She touches on restaurants and food producers, holidays and history. Ms. Nathan said she decided to write the book in 1995, on the night Israeli Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin was assassinated. Ms. Nathan, who lived in Israel in her 20s and has visited numerous times since, made five trips to Israel to research the book. Since she finished the manuscript last year, the political situation in Israel has so deteriorated that today she wouldn't be able to visit many of the people she interviewed for the book. The food, however, is not.
Some recipes are as old as time, others as new as a hot Jerusalem restaurant.
A Palestinian fruit soup came her way through a cookbook published by a temple in Cleveland. Ms. Nathan was just named to Who's Who in Food and Beverage in America, an award from the James Beard Foundation, based on her writings about Jewish cuisine. The book showcases the one thing that seems to bring people together rather than tear them apart. Ms. Nathan says the chicken and asparagus recipes below are good choices for the Passover seder. 1 large clove garlic, crushed 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Black and white sesame seeds for garnish 1 orange, sliced, for garnish Break off the bottom ends of the asparagus.