On the Chocolate Trail

While we tend to think of panettone as a Christmas bread, Jewish food writer Edda Servi Machlin shared this version of panettone from her childhood experiences in Italy of eating it for breakfast. She provides an authentic yet simpler process than most panettone recipes and a very tasty one at that. Enjoy it whenever you

Eat kaak all year round or save them for special celebrations, as do many communities of the Middle East and Sephardim (Jews descended from Spain). Kaak (kahk, ka’ak) are ubiquitous, multi-faith and multi-cultural doughy treats eaten throughout the Middle East where they take on regional flavors. In Arabic kaak means cake or baked good.The Egyptian

This stunning challah makes a great centerpiece and tastes delicious. Allow time for the shaping of the various elements of this celebratory Shavuot challah and enjoy the anise flavored liqueur in the dough. Read my story at the Jewish Week “Exotic Celebratory Breads for Shavuot“ The recipe is adapted from Rabbi Robert Sternberg’s The Sephardic

This celebratory, cheesy babka belongs on a festive Shavuot table, for sure. Read my story at the Jewish Week “Exotic Celebratory Breads for Shavuot“ Adapted from Beth Hensperger’s The Bread Bible: 300 Favorite Recipes Yield: One large cake DOUGH 1 tablespoon active dry yeast Pinch sugar ¼ cup warm water (105º to 115º) ½ cup

“Did Jews ‘Invent’ Chocolate?” An Exclusive Interview with Deborah Prinz by Walter Bingam for his radio program “Walter’s World” at Israel National Radio about my book On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, Religions, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao, published by Jewish Lights and now in its second

If, as one of my friends has taught me, food is love, then chocolate manifests the densest, deepest and sweetest of loves. When we slather our mothers with chocolatey tributes in a few days, we will be stepping onto a chocolate trail pioneered by Jewish mothers before us, notably Rebecca Gomez of the 18th century.

Today’s tough economics send many of us to sweets and chocolate to find comfort on tighter budgets. Candy satisfies us today; in the Colonial Period in North America, the daily menu often included drinking chocolate. In 1747 a minister only identified as “Your humble Servant, T.W.,” published a lament about his congregation not maintaining his

This past April we managed a return visit to CoCo Chocolatier, as we settled into  Williamsburg, Virginia, for some research about Colonial chocolate at the Rockefeller Library.  A break from the data bases of early historical newspapers and library took us to Colonial Williamsburg’s chocolate making day, which occurs the first Tuesday of each month. 

In early December of 2006, my husband Mark and I discovered the roots of chocolate Chanukah gelt. That winter we drove a rental car from Brussels to Liege, Belgium, searching for a chocolate museum in the nearby town of Eupen. As we descended the hilly road that took us into downtown Liege to our hotel,

A serious chocolate lover has to wonder why Judaism today has neither serious ritual celebrations nor customs using good chocolate, especially at Rosh Hashanah when we emphasize the sweetness we anticipate and long for in the coming New Year. On Rosh Hashanah, we greet each other with the phrase, Shanah Tovah u’Metukah! “a good and

July 8, 2007 Astorga A chocolate center in the Maragateria area, with at least five chocolate stores crowded on one block. Astorga also hosts another chocolate museum! We wanted to buy this chocolate pot set, but it was not for sale. At stores everywhere these small tiles could be purchased. The Astorga Chocolate Museum, created

June 24, 2007 Sueca In Valencia Province, the outdoor Sueca city map clearly identifies the Comes Chocolate Museum. Owned by fourth generation Comes family member, Pedro Melero, 400,000 people visit the museum each year. He buys his chocolate from a co-op; they decide what is best. It currently comes from Ghana. The Comes-Spanish-only video shows

June 20, 2007 Poblet We had read a text panel at the Barcelona Chocolate Museum explaining that chocolate arrived in Spain in 1520, one year after Cortez arrived in Mexico. A Cistercian monk, Fray Aguilar, shipped chocolate with the recipe to the Monasterio de Piedra in Aragon and possibly also to the monastery at Poblet.

June 10, 2007 The quantity of chocolate in Bayonne more than compensated for the lack in Bilbao. We arrived on Sunday, so we found the chocolate shops closed, sadly, but we did discover an Italian brand of hot chocolate at a local creperie.