After years of documenting Jewish food traditions, Joan Nathan focuses on those of her family

After decades of creating and publishing recipes, cookbook author Joan Nathan has released what she says is likely her last book, a cookbook and memoir called “My Life in Recipes.” Image: Michael Zamora/NPR

Joan Nathan has been in the kitchen all her life, trying new dishes and recipes all year round. But every spring at the Passover Seder, she sticks to a menu that follows her own family’s traditions. The holidays start tonight.

“I think Passover tells us who we are, and it tells us that this is my family that I share with other families. I get chills every year during Passover because I realized that it started in ancient Israel. I mean , it’s in the Bible!

Nathan has written a dozen cookbooks, documenting how food traditions developed as Jews roamed the world over the centuries. Now in her 80s, her new book is her most personal work yet, unearthing her own culinary history in a combination memoir and cookbook called My life in recipes.

Cookbook author Joan Nathan leafs through old family recipe books in her home in Washington, DC. Image: Michael Zamora/NPR/NPR

“I’ve been more nervous about this book than any other book… It’s kind of invading my life, you know?”

Nathan makes matzo ball soup in her kitchen. Image: Michael Zamora/NPR

Nathan spoke to All together in her kitchen in Washington, D.C. one day in late March, preparing a version of a dish she’s been eating since childhood: chicken matzo ball soup. And like many Jewish mothers and grandmothers before her, she worried that afternoon about whether the matzo balls would turn out the way she wanted. Every family has its own recipe, whether they are light, fluffy, hard or dense.

“So my mom’s and hers were al dente,” Nathan said. ‘And my mother-in-law’s were very light. You know, she came straight from Poland.’

Nathan takes two loaves of challah out of the oven at her home in Washington, DC. Image: Michael Zamora/NPR

As with any immigration story, these family recipes evolved as people moved, fled wars, or sought a better life for their children. An example is a special combination that Nathan adds to her own matzo balls.

“I had added ginger (and) nutmeg, which I knew was what my father’s family would have used in Germany,” she explained. “Ginger nutmeg was a common flavor combination in the 19th and early 20th centuries.”

Cookbook author Joan Nathan leafs through old family recipe books. Image: Michael Zamora/NPR

A photo of her family hangs in the living rooms as cookbook author Joan Nathan prepares matzo ball soup in the kitchen of her Washington, DC, home. Image: Michael Zamora/NPR

For Nathan, cooking matzo ball soup for Passover, or any Jewish holiday, just feels comfortable – like home.

Cookbook author Joan Nathan rolls up matzo balls in her kitchen in Washington, DC. Nathan has published what she believes is likely her final cookbook and memoir, called “My Life in Recipes.” Image: Michael Zamora/NPR/NPR

“It’s the smell,” she said. ‘You just know that smell. Just like my mother’s brisket, I know; just like Challah, I know. I like those smells. It knows that you are home, that there are people who care.’

Nathan flips through old family recipe books, including one from 1927. Image: Michael Zamora/NPR

While the soup is cooking, Joan walks to the living room where boxes of letters and books are waiting. They are some of the artifacts she discovered from her family, including handwritten recipe books in German. One from her great-grandmother dates from 1927, written in purple ink full of recipes for desserts such as kuchen and caramel pudding. Nathan’s new book is filled with her letters, diary entries and parts of these family objects.

Joan Nathan chops fresh herbs for her soup and rolls matzo balls in her kitchen in Washington, DC. Image: Michael Zamora/NPR

This book is also a love story. Joan Nathan writes about her courtship and marriage of 45 years to her late husband, Allan Gerson. He died just before the pandemic. She says writing this book almost felt like a form of therapy.

Cookbook author Joan Nathan chops fresh herbs for her matzo ball soup at her home in Washington, DC. Image: Michael Zamora/NPR/NPR

“It was my savior. I would just write. And I would bring him into my life, you know? So it was a way to really make him a part of my life. And I think it really helped me. It gave me really I strength.”

Cookbook author Joan Nathan eats a portion of matzo ball soup. Nathan added ginger and nutmeg to her family’s main Passover meal. Image: Michael Zamora/NPR

Cookbook author Joan Nathan has a collection of her family’s old recipe books. Nathan has published what she believes is likely her final cookbook and memoir, called “My Life in Recipes.” Image: Michael Zamora/NPR/NPR

Cookbook author Joan Nathan drops a rolled matzo ball into soup at her home in Washington, DC, on Friday, March 30, 2024. Nathan says she probably published her last cookbook and memoir, called ‘My Life in Recipes’. Image: Michael Zamora/NPR/NPR

My life in recipes also includes anecdotes from Nathan’s prolific career, her world travels and stories about her collaborations with food stars, including Julia Child.

“Julia – I was celebrating her 90th birthday in this – she was sitting here on the couch. I had a party for her. She’s someone who just kept living,” Nathan recalled.

“And she said to me, at the age of 90, why should I stop doing what I love to do? And she made me realize a few things: have people around you who are younger as you get older, be positive, don’t be ‘I’m not talking about being awkward or anything. And also to write thank you notes for everyone.’

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