Taste Buds With Deb

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with chef Olivia Ostrow of Miami's Ostrow Brasserie. Her restaurant is the only kosher-French restaurant in the United States.    As a French person and a chef, Ostrow's love language is food. "This is how we express ourselves," she says.   Ostrow - who was born in Paris, moved to the States with her family in the 1990s, and spent...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Rick Nahmias, founder and CEO of Food Forward. The nonprofit recovers surplus produce that would go to waste and distributes it to agencies who feed the hungry.   "We're the Robin Hoods of produce," Nahmias explains. "We recover it, we refrigerate it, and then we redistribute it."    While Food Forward is based in Los Angeles...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Chef Elizabeth Mehditach, whose mission is to unite people through food. With a specialty in the fusion of California, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern cuisine, Mehditach is all for eating healthy, as long as you remember that it's okay to make exceptions.   "If you have a cheat day, just get back on [the wagon]," Mehditach...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with chef and restaurateur Daniel Shemtob, whose home burned down in the Palisades fire. He is also one of many local chefs teaming with José Andrés' World Central Kitchen (WCK) to feed those displaced by the fires and first responders.   'It's been crazy, dealing with the consequences of losing your home, losing all your stuff, d...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Suzy Sapir, founder of the Hippy Pilgrim Helpline. Every night, between 4 pm and 6pm PT, Sapir, who also owns the Hippy Pilgrim gourmet seasoning company, takes calls on her private cell: 781-291-0264. People around the world ask her cooking questions or just call to chat.    Los Angeles, where Deb and the Jewish Journal are...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Annie Kantor, owner of Modern Metal, about decorating with entertaining in mind. The key is to create a beautiful space that exudes warmth and encourages conversation..    "I don't really have doors on the whole main floor of our house because … I wanted to encourage socialization," Kantor explains. "And we designed [the kitc...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with chocolatier and chocolate educator Ruth Kennison of The Chocolate Project.   Honey represents a sweet Jewish New Year! Why not kick off the calendar year by indulging in chocolate. Just make sure it's the good kind.   "When you're using really good chocolate, it just elevates everything," explains Kennison, who turned a life-...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, Debra Eckerling hosts a special Hanukkah panel with authors Eitan Bernath ("Eitan Eats the World"), Joan Nathan ("My Life in Recipes," "A Sweet Year" and many others) and Beth Ricanati ("Braided: A Journey of A Thousand Challahs").   Holidays are all about uniting friends, old and new. What better way to honor Hanukkah than to bring together three previous T...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Yuliya Patsay, author of "Until the Last Pickle: A Memoir in 18 Recipes."    A Soviet-born, San Francisco-raised storyteller, Patsay started this project as a collection of family recipes; it turned into a celebration of her past and a legacy for the future.   The first two recipes Patsay collected were her grandmother's blin...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with David Chiu, communication manager at The Braid and producer of their new video series, "Tastes of Tradition."   "One thing that we at The Braid notice is that food and storytelling, especially for us Jews, are  inseparable," Chiu explains.  "Food is as much about the people you're sharing it with as the recipes themselves."  ...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with New York teen Steven Hoffen, founder of Growing Peace Inc. The organization installs hydroponic systems in communities in need, so that they can grow their own fresh produce.    "Growing Peace is really about trying to give back to the world, to my community, and trying to help it out and make the world a better place," he sa...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Jessie-Sierra Ross, founder of Straight to the Hips, Baby, and author of "Seasons Around the Table: Effortless Entertaining with Floral Tablescapes & Seasonal Recipes."   Ross took the leap from prima ballerina into the food and cooking world, after she retired from professional dance.    "I started cooking at my mother's sid...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with chef Or Amsalam, a two-time James Beard Award semifinalist and founder of Lodge Bread Co., which has three locations in Los Angeles.   Amsalam, who served in the military before pursuing his culinary dreams at Le Cordon Bleu, says he has always been obsessed with bread.    "Bread has always been a staple in my household," Ams...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with author, food writer, and recipe writer Aaron Hamburger. His novels include "Faith for Beginners" and "Hotel Cuba;" which is based on his grandparents' immigration story. Hamburger also developed the babka recipes for Lesléa Newman's children's book "The Babka Sisters."   While food informs all of his genres, cooking has not a...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with actress Yael Grobglas. Grobglas, who played the series regular dual-roles of 'Petra' and 'Anezka' on "Jane the Virgin;" Hallmark Channel's "Hanukkah on Rye;" and recently started an arc on the new "Matlock," believes food is magical.    "It can heal you, it can make you happy, it can bring people together," she says.     Grob...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with chef, cookbook author and dinner-party aficionado Jake Cohen. The author of "Jew-ish" and "I Could Nosh," Cohen believes cooking should be easy, fun, and shared with others. That message comes out loud and clear in his new show, "Jake Makes It Easy" on the FYI channel.   "Going to the gym is difficult, but the hardest part is...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with children's book author, fiction writer and poet Lesléa Newman. Jewish comfort food showed up in one her first children's books, "Matzo Ball Moon," and has been making appearances in her work ever since.    "[Food is] part of our every holiday, every Shabbat," Newman, whose titles include "The Babka Sisters," "A Sweet Passover...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Ilan Stavans and Margaret Boyle, authors of "Sabor Judío: The Jewish Mexican Cookbook."    "The book is a celebration of Jewish Mexican identity, but it also is a celebration of all diaspora identity and how people connect with culture and movement through food," says Boyle, director of Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx St...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Ken Albala, author of  Opulent Nosh: A Cookbook for Audacious Appetites  and other books about food.   A professor of history at the University of the Pacific, Albala's other books span from Eating Right in the Renaissance to The Great Gelatin Revival: Savory Aspics, Jiggly Shots, and Outrageous Desserts . He has written hist...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with food and lifestyle writer Ariel Kanter, whose Substack is called Rel's Recs, and who fell in love with food by accident.    Growing up as a ballerina, food was not part of Kanter's lifestyle. Then in high school, she discovered the original Japanese version of "Iron Chef" on the Food Network. Kanter loved the experimentation...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Jeffrey Eisner, founder of Pressure Luck Cooking and the bestselling author of the "Step-by-Step Instant Pot" series of cookbooks. "Pastabilities," is his fifth and first non-Instant Pot-centric cookbook.   Filled with his signature user-friendly style of instruction – and chapters that include farm and garden, soups, salads,...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Jeffrey Kollinger, of Spice of Life Catering in Dallas. He's a celebrated chef, kosher caterer, and CEO with more than three decades of experience.   Whereas kosher food sometimes gets a bad rap–you can't mix milk with meat, you need separate kitchens, you can only eat fish with scales–Kollinger believes kosher can be gourmet...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Dr. Beth Ricanati, author of "Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs."   More than 15 years ago, Ricanati started baking challah on Fridays as a self-care ritual. Now, she gives challah workshops–both in person and digitally–around the country to people of all faiths, and speaks about the teachings in her book.   "When you...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with chef/restaurateur Daniel Shemtob, The Lime Truck, TLT, and Hatch Yakitori. The all-star winner of Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race," Shemtob is also co-founder of Snibbs, the world's most comfortable non-slip shoe.    About two weeks before opening Hatch, Shemtob had a nasty fall in the kitchen.    "I herniated and s...

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Daphne Subar, founder of Subarzsweets. Subar launched her company–a unique online bakery and gifting service–in 2016, after practicing law for 26 years.   "I love to bake, I love to cook and I would always be experimenting in the kitchen," Subar explains. "It was really my [three] daughters who encouraged me–almost challenged...