Talk & Taste: German-Jewish Holiday Celebration

Join us for some local history, a bit of entertainment and storytelling, and a good nosh!

Throughout its history, the Lower East Side has been home to nearly every immigrant group that arrived in New York City to pursue the American Dream. By the 1850s, the German population was so large that the area became known as Kleindeutschland.

German Jews were also part of this settlement. They “laid the groundwork for the Lower East Side to become the center of Jewish culture in New York in the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when even larger numbers of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe landed on our shore.”

To celebrate the beginning of Hanukkah and our neighborhood’s German-Jewish heritage, we are excited to welcome Gabi Rossmer Gropman and Sonya Gropman, authors of The German-Jewish Cookbook: Recipes and History of a Cuisine to the Essex Market Kitchen for a cooking demonstration, tasting, and cookbook signing.

Sonya Gropman, a local food tour guide, artist, and writer, and her mother and co-author Gabi will teach Chef Annette Tomei how to prepare special Hanukkah-inspired recipes from their cookbook including a special holiday bread that is traditional to Germany, Berches, as well as Herring Salad and another German-Jewish specialty rarely seen outside Germany, Knee Doughnuts.

There’ll be lots of delicious noshes to sample provided by Chef Annette and some of our market vendors, as well as the opportunity to have your cookbook signed by the authors.

The German-Jewish Cookbook is also special to Kitchen Arts & Letters bookstore because the forward was written by founder, Nach Waxman.

If you purchase Admission with a copy of The German-Jewish Cookbook, you will receive your book at the Essex Market the evening of November 29.  

You will not receive a physical ticket for this event. Your name will be on a list when you check in at the Essex Market Kitchen Mezzanine that evening.

About Talk & Taste

Join Essex Market each month as we explore our city’s past, present and future through food. Each evening, we’ll welcome exciting guest speakers– from cookbook authors and chefs to historians, celebrating our talks with food bites provided by Essex Markets’ diverse array of vendors. Originally conceived by the late Anne Saxelby (Saxelby Cheese) from 2015-2018 in our historic building in the Lower East Side, we’re excited to relaunch this series in our new home at Essex Crossing!

About Essex Market

Essex Market has been a fixture on the Lower East Side since 1818. Since 2019, the market has called Essex Crossing home and now houses over 30 vendors- all with an individual story and distinctive personality that adds flavor to their already delicious offerings. Ready to share their experiences and knowledge, they give a true neighborhood feel to our historic public market!

About Edible Manhattan

Edible Manhattan tells the tale of how the city eats. Through editorial and at events where the stories come to life, Edible Manhattan celebrates the people who are building a vibrant food culture–one that’s diverse, accessible, sustainable and delicious.

About If You Care

If You Care kitchen and household products are carefully crafted to have the least environmental impact and lightest carbon footprint possible, while also delivering the most effective results. Healthy home. Healthy Planet. Healthy You.