Joan Nathan’s new book, “My Life in Recipes,” is part memoir and part cookbook. It is also a travelogue of the fascinating places she has visited and the people she has met.
Nathan writes evocatively about food. “If I had to think of one dish that defines my life, it would be a rich chicken soup with matzo balls floating in the broth . . . It was those al dente matzo balls — neither light nor leaden — that defined my family’s soup and made me who I am . . . This dumpling dish provides a sense of well-being and belonging for us all.”
Each of the 35 chapters, presented chronologically, is lusciously illustrated and begins with memories from the period. Nathan introduces each related recipe with information that helps locate it within her life. She also provides helpful hints –– for instance, for Rugelach with Raspberry Walnut Filling, Nathan tells us to use high-quality jam and not too finely chopped toasted nuts. “I also heat the oven to 400 degrees, and then, as soon as I put the rugelach in, I turn it down to 350 degrees to help set the crust.”
The interplay between Nathan’s narrative and the recipes works well visually. The mouthwatering photography and straightforward instructions make you want to run to the kitchen immediately.
Nathan begins “My Life in Recipes” with chapters about her parents’ families and early childhood years. She includes letters and diary entries, thus helping us learn that in 1956, at 13, she made dinner and wrote, “Everything burned. I made chestnuts and attempted fudge (burned & didn’t taste good!).”
Nathan has traveled extensively and writes about all her great finds — something she seems to have inherited. “My father, often aloof with us, opened up to the waiters, usually in their native language: he grew up in Germany, learned French in school, and worked in Italy for a few years before he came to the United States. Thus began my love of finding restaurants and studying languages.”
Speaking about her summer abroad in Italy in 1966, leading a group for the Experiment in International Living, Nathan writes, “I learned invaluable human lessons for someone who wanted to make travel part of her life. As you see how people live, you learn how customs cross borders in different ways and how family meals can serve as an anchor throughout each day and, more important, in your life as a whole.”
Not surprisingly, therefore, a great many of the recipes hail from different countries and have an intriguing flair. In the chapter about her junior year of college in Paris, Nathan gives us a delectable Tarte Tartin, with suggestions for variation made with quinces or even rhubarb. There are Ghoribiya, Egyptian butter cookies that contain almond flour and cinnamon. Her German Potato Salad calls for red, yellow, or orange peppers, a jalapeño, caraway seeds, and mustard. The Malagasy Vegetable Salad includes green beans, cabbage, cauliflower, onion, grated ginger, curry powder, and a dash of red pepper. A White Gazpacho is made by soaking pita in vinegar before pulverizing it in a blender or food processor, then adding blanched almonds, garlic, and olive oil and topping it with white grapes.
Nathan’s connection to Judaism has been strong throughout her life. She first went to Israel in 1969. She had had no interest in doing so until sitting next to a returning Peace Corps volunteer who told her that the country was the most fascinating place he had ever visited. Nathan recalls, “I was introduced to and beguiled by cuisine representing cultures from around the world.” She includes a delicious-sounding Passover recipe for Garosa (haroset) from Curaçao made with dates, figs, prunes, raisins, tamarind, roasted cashews and peanuts, lemon or orange zest, cinnamon, tamarind, and brown sugar.
Nathan eventually worked as the foreign press attaché for Jerusalem’s then mayor, Teddy Kollek, and accompanied him into the homes of Orthodox Jews, White Russians, and Palestinians. “I saw how he made connections with people who otherwise would not agree with him in any way. Through the common bond of food, we had relationships that in a more politicized context would never make sense.” Within the chapter, she includes an enticing recipe for Mousakhan made of chicken and onions with red sumac, allspice, cloves, and toasted pine nuts.
Nathan reveals the trials and triumphs of her career as a food writer and cookbook author, starting with her first book, “The Flavor of Jerusalem.” She writes of her long marriage to her husband, Allan, the growth of their family, and the importance of Jewish traditions.
Early on, Nathan writes, “When I turned twenty-six, there were two things I knew: I wanted to fall in love, but more than that, I wanted to have an interesting life.” When you close the book, you certainly get a sense that she has been successful.
“My Life in Recipes: Food, Family, and Memories” by Joan Nathan. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2024. 450 pages. $45. Available at Edgartown Books and Bunch of Grapes.
