Chef Nir Mesika first learned to prepare zaalouk, a Moroccan dip with roasted vegetables, from his mother Yaffa, whose mother Mazal was born in Casablanca. “Zaalouk remains a central part of my culinary identity today,” Nir shares. 

When Brigitte Choufan was growing up in Tunisia in the late 1950s, Jewish street vendors stuffed golden brown pillows of fried dough with tuna, fiery harissa, eggs, and potatoes to make the beloved local sandwich, fricassé.

After picking up chicken for Shabbat on Thursdays, Orly Peli-Bronshtein’s grandmother Marika would use the extra pieces to make Bulgarian chicken with tomatoes and rice. Orly likes to top it with tomato confit. 

In this Ethiopian Shabbat classic, chicken and eggs are coated with a rich tomato sauce spiced with ginger and berbere. Just before serving, black cardamom is sprinkled on top. Serve it with Ethiopian flatbread called injera.

Chopped vegetables and torn pieces of leftover bread called dabo are tossed with sour cream and the Ethiopian spice blend berbere. 

This sweet tart was inspired by a heritage trip chef and artist Elazar Tamano took with his father Melaku to Ethiopia. Elazar uses Ethiopian white honey for this recipe and strongly recommends seeking it out.

This simple noodle and lentil dish punctuated with feta and pine nuts is part of Limor Laniado Tirosh’s Shavuot table. In Lebanon, the dish is often served as a soup, but in Limor's Syrian family, it's more akin to mujaddarah with noodles swapped in for the rice.

Dabo is an essential part of Shabbat and holidays for Ethiopian Jews. While typically plain and lightly sweet, this rendition from chef Elazar Tamano is perfumed with spices like turmeric, coriander, and nigella seeds.

When Shirly Nishri’s grandparents worked in the markets of Alsace, France as women’s clothing retailers, Thursdays were particularly busy. Her grandmother would pack a picnic lunch with this sandwich for everyone — including Shirly.

This recipe comes from Erez Komarovsky’s grandmother. Filled with sweet caramelized onions and black pepper, it produces one large matzah brei that is cooked in a pan and flipped.