Braid bonanza: Challah gets top billing in 7-city ANU event

Challah, the iconic braided bread that headlines Shabbat and Jewish holiday meals, is at the heart of Global ChallahFest, a seven-city international event created by Foodish, the culinary arm of ANU – Museum of the Jewish People.

The event kicks off in New York City on November 6, before moving to Chicago, Washington, Boston and Atlanta. It then crosses the pond to London, and concludes in Tel Aviv on November 29.

The events include culinary workshops, a photography exhibition, community gatherings, and challah creation.

It’s the second year of ChallahFest but the first time the event is expanding beyond Israel. It brings together chefs, cookbook authors, artists, bakers and rank-and-file Jews to explore Jewish life through the familiar culinary tradition.

Foodish is part of ANU’s vision of bringing Jewish stories to life and connecting Jewish communities in Israel and around the world.

“You cannot build a living Jewish culture by asking the next generation to simply remember it. You have to give them something they want to be part of,” said Merav Oren, who founded and runs Foodish. “A challah can become a conversation, a work of art or a rave. We’re creating experiences that give young people the freedom to reinterpret our traditions and shape what Jewish life becomes. ChallahFest is just the beginning.”

The ChallahFest guest lineup features big names from the Jewish culinary world, including cookbook author and television personality Jake Cohen, award-winning cookbook author Joan Nathan, and chef and restaurateur Einat Admony.

“ChallahFest is an invitation to get your hands in the dough and make Jewish tradition your own,” said Cohen, known for his sometimes bare-chested challah baking reels. “Baking something to share with others is one of the most intimate ways to build the kind of community you want to be part of.”

The festival opens in New York City with a meet-and-greet including Cohen at William Greenberg Desserts, and an introduction to the ChallahFest DIY Kit, which offers creative ways to reinterpret the traditional loaf.

The New York calendar includes an open Q&A with Nathan and a Kabbalat Shabbat gathering with Admony, and also features Falmer, the mononymous chef and DJ, in partnership with a special challah-inspired pop-up by New York tahini maker Seed + Mill.

Washington, DC’s ChallahFest will host a panel about challah, culture and identity featuring chef and television host Pati Jinich; Boston’s events include a student challah-baking competition; and ChallahFest Atlanta will bring together local bakeries, tastings and community gatherings.

London’s program will feature an intergenerational panel about challah, home and belonging with food historian Claudia Roden and cookbook author Adeena Sussman along with Falmer.

The festival will conclude at ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, including a photography exhibition created especially for ChallahFest by Sivan Roshianu and chef and multidisciplinary artist Alexander “Zoonder” Lachnish, showing challah through a new kind of lens.

Over the course of the final ChallahFest weekend, a curated lineup of bakeries, including Mattarello, Ronale by Zohar, David Laor and Russell’s Bakery, will present exclusive interpretations of challah, ranging from an ancient Andalusian pastry and a traditional Tunisian good-luck challah to a croissant combining Jewish tradition with French patisserie.

For more information and ChallahFest dates, check out the ANU Foodish website for details.