A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World

From the James Beard Award-winning, much-loved cookbook author and authority: an around-the-world collection of recipes from the global Jewish diaspora—an essential book of cooking and culture. We feature two favorites from this beautiful book: Double-Lemon Roast Chicken and Flourless Chocolate Cake. They make a meal fit for queens and kings.

Driven by a passion for discovery, King Solomon is said to have sent ships to all corners of the ancient world, initiating a mass cross-pollination of culinary cultures that continues to bear fruit today. With King Solomon’s appetites and explorations in mind, here celebrated author Joan Nathan gathers more than 170 recipes that span the millennia: from classics like Yemenite Chicken Soup with Dill, Cilantro, and Parsley; Spinach and Feta Bourekas; Hummus with Preserved Lemon and Cumin; and Hamantaschen with Poppy Seed or Chocolate Filling…to contemporary riffs on traditional dishes such as Smokey Shakshuka with Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplant; Homemade Herbed Labneh with Beets and Puy Lentils; Baghdadi Chicken with Rice, Coconut, and Cilantro; and Roman Ricotta Cheese Torte. We travel with Joan from India to France, from Italy to Mexico, from El Salvador to Israel and, of course, all across North America, in a gorgeously illustrated culinary exploration that is filled with fascinating historical details, personal histories, and fantastic recipes that showcase the diversity of Jewish cuisine. It is the most ambitious and satisfying book of Joan Nathan’s stellar, four decades-long career.

Double-Lemon Roast Chicken

Wherever I am, comfort food is roast chicken. Like many people, I learned from Julia Child. As I travel the world I have added to and subtracted from the dish. Now I pop one of my preserved lemons  into the belly of the chicken, season it with fresh herbs, za’atar, and sumac, and scatter carrots, celery, zucchini, black olives, and sun-dried or fresh tomatoes around for an easy, beautiful, and— most important—delicious and colorful one-pot meal. I used to serve the chicken whole, but now I cut it up and surround it with the vegetables and sprinkle every- thing with the preserved lemon from the cavity. For Passover, I use artichokes with the chicken as one of my main courses at the Seder.

1 whole 4-pound (1 4/5 – kilo) chicken

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 to 2 tablespoons za’atar (optional)

1 teaspoon sumac

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 preserved lemon, divided

5 cloves garlic, peeled

Handful of fresh thyme sprigs, divided

Handful of rosemary sprigs, divided

Handful of sage leaves, divided 1 onion, cut into roughly 8 pieces

2 lemons, cut widthwise in thin circles

¾ cup (175 ml) white wine

1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, peeled,
1 fennel bulb, and/or 1 zucchini, all chopped into 2-inch pieces, or a handful of Brussels sprouts, black olives, and sun-dried tomatoes or a fresh tomato, cut up.

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, za’atar if you like, ands sumac. Then rub the outside with the olive oil.
2. Put the chicken in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Fill the cavity with half the preserved lemon, 2 garlic cloves, and a sprig each of the thyme, rosemary, and sage. Cut up the remaining preserved lemon and scatter it with the remaining cloves of garlic, the onion, and the rest of the thyme, rosemary, and sage, as well as the regular lemon slices, around the chicken. Add enough wine just to let the chicken sit in the liquid. You can do this the night before and cover with tin foil in your refrigerator.
3. When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the refrigerator for about a half hour to return to room temperature. Here is where you can be creative. Add cut-up celery, carrots, zucchini, and/or fennel, Brussels sprouts, black olives, and sun-dried or fresh tomatoes, or leave as is.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, then roast the chicken until it is golden brown and crispy, about an hour and 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature says 160.
5. Cut the chicken into roughly 8 pieces, place them on a platter, spoon the vegetables and juices with the preserved lemon and lemon slices over and around the chicken, and serve.

Quinoa Salad Recipe

JOAN NATHAN has been called the “doyenne of Jewish American food,” A regular contributor to The New York Times and Tablet Magazine, she is the author of eleven cookbooks including her latest work, King Solomon’s Table: a Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World. Joan’s books include the much-acclaimed Jewish Cooking in America, winner of both the James Beard Award and the IACP/Julia Child Cookbook of the Year Award, and An American Folklife Cookbook, winner of the R. T. French Tastemaker Award. An inductee to the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who in American Food and Beverage, she has also received the Silver Spoon Award from Food Arts magazine. The New American Cooking won the James Beard and IACP awards for the best American cookbook published in 2005. The New American Cooking explores the many innovators and changes that have influenced American food over the past 40 years. Ms. Nathan established her career by studying ethnic cuisines, primarily Jewish food, and by tracing families—and the foods they prepared—to their roots of the food in the Middle East.