About Us
About Foodaism
What is Foodaism?
I cherish this photo of seder 2022, held in our backyard during those strange last pandemic days, because I can see my dad, Aaron, lower left, looking at the haggadah and wondering, “When do we eat?”
Dad liked to eat first and ask questions later — and then eat again. From him and my mother Sari — sitting beside him in the photo — I grew to love my tradition first through its food.
It’s the aromas and tastes of the kitchen and table that formed my first, lasting connections to my tradition. And I’ve always connected food first to my faith: the holiday meals, Shabbat dinners, the recipes that span the globe and transcend time. Prayer, study, ritual and practice can be hard. Eating is easy.
Food also gives me the chance to put my beliefs into practice each day. This is true even if you are one of the millions of people with no religion. Every meal is a chance to express gratitude, practice mindfulness, share meals with others, even those we otherwise wouldn’t speak to, live according to our ethics, and even feel a sense of the Divine — I mean it’s no coincidence that when you bite into a great peach, you say, Oh, God.
If this resonates, then this website, and its weekly newsletter, is for you. Yes there will be great recipes, but also stories, videos, opinions, and ideas on how to eat, entertain and celebrate. Conversation starts at the table, but it doesn’t end there.
Foodaism is also a place for your stories and recipes. What food memory shaped your faith? What meal has been like a religious experience? What recipes connect you most deeply to you traditions?
My dad hated to miss a good meal, or any meal for that matter. He won’t be at the seder table this Passover — he died last year, a few weeks short of his 97th birthday. But the sadness that shadowed my year has gently lifted, replaced by a lifetime of happy memories, so many of them at the table — and I hope this site will help you make happy memories of your own.
Click over to the right to support this site and get free, fresh bay leaves right from my garden. Let me know what recipes you want, and share a memory about the power of food in your life. And: let’s eat already!
About Foodaism
Who is Foodaism?
This is me in Erice, Sicily.
We were walking through this village high up on a mountain when Naomi said, “I kind of feel like soup.” I thought, It’s early summer in Sicily, who’s going to be serving soup? We walked a few feet, I turned to my left and a sign on the wall read, “Zuppe.”
We sat at Caffe San Giuliano and the owner brought out a bowl of North African lentil soup, the recipe passed down to her through some distant North African ancestry. It was perfect. It made my day, and Naomi’s.
And that is who I am: Food makes my day. I’ve worked in restaurants, cafes, bakeries and catering companies. I’ve written about food for many years, and still do, mostly here and at forward.com. I created and taught the course, “Food, Media and Culture” at USC. I sit on the advisory board of Foodish, at ANU, the Museum of the Jewish people in Tel Aviv.
I started Foodaism as a blog at least 15 years ago, and this year decided it needed to be a website and newsletter, a place where people find great stories and recipes, and share the ones that matter to them.