Building friendships around the world, Joan Nathan uses food and flavors to connect with each person's origin story. A remarkable food expert and cookbook writer, in 2024 Joan combined her best-loved recipes with her fascinating life story in My Life in Recipes: Food, Family, and Memories, weaving home, career and global travel highlights into a compelling read.
Warm and charming, Joan reveals the beginnings of her passion for food linked to discovering the stories of others:
I come from a family of eaters. My family food preferences and favorite recipes became the folklore of my life, as did the stories that accompanied the food they served. I have learned through the years that each person's defining recipe may be different—chicken and dumplings, lasagna, tacos, tamales, brisket, or steak and potatoes—but whatever it is, most of us have a dish that stays with us throughout our life. The thought, taste, and smell of that one dish reminds us of being safe as a child within our homes. Many of these foods become family folktales that appear again and again at the dinner table.
Joan gains her in-depth knowledge of food, ingredients, and recipes through on-the-ground research along with guest visits to kitchens everywhere. She gets particularly excited wrangling invites to homes with uncommon meal traditions and preparations, spending time in the kitchen to watch, listen, and learn while intently scribbling notes for future reference.
Across decades Joan has been tapped by the New York Times, Washington Post, and PBS as a regular contributor to food education and commentary. Distinguished throughout her career, Joan's honors include multiple James Beard awards plus the Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America. Working with colleagues throughout the food world, her collaborations include Julia Child, Ruth Reichl, Alice Waters, Tom Colicchio, Madhur Jaffrey, Craig Claiborne, and Paul Prudhomme.
Often referenced as the foremost authority on Jewish cooking, landmark achievements include her seminal collection Jewish Cooking in America, and her PBS series “Jewish Cooking in America,” available today on YouTube. Her twelve books include The New American Cooking and King Solomon's Table, reaching out to home cooks in every kitchen.
Joan appeals to all audiences, blending her love of food with her compassion and humanity. Energetic and insightful, Joan inspires everyone to get into the kitchen and try something new, or whip up a lifelong favorite.
My Life In Recipes: Food, Family, and Memories. Called “the queen of American Jewish cooking” by the Houston Chronicle, Joan Nathan looks back on her life, her family history, and her cultural identity through the lens of recipes: the food she prepared and the meals she shared.
Drawing from her most recent book, My Life in Recipes, this career-spanning discussion reflects on Joan's journey from her marriage and motherhood to her career as a food writer and life centered around meals, punctuated by all the foods she has come to love. Incorporating recipes from around the country (and around the world), Joan connects with audiences as she explores the relationship between food and identity and how we are shaped by (and are shaping) an increasingly diverse food scene in America.
The Transformation of Jewish Cuisine in America: From Home to the Globe. Before hummus was available in every grocery store or shakshuka was on every brunch menu, Joan Nathan was teaching cooks how to make Jewish staples at home. Now, as Jewish foods have become mainstays, Joan Nathan is still at the forefront, tracing how traditional Jewish foods spread and evolved across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, and arrived in America to be reimagined with regional tastes and trends sprawling from New England and New York to the Midwest and West Coast.
As author and James Beard award-winning chef Michael Solomonov has said, “There is no greater authority on Jewish cooking than Joan Nathan.” Nathan speaks fluently on a variety of delicious topics and interweaves stories and recipes from her years of travel, journalism, and writing cookbooks. From Israeli food and French food to Fast food and condiments, Joan outlines the past and present of Jewish cuisine, recounting the history of the Bagel and the observations of Passover and the ways Crisco, cream cheese, and Jell-O forever changed Jewish home cooking.
A Seat at the Table: Cooking Demo & Conversation With Joan Nathan. Joan Nathan, the author of over a dozen treasured and beloved cookbooks, presents audiences with a fabulous feast of recipes and the stories behind them that reflect the most innovative moment in our culinary history.
Infusing traditional favorites with new exotic flavors and regional trends, Nathan demonstrates novel cooking techniques that make the most of every ingredient. With an ever-increasing focus on time, health, and sustainability, what and how we eat is evolving. The result: American cooking has never been so exciting. Joan Nathan proves this in her demonstrations as she features ancient techniques, classic American preparations, and the latest in new-wave fusion cuisine.
This event is a feast of recipes and stories—and an invitation to a seat at Nathan's table.
The History of Middle Eastern Cuisine: From Biblical Times to Now. Joan Nathan has spent much of her career outlining the history of Middle Eastern food and its evolution from biblical times to the present day. Focusing on the influence of religion and culture, Joan demonstrates how Middle Eastern cuisine has been shaped by both ancient practices and the steady flow of immigrant communities that settled in the region.
Drawing from her books, her travels, and subsequent decades of research, this event explores the rich culinary landscape of the Middle East and displays how the region has been an epicenter, with culinary traditions influenced by neighboring countries and cultures. Nathan captures the vibrant and diverse food scene as she traces the enduring influence of biblical practices and preparation techniques intermixed with the tastes and trends of Middle Eastern, European, and African cuisine. This topical discussion shows us how, in a politically turbulent time, food is a common ground and a way to break down the barriers between politics, religion, and culture.
Keywords: Author, storyteller, journalist, Jewish cooking, foodie, James Beard Award, commentator, family, family history, memoir