Fress: Bold Flavors from a Jewish Kitchen

This debut cookbook by MasterChef finalist Spitzer offers some of her most successful dishes inherited or absorbed from eastern European relatives and travels around the Middle East. The author borrows the title of the book from the word fress, a Yiddish phrase meaning "to eat copiously and without restraint." Recipes such as crispy baked chicken wings with Aleppo pepper add tastes and scents of the Middle East, while the pan-fried trout with sesame and almonds delivers an elegant flair, and Hungarian cucumber salad creates a simple side dish. The pierogis are labor-intensive but worth the effort. (However, the directions for making the dough don't do the trick; a second egg and double the sour cream is required to form a workable product.) Spitzer emphasizes the ease of baking challah, but her instructions seem to omit vital steps along the way. Some of the suggested ingredients mentioned throughout (e.g., lemon thyme leaves, nigella seeds, and date syrup) can be difficult to find; home cooks should be prepared to improvise as needed.