Deep-fried doughnuts

The recipe seems to be from my great-grandmother. But I’m not entirely sure!

In my childhood, these doughnuts were always there. My mom would bake them for Hanukkah and occasionally just because.

Now, I bake these doughnuts every year and invite friends over to enjoy them during Hanukkah.

Hedva’s honey cake

Once upon a time, there was a wonderful cantor in the Jewish community of Cologne, Shimon Ben Zeev. And he had an equally remarkable wife, Hedva. She was the embodiment of what one might imagine an English lady to be—always impeccably groomed, with an ideally kept home, beautiful napkins, delicious tea, and mouthwatering cakes.

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eggplants

Sweet dough hamantaschen (family recipe from Vera Yakubson)

For Vera, her Jewish identity was built primarily around food (editor’s note: we weren’t surprised at all!). The family’s traditional table included Hamantaschen made from soft, rich dough, which turned out to be quite unusual after moving to Israel, where they are almost always made with shortcrust pastry.

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drinks

Tzvi Mirkin’s coffee

Coffee is the smell of childhood. And, in a way, envy. Parents brewing coffee on weekend mornings (and on weekdays too, but everyone had breakfast at different times). And a burning desire to try it, despite being told that it was too early for kids, bad for the heart, and so on.