Calling all New Yorkers!  If you’re around on Sunday, December 13th at 2pm, join me at this fun Jewish food event!

CULTURE IN THE CUCINA
How Rome’s Jews are Cooking up the Past and Future

While Jews have lived in Italy since the 2nd century BCE and are credited with popularizing staple ingredients like eggplant, fennel and pumpkin, the notion of an “Italian Jewish cuisine” is difficult to define. Still, a handful of traditional dishes – like Carciofi alla Guidia (deep fried artichokes) and Pizza Ebraica (a fruit cake-like dessert) – have managed to endure over time.

Food writer, Leah Koenig, will discuss how certain traditional recipes have attained iconic status in Italy’s oldest and largest Jewish center, Rome. She will also explore how today’s urban Jews relate to their culinary heritage. New York’s Jews have their bagels, knish and egg creams. What dishes do Italians turn to when they need a nosh, and how do these foods connect them to their past and their future?  *Bonus! Italian Jewish Chanukah recipes and tips on where to find Jewish Italian food in NYC.

EVENT DETAILS and more photos of Rome’s delicious food culture below the jump…

Culture in the Cucina
Sunday, Dec 13 – 2:00pm
Park East Synagogue 164 E 68th St.
$5 admission
Presented by the Jewish Historical Society of New York

Woman lunching in the Jewish ghetto

sweet, fried dough dessert - Pizzarelle

Rome's ancient Jewish bakery, Boccione

Menu at a Ghetto restaurant

Kosher Italian wine

Pizza Ebraica - charred to perfection

Shabbat challah, Friday afternoon

all photos: Leah Koenig