Levana's Table: Kosher Cooking for Everyone [Hardcover]

Levana Kirschenbaum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

For more than 20 years, Levana Kirschenbaum has delighted New Yorkers with her bakery, restaurant, catering business, and cooking classes. Now, for the first time, she shares her kosher recipes and kitchen wisdom with home cooks everywhere. Levana's Table offers 150 recipes that are simple, nutritious, beautifully presented, and 100 percent kosher. Together these dishes form an international mosaic reflecting the author's Moroccan upbringing and other wide-ranging culinary influences and interests: French, Mediterranean, Asian, and vegetarian cooking, as well as her famous desserts, and food for holidays and entertaining.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Levana Kirschenbaum is the founder of Levana Resaturant, the premier gourmet kosher restaurant in Manhattan, and Levana's Place, the first gourmet kosher cooking school in New York City. She recently appeared on the PBS special The United Tastes of America and regularly teaches master cooking classes around the city. She was born and raised in Morocco and has traveled extensively, incorporating these diverse culinary influences into her recipes. Ann Stratton is a New York City-based photographer who has contributed to House & Garden, Food & Wine, Martha Stewart Living, and O, The Oprah Magazine, as well as to several books.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584792736
• ISBN-13: 978-1584792734
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,315,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars At Long Last! Levana's Recipes in a Beautiful Book January 27, 2003

By Auntie Mame

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

What a pleasure to have Levana's recipes bound in such a beautiful book! My husband and I have taken many of Levana's cooking classes in New York City - me for the recipes and techniques, my husband because he knew he would get a good dinner - and my recipe collection was all a hodgepodge. Plus, the book has the added bonus of Levana's practiced advice on entertaining - some of which she gave in class, but not all - I only wish I could have read it before I started entertaining - it would have saved me from a lot of mistakes. Plus, there are charming stories about Levana's mother, her husband Maurice and her children - including her daughter who, Levana says, usually prefers to eat cold cereal! I just de-accessioned most of my large library of cookbooks, but this one is a keeper. Note - You will need a food processor. I never bought one until Levana demonstrated how easy it is to use - now I have 2 (one for Passover). I asked Levana if she keeps her food processor parve like I do. "I have 3 food processors!" she said. This book is a perfect gift for all brides. I just gave mine away to my best friend for her birthday and have to buy two more today - one for a bride. Another hint while I have your attention - those Le Creuset spatulas and spoons in blue, red, and green that can take heat up to 650 degrees (I think that's the number) are perfect for the Kosher kitchen. Levana uses them, and now I do too! I love the big color photos that show how the dish is supposed to look - why don't all cookbooks have them? My only quibble is you have to squint to see Levana - her photo is about 1 inch square square! - it does not show her vivacious warmth as big as it is. I think it is inspiring to see her up to her elbows in bread dough while smiling and talking a mile a minute, so why not show her doing some of the more difficult stuff?

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Kosher gourmet cooking December 23, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

We actually bought this book by chance, as it was the first kosher cookbook we had ever actually seen in a bookshop here in town. And what a pleasant surprise!

The charming layout can perhaps best be compared to Joyce Esersky Goldstein's great books, e.g. Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen, but while Mrs. Goldstein serves down-to-earth Mediterranean food in a wonderful way, Mrs. Kirschenbaum's recipes seem heavenly inspired.
The recipes are a proof that kosher can be for gourmets as well.

Additionally, so far I have not found any detail not corresponding to Kashrut, while other kosher cookbooks are sometimes a bit careless in this respect.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Kosher Cooking fun in NYC March 30, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I bought Levana's book after attending her cooking classes in New York City (http://www.levanakirschenbaum.com). This book is a great companion for her classes -- I recommend them both highly! Her Brisket makes a great seder main course.