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As much as people love Adeena Sussman’s cookbooks, they also love the community she cultivates.
“Adeena comes off so authentically both in her writing and in her social media presence,” said Sagie Kleinlerer, a winemaker who lives in Richmond. “There’s something very comforting about her recipes and her presence. When we’re cooking from her cookbooks, it feels like she is there with us.”
Kleinlerer was among the 200-plus people who came to see the Palo Alto-raised author on May 28 at the JCCSF and mark the release of her third cookbook, “Zariz: 100 Easy, Breezy, Tel Aviv-y Recipes.”
The cookbook, which dropped in April, is already a New York Times best seller. It follows the popularity of “Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors from My Israeli Kitchen” and “Shabbat: Recipes and Rituals from My Table to Yours.”
Sussman was on stage with Bay Area resident Guy Raz of NPR. This marked their second time at the JCCSF together. The last time was just days before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Sussman, who moved to Israel in 2018, was back in the States to promote the release of “Shabbat.” She returned home to a country at war.
This time, the two discussed the creation of “Zariz,” which is Hebrew for “quick.”
“‘Zariz’ was my therapy,” Sussman said. “I needed my kitchen island to be an island of calm. Cooking got me through that year and helped me find joy at that time.”
She already had a contract in place for a “quick and easy” cookbook, she said. More than one reader had told her that when they saw a recipe with over a page of instructions, they wouldn’t even attempt it.
She created a rule for “Zariz”: Every recipe had to fit on one page and could use no more than 12 ingredients — she calls it a bat mitzvah of ingredients — excluding salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice.
“This gave me structure when I needed structure,” she said, “and it became like a meditation.”
Leaning on her trademark humor, Sussman quipped that she’s found herself wondering just how long she can safely leave a pot simmering on the stove as she’s running yet again to a bomb shelter.
“Food is one of those things you allow yourself that can bring a few minutes of joy, whether it’s in the cooking or eating,” she said. “We were feeling such profoundly hard things that a shawarma-spiced turkey smashburger in a pita may seem trivial, but seeing other people and being nourished and nourishing others got me through it.”
She has co-authored 15 cookbooks — most famously, three with model Chrissy Teigen. Sussman began her exploration of Israeli food as a new immigrant and then began to write her own. Her insider-outsider approach has resonated for many, as has her regular social media presence. Nearly every person I spoke to at the JCC not only owns at least one of her other cookbooks but also counts themselves among her 266,000 followers on Instagram.
She grew up in an Orthodox home in Palo Alto. Her late mother, Stephanie Sussman, was known as the first lady of Congregation Emek Beracha, Palo Alto’s Orthodox synagogue.
Sussman has appeared in my column thrice before. The first time was in 2013, before she became a food celebrity, when she and her sister in New Jersey were organizing an annual pie fundraiser for ovarian cancer research. I also covered the releases of “Sababa” in 2019 and “Shabbat” in 2023.
She uses many Middle Eastern condiments in her recipes, such as preserved lemon, harissa, tahini and za’atar. But she brings an American sensibility to her recipes too, such as the creation of her “Sloppy Yossi Sandwich,” a riff on the Sloppy Joes her mother used to make. She mimics and improves upon the can of Hunt’s “Manwich” sauce that was mixed into ground beef in her childhood. She instead adds green pepper, green olives, harissa, preserved lemon and brown sugar to a can of tomato sauce, which is then stirred into ground beef.
A sampling of “Zariz” recipes mentioned in her JCCSF event included the Shawarma-Spiced Pita Smashburgers; Grilled Hoisin-Harissa Lamb Chops & Plums with Herb Salad; Baksh (Bukharan Meat & Herb Pilaf); No Bake Tahini Cheesecake; and Medjool Date Bundt Cake with Clementine Glaze.
As she often does, Sussman takes inspiration from those around her. The date cake comes via Mickey Perez, owner of Tel Aviv’s Caffe Tamati, which Sussman considers her “Cheers.” The pilaf comes from her longtime manicurist, Angela Godratola, who shared a family recipe from Bukhara.
After Sussman and Raz took a selfie on stage with their backs to the crowd, a long line snaked around the JCC atrium as fans waited for photos and her signature.
“I love the hometown connection, her sense of humor and that she’s made Israeli food so approachable,” Melinna Hanin of Pleasant Hill said as she waited for her book to be signed. Plus, Hanin said, “Every recipe is just freaking delicious.”