Joan Nathan (born January 26, 1943) 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".The New Yorker has described her similarly as the grande dame of Jewish cooking. See:

Education Joan Nathan was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Jewish parents Pearl (née Gluck) 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 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.

Journalism Nathan has contributed to numerous newspapers and magazines, including Saveur, Food & Wine, The Denver Post, Better Homes and Gardens, CNN, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. She is a regular food columnist for The New York Times and Tablet.

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."Cooking with chutzpah", Book Section, Haaretz

In 1985, An American Folklife Cookbook won the R.T. French Tastemaker Award (now the James Beard 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 (again) for Food of the Americas.Joan Nathan profile, New York Times, March 28, 2007. In 2017, the IACP: International Association of Culinary Professionals honored Jewish Cooking in America as a Culinary Classic.

The Flavor of Jerusalem (1975), with Judy Stacey Goldman. The Jewish Holiday Kitchen (1979) An American Folklife Cookbook (1984) The Children's Jewish Holiday Kitchen (1987) Jewish Cooking in America (1994) The Jewish Holiday Baker (1997) The Foods of Israel Today (2001) Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook (2004) The New American Cooking (2005) Quiches, Kugels and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France (2010) King Solomon's Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World (2017) My Life in Recipes: Food, Family, and Memories (2024) A Sweet Year: Jewish Celebrations and Festive Recipes, (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. She divides her time between Washington, D.C. and Martha's Vineyard.

Awards

2018, Creativity Moment Award, Moment Magazine 2015, Grande Dame Award, Les Dames d'Escoffier International 2011, [with her husband, Allan] Special Recognition Award from the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research for her contribution to preserving Jewish culture 2008, MacDowell Fellow, the MacDowell Colony 2005, Silver Spoon Award, Food Arts Magazine 2002, Honorary doctorate from the Spertus Institute of Jewish Culture 2001, Inductee into James Beard Foundation's Who's Who in American Food and Beverage 1998, Jewish Daily Forward "Forward 50" 1995, Golda Award, American Jewish Congress 1994, Jewish Cooking in America received the James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook and later, the IACP/Julia Child Cookbook of the Year Award

Guest appearances Good Morning America The TODAY Show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee Food Network The Martha Stewart Show All Things Considered and Weekend Edition

Other 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.Colicchio Uses Heimlich Maneuver to Save Cookbook Author Slash Food, January 19, 2009.

References

External links

In Successful Paris Restaurant, Jewish Roots A Short History of the Bagel: From Ancient Egypt to Lender's Sweet, Sour, Tasty: An Old Iraq New Year Gefilte Fish: Cooking Up a Seder Staple Bread of Freedom in Times of Despair On Martha's Vineyard, Using Scallops as Currency Inviting an Old Favorite to the Hanukkah Table A Delicacy That Is Better When It's Not Served Whole Of Church and Steak: Farming for the Soul For a Sweeter Passover, Old and New Sephardic Delights A Toast to a Diplomat With a Cook's Heart From Hungary, For Hanukkah, From Long Ago New Year, New Dumpling It's Passover, Lighten Up In France, It's Not All Chopped Liver An Old-Fashioned American Standby, Fish Sauce and All Kugel Unraveled Red, White, and Blueberry A Crossover Hit For a Global Star