A weekly portion of Torah
AVIVHARKOVwasnotat all who I was expecting. In my head, the author of A Taste of Torah was a Yiddishe mama with a brood of offspring. In reality, Israeli Harkov is a 22-year-old former naval officer, now studying at the Hebrew University for a degree in business administration, Asian studies and Chinese.
“The publishers liked how young I was,” she says. “They were also keen on my original twist on the classic cookery book.”
Harkov was in her last year at school when she started writing the book, in which each recipe is connected to a dvar Torah and comes with a children’s bedtime story linked to that Torah portion.
The recipes can be cooked with little helpers, or sous chefs, as Harkov terms them. She points out where little hands can be of use for each recipe. “It’s like a Shabbat cheat sheet,” she says. “Each recipe allows you and your sous chefs to cook up some quality time together and to discover dishes that even the pickiest assistants will enjoy.”
Harkov’s mother and father, Chen and Ande (Anderson) Harkov, made aliyah when she was 12 years old, bringing up their daughter in an Orthodox home. She learned about the Torah portions by discussing them with her mother as they cooked. “I first got into the kitchen in order to spend time with my mother, who worked and commuted two hours each way. I still cook with her each week,” Harkov says.
She started writing the book in her last year of senior school (2011) and continued throughout her training. “I did three years in the military, as I wanted to be a naval officer. I finished writing the book while I was doing that training.”
“I first researched the divrei Torah and their stories and then created recipes to go with them. Some were easier than others. Lots of the portions of Vayikra [third book of the Torah], for instance, are about sacrificing animals, so I was able to include plenty of meat recipes.” Dishes include Mexican lasagne — using layers of tortillas instead of pasta sheets — and lamb and mint stew, containing orange zest and topped with figs and almonds.
“For some of the portions, I had to make a play on words to find a recipe that tied in. In Bereshit, the parashah Vayeitzei talks about Rachel arriving with her father’s flock, as she was a shepherdess, so I created a shepherdess pie. That recipe is a favourite of mine — it has sweet potato mash on top, with maple syrup and crushed sugar-coated pecan nuts.”
Harkov confesses to a sweet tooth: “I really like desserts — I made trail-mix bars for a portion about the Children of Israel travelling through Egypt with Moses and Aaron. They were more likely to have eaten manna than trail mix but it gives it a tasty spin.” The bars are packed with peanut butter, pretzels, cornflakes, cashews, chocolate chips and cranberries — sure to be a hit with the sous chefs she hopes to interest in the biblical stories.
Another play on words is her lemon meringue cloud cake, which she offers for a parashah that talks about clouds. Desserts are clearly a speciality, as since her high-school days she has run a business making desserts for simchahs.
Harkov says the book will have universal appeal. “The Torah talks about the importance of family, of unity and about mitzvot, as well as the importance of Shabbat. Everyone shares the values of tzedakah, of honouring your parents and of community. Any community can enjoy the book.”
Clearly others have the same belief as she crowd-funded the book in order to get it published. As she was a firsttime author, her publisher, Gefen required her to part-fund publication. “It was one of the few kosher crowdfunding projects at the time, which made it stand out,” she says. “I learned a lot and enjoyed the process.”
Harkov has created each recipe from scratch and cooked them with her young cousins, who are photographed in the book. “It was harder coming up with the recipes than the stories. The stories just needed some research but it took some thought to come up with every recipe, which all needed to link into their parashah.” Her hope is to give everyone a recipe for a successful Shabbat every week.