Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine

• Author: Micah Siva
• Genre: Cookbook
• Publication Date: March 5, 2024
• Publisher: The Collective Book Studio

Thank you to NetGalley and The Collective Book Studio for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For those who want to connect with Jewish culinary history while following a plant-based diet, Nosh offers more than 80 recipes that can be served at shabbat, holidays, and even better, every day.

Nosh is the cookbook for the modern Jewish kitchen, drawing inspiration from history through a 21st century lens. Food is a central part of the Jewish culture, and those who don’t connect with the foods of yesterday may feel as though a part of their heritage is missing. With the rise in plant-based eating across the globe, Nosh, and its more than 80 recipes, is an ideal guide for those looking to connect with and share their Judaism in a way that feels authentic in today’s landscape. Author, food writer, and registered dietician Micah Siva hopes to inspire meals not only for the holidays, but for the simple joy of elevating beloved Jewish flavors into everyday life.

I didn’t really expect or plan to read two Jewish cookbooks back to back, but if there’s ever a time to do this it is in the weeks preceding the High Holy Days. With the exception of fast days, most Jewish holidays involve a ton of cooking and have some traditional foods associated with each. I enjoy incorporating some new recipes into our own holiday celebrations whenever possible. 

Plant-based meals can be fantastic, and I do my best to incorporate at least one plant-based dinner weekly. This works fantastically when I’m on my own, but not all of my family members have as adventurous a palate as I do. So I’m always on the lookout for a creative new reimagining of traditional and well-loved recipes that everyone at the table will enjoy. Or at least most people at the table, since we tend to be a bunch of picky eaters. 

Siva takes some of the most well-known recipes in Jewish cuisine and makes them sound (and look) equally, if not more, delicious than the originals, without the meat. The recipes are paired with gorgeous photographs of the finished product, which absolutely played a role in how many pages I bookmarked. Hint: It’s almost all of them. She also includes a brief note about the recipe, and even offers substitutions to make for the recipe to be vegan. 

While most people think of chicken soup, matzo balls, bagels and lox, and pastrami when it comes to Jewish cuisine, these foods are associated with Ashkenazi Jews, or those who lived in Eastern Europe during the diaspora. However, ignoring the traditional foods of Mizrahi Jews (diaspora communities throughout the SWANA region) and Sephardi Jews (who spent diaspora in Spain, Portugal, and some regions of the Ottoman Empire) misses out on some fantastic flavors and exciting ways to eat foods that we have every single year. 

The book starts out with sample menus for Shabbat as well as all the other Jewish holidays, followed by a glossary of Jewish food terms. From there, she transitions to the good stuff — the recipes. Breakfast and brunch get their own section, while additional recipes are broken down by where they fit into the meal: soups; salads, spreads, and sides; main dishes; breads and desserts; drinks (both alcoholic and not); and essentials, which include seasoning blends, jams, and other pantry essentials. 

I have been loving the way that Jewish cuisine is experiencing what feels like an upswing. Shabbat dinner, Passover seders, Purim hamantaschen, dairy entrees for Shavuot, the celebration of Rosh Hashanah with sweet foods, and Chanukah latkes and sufganiyot (donuts) all have new life breathed into them with vegetarian and vegan options. Rather than utilizing highly processed meat substitutes, Siva incorporates fruit, vegetables, grains, and dairy (or non-dairy substitutes) to create healthy and tasty recipes. Overall, this is a fantastic book whether you’re Jewish or not, and whether you follow a plant-based diet or not, because so many of these recipes had my mouth watering even though I also love the traditional and meat-inclusive recipes. But there’s no way I’m ever trying a different honey cake recipe than the one that has graced our Rosh Hashanah tables every year of my life. So don’t miss this one!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase through my links.