Waving goodbye to 2021 it seemed the only way was up. The joyful news was of bums being back on seats and simchas returning to pre-pandemic party levels.
The sheer pleasure of being able to celebrate chagim (and even Shabbat) with as many friends and family as we wanted, continued to delight. (Will we ever take that for granted?)
And it looked like food professionals would be able to restock the coffers depleted by two years of lockdowns and uncertainty.
Sadly, the last 12 months haven’t seen quite the happy ending for those industries. With the war in Ukraine, costs that had been gradually increasing since early 2021 suddenly soared.
Every supermarket shop saw prices for basic ingredients soar while utility prices snowballed.
If the outlook was gloomy for home cooks, the storm clouds were gathering in force for kosher professionals with the prospect of even darker days ahead trying to balancing the books.
Most of the caterers, restaurateurs and food manufacturers I’ve spoken to over the last few months expressed concerns over how they would manage.
From early autumn, JC Food joined forces with Ilana Epstein of Jewish Futures; GIFT and financial education charity Mesila to point readers in the right direction with a series of cost of living-related articles.
The key lesson I took away was to plan, plan, plan. Time spent on cupboard and fridge/freezer audits; weekly menu plans and shopping lists would all be well spent if we’re to keep our food budget under control.
Ilana also shared ideas on cheaper takeaways; surviving school holidays; canny kosher shopping and keeping chagim entertaining affordable. As my supermarket bill spirals, I’m finding her advice even more useful. If you missed that series, it’s worth looking them up on the JC’s website.
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Roy Ner
US queen of leftovers Tamar Adler was singing the same tune in her super-useful cookbook An Everlasting Meal.
Her advice was to make every ingredient work hard — whether protein or plant-based, every edible element should be part of your meal plans. Her kitchen practices are those our bubbes would have executed without thinking.
An expensive ingredient such as the Shabbat chicken could feed the family from Friday night’s roast through the next week in weeknight pies/salad and sandwiches until you’d reached the bones for next week’s soup.
Another no-waste warrior featured in JC Food this year was Seattle-based chef Joel Gamoran. His television career has been based on helping us made the most of our scraps, sharing recipes as simple as using leftover potato chips (crisp to us) in chocolate chip cookies to or his simple “schmaltzy potato pie” — like a giant latke, which would be ideal for this week’s festivities.
Gamoran constantly demonstrates how the bits you’d have binned can make your next meal.
Not surprisingly, several of the cookbooks featured also had an eye on helping us to cope with rising costs. Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad’s Ottolenghi Test Kitchen Extra Good
Things is packed with recipes that will make big flavours from simple ingredients. You can Ottolenghify anything — and there will be plenty of time to whip up the recipes next month when we’ll all be dining in not out.
Alan Rosenthal’s One Pot Vegetarian was also a welcome kitchen bible with its lower-cost hearty meals made from more economical veggies, grains and pulses.
Kosher cookbooks were represented by four fabulous tomes — Shannon Sarna’s Modern Jewish Comfort Food, which is full of Ashkenazi-inspired haimish rib stickers to keep you warm during the cold winter months; Silvia Nacamulli’s Jewish Flavours of Italy — packed with familiar and less familiar dishes from Rome and beyond; while another gem, Cooking alla Giudia came from US-based Italian cook, Benedetta Guetta, drawing inspiration from across her home country.
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Ariel Schiff
The fourth was Kenden Alfond’s second collection of vegan recipes inspired by Biblical heroines — Feeding Women of the Talmud, Feeding Ourselves. I was flattered to be asked to share a recipe of my own alongside a line-up of contributors including rabbis; chefs; food writers and academics. Inspiring food for strong women and a lovely gift idea for a batmitzvah girl.
In London, the legion of Israeli restaurant chefs grew ever larger, with the return of Amer Tomedi (former Palomar head chef) to consult for Kensington restaurant Pascor, and Roy Ner’s Mayfair Middle Eastern/Mediterranean mash up, Jeru.
Eyal Shani finally landed in London, opening not one but two branches of his Miznon chain — in Soho and Notting Hill. The fresh flavours and easy service style made me want to jig for joy.
I did get to dance at the inaugural Isramani party in Penelope’s restaurant at Covent Garden’s Hotel Amano. An occasion with a true taste of Tel Aviv’s joie de vivre and full-on fun. I’m not the only one excited about the opening — they’re already booking months ahead.
Another new opening with an army of loyal fans was Bubala’s Soho sibling. Their Middle Eastern-influenced vegetable-based dishes are spectacular and still up there as one of my favourite London restaurants.
Kosher falafel joint Balady opened another branch — this time in Camden, joining their Barnet, Temple Fortune and Hatton Garden restaurants — another licensee for the Sephardi Kashrut Authority (SKA), which I admire for constantly bringing us fresh flavours and interesting openings. Charlotte’s Sourdough — the very best kosher (micro) bakery in town — is also under its umbrella, as is Ananas, which recovered its kosher status, bringing its gorgeous brunch and breakfasts to Mill Hill Broadway.
Another foodie favourite of mine, Habiba’s, maker of the best kosher sausage rolls, opened a smokehouse restaurant in Temple Fortune. I’ve yet to visit but have heard great things.
London discovered the delights of New York bagels with a clutch of new bakeries bringing us the savoury, chewy rolls with a hole and a range of schmears.
Notably, Hertfordshire’s Bagels and Schmear and It’s Bagels in Caledonian Road both serving up a range of fairly traditional bagels with pots of dense, Jewish-style cream cheese-based schmears with a range of flavours.
I particularly love Bagel and Schmear owner’s Francesca Goldhill’s planet-friendly practices — grinding dry bagels into flour to make her chewy, choc-chip cookies.
With more challenging months ahead, we’ll all want to be making the most of our ingredients. Stick with JC Food in 2023 for the best tips and hacks for feeding your family on a budget.
