Cooking, Culture and Community: A Cooking Class with Katja Goldman

Some participants in Sunday evening’s cooking class included (from left) Amy and David Rahmani, Chef Katja Goldman, Sara Brook and Debbie Diamond. 

Eleven participants spent their Sunday night cooking up a storm in a cooking class and culinary demonstration at Central Market with Chef Katja Goldman from New York City. The event, which also included an afternoon class, was part of this year’s Ann and Stephen Kaufman Jewish Book & Arts Fair.

Chef Katja, one of three authors of cookbook The Community Table: Recipes & Stories from the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan & Beyond, had an interesting travel experience, as she brought along special ingredients for the class, such as dough to make the chocolate babka, in her luggage.

Dishes made during the class included Black Bean Cakes with Tomato Salsa, Lemon-Thyme Zucchini “Spaghettini,” and Chocolate Crumb Babka, along with wine tastings. One participant asked whether the zucchini noodles might fool her husband, who doesn’t like zucchini. The answer? No, it’s still zucchini, but it’s tasty and a similar experience to eating spaghetti.

The cookbook includes all of these recipes, plus other dishes with farm-to-table emphasis, as well as stories from Jewish Community Centers across the U.S., including Houston, in a conversation about the relationships between community and food.