The story of Jews in the Diaspora was one of making things stretch. Clothes, food, wood, coal. All of these things were to have every last drop of use squeezed out of them, in the case of Kvass, quite literally. Kvass was a rough homemade liquor made out of the stale ends of Russian black …

When it’s too hot to cook, you want simple things you can make. Things without a lot of ingredients but with lots and lots of flavor. Borscht, the dairy version, fits the bill. It’s plain, healthy, and can be served cold. It’s so easy to make it’s almost not a recipe. If your mom opened …

Coffee a Jewish food? Why not? A new study shows that coffee is the key to longevity. What’s so Jewish about that? Think about it: what do Jews say when they toast each other? They say, “L’Chaim,” to life! Wishing someone longevity is definitely a Jewish thing, ergo coffee is a Jewish food.

Food writer Patti Shosteck wrote a wonderful book back in 1981 called A Lexicon of Jewish Cooking, that gives the reader the history and religious background of various Jewish foods. The first entry is for Adafina, of which Shosteck writes: “Uncovered, the aroma and taste of adafina enticed Jew and non-Jew alike. Compared to the sardines, …