Podcast: Cookbook editor explores chocolate and its Jewish connections
Michael Leventhal talks about his book, ‘Babka, Bolou & Blintzes,’ a collection of Jewish chocolate recipes by 50 Jewish food writers
Welcome to Times Will Tell, the weekly podcast from The Times of Israel.
This week, we speak with Michael Leventhal, the Yorkshire, England-based publisher of Greenhill Books and Green Bean Books, who authored “Babka, Boulou & Blintzes,” a collection of Jewish chocolate recipes by 50 Jewish food writers, including Claudia Roden, Joan Nathan and others.
The book includes everything from traditional babka and chocolate soup to chocolate Sacher torte and chocolate-tahini combinations.
The cookbook also includes Leventhal’s in-depth research and exploration of the history of Jewish food and culture through cocoa, examining the Cadbury family’s connections to Israel; whether the creator of the Sacher torte was Jewish; and the popularity of babka.
Leventhal’s cookbook includes recipes from Jewish communities the world over, including Russia, Mexico, England, Israel, North America, Turkey, Egypt, Portugal and the Netherlands.
All sales of the book will support Chai Cancer Care, a Jewish cancer support organization in England.
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