A Chef's Connection

Adeena Sussman’s love affair with Israeli cuisine began when she was a young girl growing up in an Orthodox Jewish home in Palo Alto, California.

Numerous visits to Israel, both as a child and an adult, helped cement her passion for Israeli food and culture.

Sussman spent five years living in Jerusalem in her 20s and returned to live in Israel after marrying husband, Jay Shofet, an expat American, in 2017. She describes modern Israeli cuisine as a blend of Jewish, Arabic, Ethiopian, Christian and all of the ethnic groups that contribute to the culture.

“Tel Aviv is actually a combination of New York and California — it has a distinctly urban vibe, but it’s on the beach so it’s more relaxed. And being in the Mediterranean, it offers access to incredible produce and fresh ingredients,” Sussman says. “Tel Aviv is a real cafe society and people love to spend time outdoors drinking coffee and eating giant salads for hours in the sun.”

Sussman enjoys hosting get-togethers at her home and believes cooking is all about sharing and entertaining. That’s why she always has ingredients on hand to throw together an impromptu meal when friends stop by. 

“No matter where we live, it’s important to remember that it’s not just about the food, it’s about keeping good company and enjoying your dining companions as much as the meal in front of you,” she says. “I keep the fridge stocked with wonderful produce and colorful fruits and vegetables, so I can easily make amazing salads or other dishes.”

One of the Israeli dishes Sussman thinks everyone should try is shakshuka: eggs poached with spicy tomato and pepper sauce. “It’s an Israeli breakfast staple that has become an international success and I think people love it because it’s healthy, easy to prepare and super delicious and customizable to your tastes,” she says.

In fact, Sussman has her own variation of shakshuka, made with mixed greens (kale, spinach and chard) instead of tomatoes and served with latkes. She uses fresh vegetables that she purchases each day at the famous Carmel Market (Shuk Ha’Carmel), near her home in Tel Aviv. The open-air market is known for its exotic fruits, fresh vegetables, cured meats, fresh-baked French pastries and assortment of spices. 

A cookbook collaborator and food writer for many years, the market served as inspiration for Sussman’s first solo cookbook, “Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors from My Israeli Kitchen” published in 2019, detailing how home chefs can create an array of flavorful recipes.

“I have my favorite spots at Shuk Ha’Carmel for buying produce, medjool dates, tahini, olives and wonderful Israeli feta cheeses that are made from local sheep and cow’s milk,” Sussman says. “The dairy products in general are wonderful here and I am constantly picking up yogurt and fresh cheeses. I also pop into the market often for a quick take away lunch of falafel, shawarma and now authentic Neapolitan style pizza.”

Sussman, 50, has fond memories of cooking Israeli meals beside her mother Steffi and her sister Sharon in their home. One of her favorite childhood dishes was a persimmon bread that her mother would make on a weekly basis using ripe fruit grown in a neighbor’s yard. 

After moving to Israel, Sussman found persimmons were plentiful in her new hometown of Tel Aviv and she decided to make the bread she loved as a child. Although her mother died in 2006 and Sussman didn’t have the original persimmon bread recipe, she recreated it from memory, adding her own unique touches. Pleased with the results, it became one of the recipes Sussman included in “Sababa.”

Sussman calls her upcoming cookbook, “Shabbat: Weekend Cooking, Israeli Style” (2022), “a continuation of ‘Sababa’” the seventh day of the Jewish week, where people are encouraged to refrain from work and instead spend quality time and share meals with friends and family.

“Shabbat is a very special time here in Tel Aviv that begins once work ends on Thursday,” Sussman says. “It’s not necessarily a religiously observed holiday by many people in the country, it is more state of mind and a vibe, and my new book combines modern, fresh dishes with original twists.”

One of her favorite Shabbat dishes is her mother’s chicken soup recipe, which Sussman later refined by encasing the chicken in cheesecloth and adding fresh ginger and hawaiij spices to sharpen the flavor of the soup.

“My mother also used to make an incredible chicken dish where she would cut a chicken into eight pieces and arrange it on top of a bed of thinly sliced onions. She would then sprinkle a bazillion different spices on top of the chicken, season generously with salt and pepper and make it until the schmaltz [chicken fat] from the chicken infused the onions with delicious flavor and texture,” Sussman says. I can still taste her version to this day, and I re-created it for my upcoming Shabbat book.”

Combining Her Love of Writing and Cooking

Although Sussman’s introduction to cooking began in her family’s kitchen, she honed her craft at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York City after graduating from Boston University with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications.

After graduation, she landed a job as a recipe developer for Food Network star Ellie Krieger and found her calling whipping up new recipes.

“Ideas for recipes might come from produce I saw in the market that inspires a seasonal recipe, or a dish I ate that sparked an idea,” Sussman explains. “I start by building flavors, always focusing on sound technique and experimenting a lot until I arrive at something that I like. Then of course I have my husband, friends and colleagues who taste the recipes and give me honest feedback.”

Combining her love of food and communication, Sussman has worked for many years as a food writer, contributing articles to national magazines including Food & Wine, Martha Stewart Living and Bon Appetit. In 2010, she landed an agent and her first cookbook collaboration. Four years later, she was introduced to model Chrissy Teigen.

“I met Chrissy right when she was about to embark upon her own cookbook journey.” Sussman says. “She and her husband, [singer] John Legend invited me to move into their home in Los Angeles to write and collaborate with Chrissy.”

Since then, Sussman has moved to Los Angeles two more times to collaborate with Teigen on all three of her cookbooks: “Cravings: Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat” (2016), “Cravings: Hungry for More” (2018) and “Cravings: All Together: Recipes to Love” (October, 2021). 

“Chrissy and I cook all of the food together, spending our days and nights brainstorming, riffing and hitting the kitchen to come up with a perfect recipe, no matter how many times it takes,” Sussman says. 

To date, Sussman has co-authored 14 cookbooks, including “The Sprinkles Baking Book” (2016), with Sprinkles Cupcakes founder, Candace Nelson. She also continues to write food articles and has created a menu for Hanukkah that will appear in the November issue of Food & Wine magazine. ​

“The menu fuses many of the influencers that I love, as well as ingredients such as pomegranates, halloumi cheese and some of my favorite staples of the Israeli kitchen including pomegranate molasses and date syrup,” she says.

Whether she’s talking cupcakes with Nelson, sweet chili fajita tacos with Teigen or spices and dry goods with vendors at the Carmel Market, Sussman has experienced first-hand how food can connect people.

“Not only is food a great unifier, it’s also a great communicator,” she says. “Food breaks down barriers, allows people to begin conversations, creates commonalities and allows us to explore culture in a non-threatening way. Feeding someone something you love is one of the most endearing things you can do, and it’s extremely disarming. How could you be mad at someone who is giving you something delicious to eat?”