Purchase Jewish Holiday Cooking:

Jewish Holiday Cooking
A Food Lover's Treasury of Classics & Improvisations
by Jayne Cohen

Jewish Holiday Cooking was named
a 2009 James Beard Finalist
in the International Cookbook category!

It was an honor to have JHC nominated for a Beard
from among the 2000-plus cookbooks published in the past year,
sharing the field with such distinguished competition.
Our congratulations to Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid for winning the award
with their book on China, Beyond the Great Wall.

Whether you need help re-creating a fondly remembered family dish or you're looking for ways to put your own stamp on holiday celebrations, you're new to the traditions or you simply want to reconnect with your roots, this book offers you a world of intriguing possibilities. From traditional Ashkenazi fare and tempting Sephardi choices to inspired contemporary variations, Jewish food maven Jayne Cohen has collected more than 200 soul-satisfying kosher recipes for the holidays--dishes that are guaranteed to create indelible memories and become new family favorites. Click here to read more about the book...

"...a whole new era of taste, elegance, and simply incredible flavors that would be at home in the finest restaurant and yet still earn the coveted 'Bubbie's stamp of approval.'" — Marcy Goldman, host of BetterBaking.com and author of A Passion for Baking and A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking

"...includes all the ingredients of a powerful historical tale—there are stories passed between generations, magic found in matzoh crumbs, evolving traditions, passion, the voices of poets and writers, family dramas, and the flavors and tastes of the Jewish year.” — Marcie Cohen Ferris, author of Matzoh Ball Gumbo

“And I thought I didn’t need another Jewish cookbook...this cookbook has been in my kitchen for only a couple of weeks, and already it’s dog-eared."
— Nancy Lazarus, coauthor of the Moosewood Collective cookbooks
Click here to read more Reviews...

Visit the What's New page to view a video of Jayne's appearance on
NBC's Weekend Today!

Shavuot

The symbols of Shavuot’s ancient agricultural origins are sweet with the perfumes of deep spring: soft-skinned fruits and sun-warm berries, decorative branches of fresh greens and fragrant flowers. One of the three pilgrimage festivals, the holiday, beginning at sunset on Thursday, May 28th this year, started out as a joyous harvest celebration. Seven weeks after Passover (“Shavuot” means weeks, and the festival is sometimes known as the Feast of Weeks), the last of the barley harvest was ready to be gathered and the first fruits and new spring wheat were beginning to ripen. Together these comprised the Seven Species, the choice crops mentioned in Deuteronomy with which the ancient land was blessed: in addition to barley and wheat, dates, figs, grapes, olives, and pomegranates.

The most beautiful fruits were set in baskets fashioned sometimes of silver and gold, and carried to the Temple in long processions accompanied by music and song. Grateful for the new grain they had reaped, families brought two loaves of bread made from their finest flour that season to the altar.