Joan Nathan’s My Life in Recipes

Joan Nathan might know everyone connected with Jewish food. In fact, she might know everyone, period.

Her just-released memoir– My Life in Memories: Food, Family, and Memories- is a warm introduction to a who’s who of the food world plus people from every walk of life. We meet Julia Child at her 90th birthday party (which Nathan hosted) and Wolf Blitzer (a Friday night dinner guest), along with politicians, publishers, family members, neighbors, and friends from Nathan’s extensive travels.

For some people, memories are triggered by smells or colors or what they wore. For Nathan, the trigger is food. Tied to every experience, there is a new dish, a friend’s favorite food, or a meal prepared for a special occasion, with recipes liberally scattered throughout.

We get eggplant topped with tahini, yogurt, and pomegranates from when, as a young woman, Nathan worked for legendary Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek as his foreign press attaché. Mangos poached in vanilla syrup are discovered during a foray to Madagascar. Preserved lemons from Morocco find their way into hummus from the Galilee.

This makes sense for Nathan, who, in addition to being an award-winning writer and television host, is also a cultural historian, sleuthing down culinary backstories. Her deep dive into the sesame harvest in Ethiopia amazed me. As with many foods when we learn about their origins and the people who produce them, my newfound respect for tahini means I will never look at it in quite the same way again.

Joan Nathan is the author of 12 cookbooks, including the classic James Beard Award-winning Jewish Cooking in America . In 1974, she co-founded New York City’s Ninth Avenue Food Festival, now celebrating its 50th anniversary.

In recognition of her work, Nathan received the Golda Award from the American Jewish Congress, was named to the Forward 125 list of American Jews who shaped our world, and in 2002 was awarded an honorary doctorate from Chicago’s own Spertus Institute.

Betsy Gomberg reads (and sometimes writes about) Jewish books.