soom is a tahini manufacturer located in Philadelphia founded and owned by three sisters, Amy, Shelby and Jackie (she lives in Israel). In addition to the best tasting tahini ever, they also make Silan (date syrup) and Chocolate Sweet Tahini Halva Spread!

I had a lot of fun talking with Amy about Soom and all their products. Not only did I expand my knowledge of tahini as a healthful and versatile ingredient; as we chatted Amy suggested all kinds of easy ways to include tahini in your everyday healthy snacking. So settle back and listen to a fun episode. Alert: after hearing this episode you’ll have lots of ways to get to the bottom of that jar of tahini in your fridge! Oh, and be prepared to really want some tahini…now.

The post Is Tahini the New Peanut Butter in Your Kitchen Yet? (#50) appeared first on The Big Schmear Podcast.

On this special episode we pay tribute to Canada’s Jewish Julia Child, Norene Gilletz who passed away last month. She leaves us with an amazing Jewish food legacy. She published 12 cookbooks, has a huge following on Nornene’s Kitchen (her facebook page) and she shares recipes and stories on her website.

Please join me as I talk with Nina Glick, a close friend of Norene Gilletz, as she tells us about this very special lady.

Norene Gilletz

The post A Tribute to the Queen of Kosher Cuisine, Norene Gilletz (#49) appeared first on The Big Schmear Podcast.

Photo Credit: MIchelle Ishay

I love the book, and I think you will too. It’s full of history, stories and of course, recipes! Imagine deciding to compile a book of the 100 Most Jewish Foods! Where would you start? How would you decide what foods didn’t qualify? My guest for this episode is Alana Newhouse, editor of this book and editor-in-chief of Tablet Magazine. Alana and I talk about the book, of course. She gives us a behind-the-scenes view of how it all came together. We even manage to have a few minutes to talk about Tablet, the contemporary on-line Jewish Magazine that covers news, events, arts and of course, food. I hope you enjoy the episode.

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I loved talking with Cindy about this new Bed-and-Breakfast in Havana, Cuba featuring Kosher food. What a great way to encourage Jewish tourism. And Cindy’s company stateside will help plan your entire itinerary while in Cuba including a tour of Jewish Havana! Be sure to check out the family recipe she’s shared. If you can’t go to Cuba this year at least you can bring some of those tropical flavors into your own kitchen.

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