Recently, Sharon and I got to meet one of our heroes — the iconic Jewish cookbook author and food writer Joan Nathan.

Our dear friend, food blogger Dana Shrager (@danastablela on Instagram) invited us to a Joan Nathan book signing at the corporate headquarters of Melissa‘s Produce in downtown Los Angeles.

We stood in line, with about 50 other social media personalities, to have our books signed.

When it was our turn, Joan was incredibly sweet and friendly and told us “Oh, I know you girls! I follow you on Instagram.” As you can imagine, that was quite a thrill coming from this legendary, award winning cookbook author and television star.

Joan did a cooking demo of recipes from her two latest cookbooks (“My Life In Recipes: Food, Family and Memories” and “A Sweet Year: Jewish Celebrations and Festive Recipes for Kids and Their Families”).

When her presentation was over, everyone sampled dishes from a buffet of her food. We were honored to sit with her and Dana and we all chatted as if we had known each other for years. (She even asked us why we didn’t have a cookbook yet. We told her we’re working on it.) A few weeks later, we met up for lunch with Joan and Dana. Joan also brought her dear friend Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld, former press secretary to First Lady Betty Ford and Special Assistant to President Gerald Ford. She is the author of the memoir “First Lady’s Lady” and a television producer. You can only imagine the fun, fascinating conversation — food, politics, history of food, famous chefs, the industry and, of course, our children and grandchildren.

Over lunch, Joan told us that she was traveling to the University of Michigan to give a lecture. Her subject was the newfound popularity of Shabbat. She asked Sharon and I for our opinions. It’s an interesting question to ponder. I told her that I think social media has had a huge part in sharing the beauty of Shabbat. Influencers post about Shabbat gatherings with friends, sharing beautiful meals. They film themselves cooking traditional recipes and take lots of photos of their food.

Of course, anyone scrolling Instagram can see that challah is a big deal, with so many accounts devoted to the baking and braiding of this special Shabbat bread.

Since then, Sharon and I have enjoyed perusing the recipes in both of Joan’s books. We are especially enjoying reading the family stories in her memoir. She shares unique insights into growing up with a German émigré father and a second- generation American mother in an East Coast Jewish family in the 1940s and 50s. She describes her mother‘s menus, the family’s super talented black cook and how different cooking and food are now. She tells of her world travels and her journey to becoming a prolific cookbook author.

When I told her that Neil’s family is from the island of Rhodes, she immediately turned to page 399 in her memoir. It was a recipe called Granny Rosa’s Fricadelles (Rhodian Codfish Cakes).

Joan is fortunate enough to spend summers on Martha’s Vineyard and one of her favorite things to do is to walk on the beach with her friend Doreen Beinart, who tells stories of her grandmother Rosa and about her large Sephardic family, who wandered from Spain to the island of Rhodes, to Central Africa, to Capetown, to Boston. And this is Doreen’s grandmothers recipe from the old country.

Joan explains that every civilization has a recipe for fish cakes, but that Jewish recipes are different because they contain no shellfish, just fish like carp, whitefish, cod, salmon and tuna, depending on the region they live in.

I knew my family would enjoy these fish cakes because who doesn’t love fried food?

In my kitchen, I love to use recipes as inspiration and somehow I always end up adding a personal twist. For this recipe, I added potato starch so that the ingredients would bind together and make it easier to fry them. I also added a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice to brighten the flavors.

They were a hit! The Aleppo pepper lends a spicy kick and the Panko gives a nice crunch.

I served my fish cakes with a really simple harissa aioli that really complemented the flavors.

How fitting is it that I came to this very traditional Rhodesli recipe via the doyenne of American Jewish cooking, the incomparable Joan Nathan.

—Rachel

Cod Fishcakes

1 1/2 lbs fresh cod (or other firm white fish), cut into chunks

1 large carrot, chopped in chunks

1 medium onion, chopped in chunks

1 large Yukon gold potato

1 small bunch Italian parsley

1 small bunch cilantro

Juice of half a lemon

1 large egg

1/3 cup potato starch

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

½ tsp Aleppo pepper

2 cups Panko or breadcrumbs or matzo meal 

Avocado oil, for frying 

Baby carrots, to keep oil clean during frying.

Gently pulse the fish in a food processor, until chopped but not liquified. Remove the fish and place in a large bowl.

Place the carrot, onion, potato, parsley and cilantro into the food processor and pulse about 15 times, until the vegetables are finely chopped, but not pureed.

Add the vegetables to the fish, then mix with the egg, salt, pepper and Aleppo pepper. Refrigerate the mixture for 1 to 2 hours.

Using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon, form the mixture into balls (about the size of a large golf ball).

Flatten them into 1-inch thick discs and place them on a tray. 

Very gently, generously coat both sides of the fish cakes with the panko crumbs.

In a heavy frying pan, warm ¼ inch of oil over medium low heat. Fry 6 cakes at a time, about 5 minutes per side, until the cakes are golden.

Drain the fish cakes on a paper towel and serve immediately.

Note: Fish cakes can be made ahead. Crisp them in an oven set to 350°F, for about 15 minutes.

Harissa Aioli Dip

1 cup mayonnaise

2-3 Tbsp harissa paste

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Combine the mayonnaise, harissa and lemon in a bowl.

Serve with the fish cakes.

Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been friends since high school. The Sephardic Spice Girls project has grown from their collaboration on events for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. Follow them
on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food. Website sephardicspicegirls.com/full-recipes.