Ess Ess Mein Kindt: Meet Joel Haber
Food as a Window to Discuss Culture and History, Along with Joel's Recipe for Hamin Kharshuf
I met Joel Haber about 20 years ago. At the time, we were both writing for Script magazine, and met IRL at a screenwriting conference. Fast forward many years: I am still in Los Angeles, Joel is based in Israel. I am now writing and podcasting about food; Joel is doing the same. One of the beauties of social media is the ability to stay in touch and see where your lives again intersect. What a wonderful reason to reconnect and have a conversation!
I also accept guests posts for Ess Ess Mein Kindt. If you are interested in sharing your Jewish food story, along with a recipe and your tiny delights, email me at Deb@TheDEBMethod.com.
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When food lecturer and podcast host Joel Haber first moved to Israel, he became a tour guide. He grew up in New Jersey and lived in New York City and Los Angeles for many years, before moving to Jerusalem in March 2009.
“One of my most popular tours is a culinary tasting tour of Shuk Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem’s famous outdoor market,” Joel explains. His book, Chulent: The Most Jewish Food on Earth, will be published in Fall of 2026 by Green Bean Books.
As he dug into the food, it opened up a whole world of possibilities.
“I’ve always loved food; I just wasn’t doing food professionally,” says Haber, who researches, writes and lectures about Jewish food history, including in the United States.
“I also had the honor of knowing Gil Marks of blessed memory, who was a great Jewish food historian,” he shares. “Those two things inspired me … and then when COVID hit and I had no tourism, I was able to really ramp it up even more.”
Joel does not simply look into the food itself; to him it’s a window onto discussion of culture and history.
“If you want to dig into food and you’re Jewish, then you’ll discover the [different] Jewish foods,” he explains. “Or if you’re really into food and you start looking at the Jewish food, then it offers you a window into the Jewish culture.”
Last year, Haber released his “18 Jewish Foods” podcast. This is a complete, 20-episode series; each one is 15 to 20 minutes in length. There’s an intro and wrap up episode, in addition to one for each food, food category, or iconic dish.
Each episode is not only about a food, it’ll also shares something educational about the Jewish people.
“There’s a short interview, as well of somebody contemporary who’s connected with that food to show that these foods are still alive now and are taking on new faces all the time,” he explains.
Each food discussed meets one of three broad criteria:
It’s something that is unique to the Jews or originally Jewish.
It’s something that is eaten by Jews and non Jews, but that the Jewish version is different in some way, often due to the laws of kosher.
The third - and admittedly the loosest category - is a food that is very strongly associated by non Jews with the Jewish people.
From Bourekas and Bagels to Matzah and Mahia, Joe; has everything covered.
As part our Taste Buds conversation, Haber shares one of his favorite recipes for a type of Shabbat stew. It’s one of twelve recipes in his free ebook, called, Chulent & Hamin: The Ultimate Jewish Comfort Food.
Hamin Kharshuf includes cardoon, a type of thistle that’s a relative of the artichoke, and a lot of real Israeli flavors.
“Almost every Jewish community around the world has some type of slow cooked dish,” he says. “[It] begins being prepared on Friday and then is left to cook through the entire night on a low heat Friday night to be eaten hot for lunch on Shabbat on Sabbath.”
His recipe for Hamin Kharshuf is below.
Watch our conversation.
Hamin Kharshuf
1 medium cardoon, or 1¼ lbs / 565 g frozen artichoke bottoms (see note)
3 cups / 500 g wheat berries
15 oz / 425 g chickpeas
1¼ lbs / 565 g lamb or fatty beef, cut into chunks
12 cloves of garlic
3 Tbsp zaatar
1 Tbsp sumac
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 egg per person, still in shells
Carefully peel each cardoon stalk, removing the thorns, leaves and tough exterior. This will take a little while, but the effort is worth the result. Cut the peeled stalks into pieces about 3 inches long and put them into a large bowl of lightly acidulated water (water with a bit of lemon juice inside).
Put the wheat and chickpeas into the pot. Mix together. Insert the beef chunks and pieces of cardoon around the pot so they are mixed in with the wheat and chickpeas. Insert the garlic cloves in various places. Sprinkle the zaatar, sumac, salt and pepper over everything.
Add water to cover. Gently insert the eggs around the top of the pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes.
Cook overnight by any of the standard methods.
Notes:
If cardoon is not in season (or you have no idea where to find it), frozen artichoke bottoms work as a great substitute. Do not use marinated bottoms in jars; just plain, unflavored frozen ones.
I like serving this with some extra virgin olive oil and a bit of lemon juice drizzled on top.
Another option, for those who like their food spicy, is to stir some schug or harissa through your portion. These flavors work perfectly well with this dish.
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Five tiny delights:
When people I am less connected with reach out to check in on me and everyone else here in Israel.
Developing new Shabbat stew recipes for my book, and trying them out with friends
My 1-year-old great niece
Working with tourists, after a long time of having very little of that
Witnessing Israeli resilience
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Five tiny Jewish delights:
Shabbat stews from around the world
Gondi
Kugels (savory ones, not sweet)
Bourekas
Shamburak
Learn more about Joel Haber:
Sign up for Joel’s newsletter
Follow @FunJoelHaber on Instagram
Listen to the 18 Jewish Foods Podcast
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Subscribe to Taste Buds on iTunes or your favorite podcast platform and @TheDEBMethod YouTube; join the Taste Buds Facebook group and find me, Debra Eckerling, on LinkedIn.