Leah Koenig is an expert in Jewish Food, she’s been writing about it for over a decade. Leah shares her passion for global Jewish cuisine with thousands of her followers in her weekly newsletter, The Jewish Table. A place meant to connect and inspire people over their love of Jewish cooking and beyond. If, like us, you’re always curious about global Jewish cuisine, culture, and history, then The Jewish Table newsletter is the place for you. Her 15 Minute Gazpacho with Crunchy Sumac Croutons has been starring on our table since she posted it a few weeks ago. Leah is a contributor to publications like the New York Times, The Washington Post, Food & Wine, Tablet, Food52, and Epicurious and many more.
We met Leah in 2014 when she came by our apartment to interview us before a Purim pop-up dinner we did that year. Over our mutual love for all things (Jewish) food we connected, and consider ourselves lucky to call Leah a friend to this day. It's been inspirational to see her diligently work on putting Jewish food on the global map with her 6 cookbooks (!!)
Leah’s cookbooks include: The Jewish Cookbook, Modern Jewish Cooking, Little Book of Jewish Sweets, Little Book of Jewish Appetizers, Little Book of Jewish Feasts, The Hadassah Everyday Cookbook, and her upcoming book Portico: Cooking and Feasting in Rome's Jewish Kitchen (W.W.Norton) set to be published in Fall 2023 (we can’t wait!)
Leah generously offered a limited-time 20% off code for the New York Shuk fam! Highly recommend for you to sign up before the offer expires on 7/25/22.
(plus, Leah’s subscribers might get an exclusive discount code for to the NY Shuk online store 😉 )
Name: Leah Koenig
Occupation: Food writer and cookbook author
Residency: Brooklyn, New York
What is your favorite smell?
Oh, I have so many! But catching a whiff
of freshly ground cardamom always feels like a particular kind of
magic.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My forthcoming cookbook, Portico: Cooking and Feasting in Rome's Jewish Kitchen (W.W.
Norton) feels like my greatest professional achievement. The book
won't be published until the Fall of 2023 - so I don't want to jinx
anything! - but of all my cookbooks, this one feels the most deeply
personal, the most historically and culturally substantial, and
(hopefully) the most impactful in how it shines a light on Rome's
extraordinary Jewish community and cuisine.
And from a personal standpoint, it definitely doesn't feel right to
call my kids "achievements." But I get so much joy watching Max (8)
and Beatrice (3 1/2) discover and grow into themselves.
What's your favorite restaurant/ cafe/ bakery?
I go to B&H Dairy more than any other restaurant in the city. So many
moments of my life in NYC (and the lives of so many others over the
decades!) have been punctuated by, celebrated with, or consoled over a
bowl of their hot borscht and a plate of fried pierogi with sour cream
and apple sauce, or their perfect tuna salad sandwich with its soft
challah and an obscene amount of crunchy shredded lettuce.
What's your go-to comfort food?
Noodles (ideally macaroni) + salted
butter + black pepper + grated parmesan, always served in a bowl with
a spoon. I always eat one more bowl than I want or need, but I never
have any regrets.
Where do you shop for specialty food items?
If Kalustyan's invited me move into their bulk dried lentils aisle, I
would absolutely take them up on the offer. I also love Sahadi's (and
their gorgeous Industry City location in particular), and once
embarrassed myself by weeping in Schaller & Weber because I was so
overwhelmed by the history and stories oozing out of the walls.
What did you eat for breakfast?
My breakfast ritual for the summer includes some variation of
sourdough toast spread with labneh or peanut butter, topped with
sliced stone fruit (usually a combo of plums, peaches, or nectarines,
depending on what we have), and drizzled with honey. It's so quick to
make and tastes like cake. I love it so much, I dedicated a newsletter
to it last summer.
Where in the world would you most like to live?
I moved to New York City in 2004 and, almost 20 years later, am just
as enamored with the city's energy and spirit as I was back then. But
I have a city crush on Montreal, and try to visit as often as
possible.
What is your favorite cookbook?
Impossible to choose! But I have been cooking a lot lately from
Claudia Roden's newest book, Claudia Roden's Mediterranean. Her roast
chicken with grapes is so simple and so good, and there's this salad
with green olives, chopped walnuts, parsley, scallions, and
pomegranate seeds that is mind-blowingly delicious.
What is your favorite New York Shuk product? And what do you like to
make with it?