Unlike authors who wait until right before press time to settle on a title, Leah Koenig knew exactly what she wanted to call her latest cookbook in its earliest stages of research.
“Portico: Cooking and Feasting in Rome’s Jewish Kitchen” (Norton, $37.50) draws its inspiration from the remains of an ancient structure called Portico d’Ottavia, built in the first century B.C.E., which stands at one edge of Rome’s Jewish Ghetto. For more than three centuries, the city’s Jews were forced to live inside its walled slum.
While touring the Ghetto’s cobblestone streets almost 15 years ago on her honeymoon, Koenig and her new husband lucked into a Shabbat (Sabbath) dinner that “exploded my previous understanding of what Jewish cuisine was.” That experience, she writes, solidified her desire to travel the world exploring the cuisines of her heritage and is the subject of her seventh cookbook.
She begins unpacking the Ghetto’s complex history with an explanation of its most iconic structure. “Portico,” which translates to “porch,” signifies an entrance, she writes, and is her way of saying, “Welcome. I’m glad you are here.”
The neighborhood comes to life in the pages that follow, with street scenes and engaging stories of shopkeepers, chefs, home cooks and elders who congregate in its open-air community center. Updates of timeless, rustic dishes rooted in the contributions of Italkim (early Roman Jews), Sephardic, Ashkenazi, and Libyan settlers complete the portrait. Recipes such as Pasta Squares and Spinach in Broth, Chicken and Veal Meatballs in Tomato-Celery Sauce, a Libyan Jewish version of Syrupy Semolina Cake, and a whole chapter devoted to fritters exemplify the uniqueness of this subset of Jewish cuisine. Yet there’s a coziness and simplicity about them that beckons us to give them a try, whatever our background, much like a front porch inviting anyone curious to enter.
Susan Puckett is a cookbook author and former food editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow her at susanpuckett.com.
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