Recipes are a bridge between generations and cultures.

“Tastes of Tradition,” a new video series from The Braid theater company, invites the audience into the kitchens of five diverse Jewish families.

“One thing that we at The Braid notice is that food and storytelling, especially for us Jews, are  inseparable,” David Chiu, communication manager at The Braid and producer of the video series, told the Journal. “Think about the Seder; it is all about stories and eating, and every food has a story behind it.”

In the snackable videos (they are about two-and-a-half minutes each) mothers and fathers cook with daughters and sons – and in one case three generations cook together – and share cherished recipes and invaluable time together.

The series is on brand for The Braid, a vibrant cultural hub for connection, creativity and sharing stories that reflects the diversity of the Jewish experience. When they took their salon shows online during the pandemic, the food that accompanied in-person performances was sorely missed.

“As we started expanding our offerings beyond theater to digital, we noticed that some of our best hits on YouTube were food related,” said Chiu.

After noticing the success of a challah video they did with Instagram chef Sivan Kobi of Sivan’s Kitchen, Chiu said they went to the Jews of Color Initiative and pitched the idea of doing an intergenerational food series.

“We wanted to tap into our community, but it’s not going to be a typical cooking show,” he said. “We’re going to include the recipes for people who want to learn them, but [since] The Braid is all about stories, it’s about the family stories behind the recipes.”

Featured in the series are Kobi and her Iraqi Jewish mother, Yafa, who prepare kitchri, and Chinese-American celebrity chef and cookbook author Katie Chin and her teenage daughter Becca, an Asian American Jew, who make latkes with Asian-inspired dipping sauces. Chin’s recipe is below.

Also,  graphic novelist Emily Bowen Cohen, a Muscogee (Creek) Nation member, joins her son Maccabee and mother-in-law Beth to make fry bread for Hanukkah; award-winning comic and educator Joshua Silverstein, who is black and Jewish, and his 16-year-old stepson, Ami, make allergy-friendly hamantaschen for Purim; and Kimberly Dueñas, co-founder of Jewtina y Co, and her father Solomon, a crypto-Jew from El Salvador who kept his Jewish identity hidden for years due to the legacy of the Spanish Inquisition, prepare challah.

“To me, the most powerful thing about food is that it’s passed down and …  even if you don’t  pass down Shabbat traditions or other religious things,  there’s something that you take from your family related to food,” said Chiu, who is a Chinese American Jew.

“I find that also true on my Chinese side,” he said. “I don’t have the same cultural knowledge that my dad has.”

When Chiu went off to college, he wrote to his dad, asking him how to cook.

“He sent me all these recipes, which was hard for him because he’s an immigrant and he never wrote anything down,” Chiu said. “But his recipes became my way of connecting with him and his culture.”

One thing Chiu noticed in doing this intergenerational cooking series is that the younger generations are taking treasures from their parents and grandparents. The families are genuinely communicating and bonding.

“It made me realize how, and even in these incredibly accomplished families, we don’t take that moment to say, ‘Thank you for keeping this tradition alive,’ or ‘I’m proud of what you’re doing and keeping our family’s history and tradition alive,’” he said. “It’s really meaningful and food really is a great way to center it.”

Food, he explained, is more than just the feeding.

“That’s also true in Chinese culture as well,” he said. “The table is what brings the family together, the table is what welcomes the stranger, the table is what keeps friends together.”

He added, “For me, the food is as much about the people you’re sharing it with as the recipes themselves.”

The Braid is launching “Tastes of Tradition” in Santa Monica on December 7. Learn more about the event and watch the videos, starting December 16, at The-braid.org/tastes.

For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:

Watch the interview:

Katie Chin’s Double Happiness Latkes

Serves 4

Prep Time: About 30 minutes; Cook Time: About 30 minutes

Ingredients

Latkes:

1 1/4 pounds large potatoes, preferably baking potatoes peeled

3 scallions, finely chopped (white & green parts)

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable oil, more if needed

Tangy Dipping Sauce:

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

1 garlic clove, minced

1 scallion, finely chopped (white & green parts)

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

Honey Sriracha Sauce:

6 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup Sriracha sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 lime, juiced

Directions

Using a coarse grating disc of a food processor or large holes of a hand grater, grate the potatoes. Transfer to a colander. Squeeze the mixture by handfuls to press out as much liquid as possible; discard the liquid.

Put the grated potatoes in a bowl. Add the scallions, egg, salt, pepper, flour and baking powder.

Heat 1/2 cup (125 ml) oil in a deep heavy 10- to 12-inch (25 x 30 cm) skillet. For each pancake, add about 2 tablespoons of potato mixture to the pan. Flatten with the back of a spoon to make 2 1/2-in (6.3 cm) pancakes.

Fry over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Using 2 pancake turners, turn them carefully. Fry the second side for about 4 minutes, or until the pancake is golden brown and crisp. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

Stir the potato mixture before frying each new batch. If all the oil is absorbed during frying, add 2 or 3 tablespoons more oil to the pan. Set aside and keep warm with foil.

While latkes are resting, make the dipping sauces.

Tangy Dipping Sauce: Whisk all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Honey Sriracha Dipping Sauce: Heat the butter on medium heat until melted. Add the remaining glaze ingredients, stir and bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute. Lower heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Serve latkes with both sauces and enjoy!!

Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.