A Cookbook for our Times

Fame and fortune come and go these days in a twittered flurry of viral activity signifying not much at all. The famous and infamous become blurred distinctions as we dismiss events with hurried trigger happy flicks of ADHD fingertips itching for the next headline or news byte. We live in a society ruled by obsolescence, disposability, surface chic and ‘what’s in it for me?’ priorities.

It’s hard not to get caught up in the frenzied momentum of the transitory inane; yet some rare individuals manage to adapt to the paroxysm while maintaining their intrinsic skill-set, talents, passions and beliefs. Some of these self possessed champions rarer still can reach out and teach with mass appeal, sharing wisdom, talent and their years of expertise so that even the maniacally distracted stop and take notice.

There is no better master teacher in the culinary world than Levana Kirschenbaum. The woman is a firebrand of positive delightful anecdotal information on fresh healthy wholesome easy ways to cook delicious meals. In her new cookbook, which I got a sneak peak of, Levana holds nothing back. All her collective years of experience are evident in this latest cookbook gem.

With more than 350 recipes in its general index, it includes over 250 delicious gluten-free adaptations and more than 250 Passover friendly dishes. All of these use natural, healthy, wholesome ingredients; what could be better at a time when we becoming increasingly health conscious about our food intake?

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen is a precious dowry of cooking essentials that any loving mother would pass down to her daughter as a loving legacy of easy and healthful food preparation. This tell all manifest destiny of healthy cooking has wonderful recipes, with multiple variations on a theme, detailed with beautiful pictures, formatted for ease of use, organized and indexed for quick referencing and recipe selection. It’s like all her collections rolled into one, you’re going to love it and come back to it as ‘the source’ time and again for preparing delicious nearly effortless meals. I’ll bet it goes digital! For now you can see it on the shelves by June 1st. Don’t miss it!

Pasta with mock crab , artichokes, and olives. Photo by: Meir Pliskin

SYR