Portico: Cooking and Feasting in Rome''s Jewish Kitchen

A leading authority on Jewish food, Leah Koenig celebrates la cucina Ebraica Romana within the pages of her new cookbook. Portico: Cooking and Feasting in Romes Jewish Kitchen features over 100 deeply flavourful recipes and beautiful photographs of Romes Jewish community, the oldest in Europe. The citys Jewish residents have endured many hardships, including 300 years of persecution inside the Roman Jewish Ghetto. Out of this strife grew resilience, a deeply knit community and a uniquely beguiling cuisine. Today, the community thrives on Via del Portico dOttavia (the main road in Romes Ghetto)and beyond.

Leah Koenigs recipes showcase the cuisines elegantly understated vegetables, saucy braised meats and stews, rustic pastas, resplendent olive oilfried foods and never-too-sweet desserts. Home cooks can explore classics of the Roman Jewish repertoire with Stracotto di Manzo (a wine-braised beef stew), Pizza Ebraica (fruit-and-nut-studded bar cookies) and of course, Carciofi alla Giudia, the quintessential Jewish-style fried artichokes. A standout chapter on frittersshowcasing the unique gift Roman Jews have for delicate fryingincludes sweet honey-soaked matzo fritters, fried salt cod and savoury potato pastries (burik) introduced by the thousands of Libyan Jews who immigrated to Rome in the 1960s and 70s. Every recipe is masterfully tailored to the home cook, while maintaining the flavour and integrity of tradition. Suggested menus for feasts round out the usability and flexibility of these dishes.