My grandparents lived in Tbilisi (my grandfather was a Tbilisi Armenian, and my grandmother, a Jew on her mother’s side, evacuated to Georgia from Kharkiv as a teenager and stayed there). When I was little, in the 1980s, every winter, they would send us a package from sunny Georgia to our home in the Moscow suburbs.

Once upon a time, there was a wonderful cantor in the Jewish community of Cologne, Shimon Ben Zeev. And he had an equally remarkable wife, Hedva. She was the embodiment of what one might imagine an English lady to be—always impeccably groomed, with an ideally kept home, beautiful napkins, delicious tea, and mouthwatering cakes.

The recipe seems to be from my great-grandmother. But I’m not entirely sure!

The recipe for crepes that Lexie’s father used to make every Sunday to ensure the family had breakfast together. As they grew older, it became harder to gather at the same time, but Sunday crepes were a cherished tradition that brought back a sense of calm and family harmony.

Blintzes are a family tradition, and it all started with Baba Riva, whose signature blintzes Olya adored since childhood. Since then, Baba Riva’s blintzes have traveled the world: Olya made them in Russia, Israel, and the USA, teaching anyone who wanted to learn the secret. Now the tradition continues with her daughter, Alice, who demands blintzes every weekend.

I can't call myself a fan of Soviet cuisine, nor do I feel any nostalgia for it—there's no Olivier salad, meat jello (kholodets), or herring "shuba" in our home. But some Soviet pastries?

For Vera, her Jewish identity was built primarily around food (editor’s note: we weren’t surprised at all!). The family’s traditional table included Hamantaschen made from soft, rich dough, which turned out to be quite unusual after moving to Israel, where they are almost always made with shortcrust pastry.

Dasha’s magical yozhiki that mend quarrels - her grandmother’s meatballs in tomato sauce. When Dasha was little and upset, her grandmother would say that the yozhiki would take all her troubles away. Now, Dasha makes them for her grown-up children, and they still work wonders, especially when served with mashed potatoes!

Zhenya Fogelson’s mom worked as a tour guide in the 1970s, collecting recipes from all over the Soviet Union. One special recipe she brought home was a French onion pie, passed on by a fellow traveler. Now, Zhenya makes it for family celebrations.

Simple food often brings warm feelings - it doesn’t call for special occasions, and it’s both humble and familiar. When Sonya was writing her dissertation on the Celts, she met a historian from Scotland through ICQ. He helped her with linguistic research, and in return, she shared a recipe for wholegrain flatbread made from leftover oatmeal and flour. He called them “medieval flatbreads” and still makes them for his family to this day.

Over the past year, there have been too many losses. But those we hold dear will always stay with us, even when we cook their favorite dishes. This was Eyal’s favorite dessert, and we will remember him too.

A story from Yulia about how a cheese pie can bring comfort during major life changes, helping you feel at home and grounded once again.

On the eve of Rosh ha-Shanah, I want to share with you a recipe for gefilte fish. A plain, brown Ashkenazi dish? Yes, but not quite.

This is a story about Sonya’s close friend, a director of photography. One evening, long before all the wars and disasters, they were sitting in the kitchen, arguing the way only a director and a cinematographer can. The fridge had a strange assortment of ingredients, including an overripe mango, so Sonya improvised and made a mango sauce out of it.

It was Olya’s very first challah, and since then, this recipe has never failed her.