Joan Nathan


Joan Nathan is an American cookbook author and newspaper journalist. She has produced TV documentaries on the subject of Jewish cuisine. She was a co-founder of New York's Ninth Avenue Food Festival under then-Mayor Abraham Beame. The [Jerusalem Post] has called her the "matriarch of Jewish cooking".

Education

Joan Nathan was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Jewish parents Pearl Nathan and Ernest Nathan. After receiving a master's degree in French literature from the University of Michigan, she earned another master's degree in public administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. As a newspaper food journalist she has visited, among other places, France and Brazil, uncovering new dishes or researching Jewish cuisine.

Career

Television

She was executive producer and host of Jewish Cooking in America with Joan Nathan, a PBS series based on her cookbook, Jewish Cooking in America. The series follows Nathan as she travels across the United States, visiting the kitchens of celebrities, chefs, and other notable Jewish cooks as she explores Jewish culture and history throughout the nation. The success of the series helped Nathan earn the distinction of being called the "Jewish Julia Child" in the media. In 2000, the series was nominated for best national television food show at the James Beard Awards.

Cookbooks

Nathan has written twelve cookbooks, winning numerous awards for them. Six are about Jewish cuisine and two on Israeli cuisine. Her goal is to preserve Jewish traditions by interviewing cooks and documenting their recipes and stories for posterity.
In 1985, An American Folklife Cookbook won the R.T. French Tastemaker Award. The New American Cooking won the James Beard and IACP Awards for Food of the Americas and Best American Cookbook. She was guest curator of Food Culture USA at the 2005 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which was based on the research for her book.
Two decades later, in 2005, Jewish Cooking in America won the Julia Child Award for Best Cookbook of the Year, and the James Beard Award for Food of the Americas. In 2017, the IACP: International Association of Culinary Professionals honored Jewish Cooking in America as a Culinary Classic.
  • The Flavor of Jerusalem, Little, Brown 1975
  • The Jewish Holiday Kitchen, Schocken 1979
  • An American Folklife Cookbook, Schocken 1984
  • The Children's Jewish Holiday Kitchen, Schocken 1988
  • Jewish Cooking in America, Knopf 1994
  • The Jewish Holiday Baker, Schocken 1997
  • The Foods of Israel Today, Knopf 2001
  • Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook, Schocken 2004
  • The New American Cooking, Knopf 2005
  • Quiches, Kugels and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France, Knopf 2010
  • King Solomon's Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World, Knopf 2017
  • My Life in Recipes: Food, Family, and Memories, Knopf 2024
  • A Sweet Year: Jewish Celebrations and Festive Recipes, Knopf 2024

    Personal life

Israel

She lived in Israel for three years working for Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem.

Marriage

Nathan was married to the late Allan Gerson, an attorney and has three children and two grandchildren. Nathan divides her time between Washington, D.C., and Martha's Vineyard.

Awards

In January 2009, she began choking on a piece of chicken at the Art.Food.Hope dinner in Washington, D.C., but was saved by chef Tom Colicchio, who performed the Heimlich maneuver.