Recipes

These recipes are a culmination of my childhood memories that started around dining room tables filled with family, love, and food. Fridays were always my favorite – not only did they signify the start of the weekend but also the start of Shabbat which normally meant lots of guests and an exorbitant amount of food.

As a child, I remember coming home from school and immediately running to the kitchen to witness the food storm. I would lift every lid on the stove top and open the oven to see what was baking or roasting before deciding the order in which my pickings would begin. I would often spend my weekend mornings helping my mother, a then private chef and caterer, peel vegetables, roll Moroccan cigars, and crank dried chilies through a meat grinder for her (badass) harissa paste – all while Charles Aznavour was playing in the background. The food was consistent in execution and she would never deviate from her familial recipes. Today, I share with you some of the recipes that overwhelmed me with joy and that are forever engraved in my heart – some with a twist.

– Joanna –