Denis Polansky grew up in the type of family that hosts big gatherings for Jewish holidays and bakes loaves of “Gold” challah each week for Shabbat dinner, using a recipe from a family friend whose last name is Gold. But for Denis, birthday parties thrown for everyone at every age are the pinnacle of cooking, gathering, and time spent with loved ones. 

When she was little, the parties were at her grandparents’ home in Lanús, Argentina, just south of Buenos Aires. Denis’s grandmother, Haydee Kraus or “Bobe Haydee,” as she’s known in the family, would set out large tables laden with enough food for the whole family of cousins, uncles, and even great-grandparents. As her grandparents aged, the party moved to her parents' home.  

“My mother cooked all the favorite dishes of the person who had a birthday. She stayed up all night cooking, because she worked during the day, and when you woke up on your birthday, you could eat all your favorite foods!” Denis says about her mother, Claudia Golub. “My mom loves to invite everyone over, sometimes it's 20-30 people,” she adds. If Bobe Haydee or Claudia is cooking for a birthday party, there are always empanadas de humitas (corn empanadas), tarta de coco de la bobe (grandma’s coconut cake), and lekach (coffee honey cake), reflecting a mix of Jewish and Argentine flavors and traditions. 

Denis is 6th-generation Jewish-Argentine on her mother's side and 3rd-generation on her father's side. Her mother’s family arrived by ship from Russia, likely escaping pogroms, and settled in Entre Ríos, a primarily Jewish farming community outside of the capital. Denis’s great-great-uncles helped establish the Jewish cemetery in Carlos Casares, which, according to Denis, is still in use today, and they helped establish the area’s Jewish community. Meanwhile, her father’s side of the family came to Argentina from Poland a few generations later, escaping World War II. 

Today in Buenos Aires, Denis is a chef and food photographer, and the inspiration for her work comes from her mother and her grandmother. Claudia started teaching Denis how to cook when she was just four years old. Growing up at large family gatherings, Denis and her siblings enjoyed family asados, the Argentine barbeque ritual, and their grandfather’s gnocchi, nodding to the strong Italian influence on the local cuisine. The cooking in their family is a mix of local dishes like empanadas served alongside Jewish ones like pletzalej, a popular Argentine riff on the classic Ashkenazi onion bread pletzl. “In Argentina, we eat these with tomato, cheese, and mayo,” Denis shared. 

Cooking alongside her mother and Bobe Haydee is where Denis really learned to appreciate family traditions. “My grandmother Haydee is a very fun and warm person. She has ‘pianist's fingers,’ long and slender, which make her incredibly skilled at crimping the edges of empanadas,” Denis says. “Many of her recipes come from her mother, Babi, who was an extraordinary cook.”

The family’s cooking legacy also includes a rolling pin used to roll out the dough for the empanadas de humita. “My grandmother's favorite story is about my great-grandfather and a train wheel. He took the spoke of a train wheel, and made a rolling pin out of it. He made all of our recipes with that rolling pin, and it has been passed down from generation to generation to the daughters of the family. Now, my mom has it,” Denis says.

For her, continuing the food traditions of her family is how she expresses her Jewish identity. For Claudia’s birthday last November, Denis made Bobe Haydee’s recipe for tarta de coco and lekach. “These two classics are always on the table!” Denis says. 

She’s glad that her sister and brother are already keeping up with the birthday celebrations as well. She feels a responsibility to carry the tradition and its recipes forward. “I can cook these foods with my eyes closed. For my birthday, for a party, even when I'm sad, the same food [of my mother and grandmother] is there. I love it. The food is part of who I am.”

This piece is by Gabriella Stern, who conducted interviews in Spanish and English. Quotes have been translated.