Maya Goldberg
P h o t o g r a p h y
Family Kitchen
Each side of my family comes from different ethnic backgrounds which are reflected in the food they cook every day. My entire extended family lives in Israel, so their cooking has a lot of common Israeli/Mediterranean elements, yet none of their dishes are remotely alike. When I was younger and my Hebrew less strong, food was the easiest way to connect with my family. Cooking and eating together has always been a large part of how I spend time with my family when I do get to see them, and has always been our way of bonding. Food has also been the best way of understanding and learning about my family history, as it has always been a taboo topic of discussion.
My grandmother (savta) on my dad's side, Frida Goldberg. She is of Turkish and Syrian descent, and was born in Jerusalem.
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My great grandmother on my dad's side, Adelle Bozo. She was born in Syria, and immigrated to Istanbul with her family before immigrating with her husband to Jersualem in 1938. Savta Adelle was 100 years old and continued to make meals for at least 30 people at a time.
My grandfather (saba) on my mom's side, Amiram Raviv. He is of Russian and Polish descent, and was born in Tel Aviv.
Shabbat dinner at Saba Amiram's. He claimed there were fewer appetizers than usual, with only 7 options this time.
Shabbat Dinner at Savta Adelle's. Pictured are her chicken and potatoes (djaj mishwi), beef meatballs and peas (bizeh b'kibbeh), and ali nazik.
Savta Frida making chicken thighs (pargiyot) and couscous.
Savta Frida made Kugel, zucchini and corn casserole, and potatoes at my uncle's house. The Kugel recipe is from my grandfather's mother who was from the Czech Republic.
My mom and I made cheese bourekas, a very popular Middle Eastern dish. She learned to make them from her dad.
My mom's vegetable and goat cheese frittata.
Tomato and mozzarella salad, goat cheese wrapped in red pepper, smoked cheese and cucumber salad, and blue cheese filled pear.
This plate had chicken, potatoes, gnocchi, and roasted cauliflower on it.
A plate of kusa mehshi, kibbeh, and meat sambousak.
This was Savta Adelle's wedding in 1937.
This project is dedicated to my mom, Savta Frida, Saba Amiram, and Savta Adelle, all of my favorite chefs.
This is Saba Amiram's recipe for cheese bourekas:
