#ASHKENAZI

In North America, the story of Ashkenazi Jewish food begins on the Lower East Side. Jewish immigrants from Poland and other Eastern European countries brought with them culinary knowledge, traditions, and recipes that they attempted to translate to a new land.

Join culinary historian and author Michael W. Twitty and cookbook author Leah Koenig in conversation with Taube Jewish Heritage Tours chef and scholar-in-residence, Jeffrey Yoskowitz, to discuss the story of Jewish food. We will explore its role in Eastern European life then and now and investigate how the diaspora experience can shape our food culture, sometimes preventing us from understanding our culinary roots.

Leah Koenig is an acclaimed culinary author and writer published in The New York Times, New York Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. She authored six cookbooks, including the most recent “The Jewish Cookbook”: a 400+ recipe collection of Jewish dishes from all over the world, and "Modern Jewish Cooking" in 2015. In 2019, "The Jewish Cookbook" was named "Best New Cookbook" by several media outlets, including Bon Appetit, Eater.com, and Forbes. In addition to writing, Leah Koenig organizes cooking demonstrations and workshops around the country. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and two children.

Michael W. Twitty is a culinary historian and food writer from Washington D.C. He runs a popular blog at Afroculinaria.com. He has served as a judge for the James Beard Awards, is a fellow with the Southern Foodways Alliance and was the first Revolutionary in Residence at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. His book, “The Cooking Gene,” traces ancestry through food; from Africa to America, and from slavery to freedom. The book received numerous awards, including multiple James Beard Awards in 2018. Michael is also an activist, who uses his substantial following to raise awareness of issues pertaining to Jewish and African-American causes in the USA and beyond. His forthcoming book from HarperCollins is titled "Koshersoul".

Jeffrey Yoskowitz is a food entrepreneur and an acclaimed cookbook author, who reimagines and revitalizes Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine through his culinary venture, “The Gefliteria." His popular cookbook, "The Gefilte Manifesto,” was named a finalist by the National Jewish Book Awards. He has been a featured chef with the esteemed James Beard House kitchen and he developed and taught a course on culinary anthropology at The City College of New York and Brandeis University. Jeffrey’s writing on food and culture has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Republic, among others. Jeffrey also co-produced and served as a guide for YIVO's brand new online course on Jewish food, "A Seat at the Table" and served as co-Executive producer of The Great Big Jewish Food Fest. Jeffrey speaks and leads cooking demos around the world (now virtually), and serves as a chef/scholar-in-residence for Taube Jewish Heritage Tours.

This program is supported by contributions from our viewing audiences. If you would like to support future webinars, please make a tax-deductible donation to the Taube Center. Using the link below, you can choose the form of payment most comfortable for you: wire, check, credit card, or PayPal. Please indicate the following FJC account when prompted: Jewish Community of Poland Fund (Webinar Series 2020).

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#Ashkenazi #Jewish #JewishFood