“The Shuk Cook” NYT Bestselling Author Adeena Sussman: Cooking Through War & Her BRAND NEW Cookbook

New York Times Bestselling cookbook author Adeena Sussman joins Jonah Platt to talk Israeli food culture, Jewish identity, life in Tel Aviv after October 7th, shakshuka, tahini, kosher cooking, and her brand new cookbook app packed with Middle Eastern recipes using 10 ingredients or less.

What’s it really like to be an American Jewish woman living in Tel Aviv for 10 years? Adeena — the woman behind beloved cookbooks Sababa and Shabbat — gets raw and honest about cooking through trauma, the surge of grief at Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s funeral, and how the Jewish food community rallied just days after the October 7th attack.
She also shares the story of meeting her husband Jay on a blind date near Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market, skipping straight to stepmom life at 46, and why she proudly calls herself an “American Israeli insider-outsider.”

Follow Adeena Sussman
On Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/adeenasussman/?hl=en
Order her cookbooks – https://www.adeenasussman.com/

🍳 In this episode:
Life in Tel Aviv after October 7th & the hostage ceasefire
Adeena’s new cookbook app — 100 recipes, 10 ingredients or less
Israeli vs. American food culture and spontaneity
Meeting husband Jay at Carmel Market & becoming a stepmom at 46
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, grief, and cooking as healing
Why shakshuka is the “mother sauce” of Israeli cooking
Jake Cohen, Hani Applebaum & the post-10/7 Jewish food community response
The “Taste or Toss” game: brisket, tahini brownies, latkes & more

00:00 – Introduction: Meet Adeena Sussman
03:12 – Life in Israel After October 7th
06:55 – The Book Tour That Became Group Therapy
09:29 – Moving to Israel: Insider-Outsider Identity
13:04 – Carmel Market & Israeli Food Culture
17:54 – Cookbooks as Jewish Memory & Story
22:04 – Jewish Foods Across Cultures
29:50 – Sababa & Becoming a Bestseller
37:31 – Hosting, Hospitality & the Jewish Table
45:26 – House it, Taste or Toss Game

🎙️ Being Jewish with Jonah Platt — the podcast exploring what it means to be Jewish today, through culture, identity, food, and community.
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