From the Web

Toledo Blade, Toledo OH
Tuesday April 11, 2006
Delicious dishes for Easter, Passover, etc by Kathie Smith, Food Editor
"Her family's background is Lithuanian and Russian, countries with cuisines in which the recipes can be heavy. "I've tried to lighten them up," she says. "We've tried to pay attention to lower fat preparation." Thus she often serves chicken and turkey for Passover meals, but Turkey Schnitzel is the favorite."

STL Today, St. Louis, MO
April 5, 2006
Seder: Entry to Passover by Janice Denham, Food Editor
Always a family occasion, Passover is a time to pass on Jewish values to children, says cookbook author Joan Kekst.
"Activity makes you be part of the rituals so you have things to do," says the author of "Passover Cookery"...

The Plain Dealer, Cleveland OH
Saturday April 8, 2006
New ritual in women's Seders by Frank Bentayou
"[Joan Kekst] was at the 5th women’s Seder at Park Synagogue and would include some of the new rituals, like having a Miriam’s cup on the table to represent the prophetess Miriam and the hope she gave to all the women during the Exodus. ...the many recipes the committee used from her book were very good."

Aish.com - Cooking Corner
"Who better to learn how to make a Passover Seder from than ultimate Jewish grandmother and Passover expert, Joan Kekst? In her new cookbook, Passover Cookery: In the Kitchen With Joan Kekst, this food columnist, kosher cooking instructor, and hostess to over 30 Passover guests, provides helpful tips and the best of both traditional and the latest Passover recipes.

With Passover just a few weeks away, Kekst's cookbook is a must for both experienced cooks and those planning to make a Seder for the first time. Whether you're looking to create a new family tradition, re-create the warmth of nostalgic childhood memories, or simply create an impressive dish to bring as a guest, Passover Cookery transforms the confusing task of 'kosher for Passover' cooking into simple and enjoyable steps anyone can follow..."

Read the article and view sample recipes.


From the Cover

Rabbi Armond E. Cohen, Park Synagogue
"Joan has not only written the most complete and best organized Kosher Passover cookbook, but what is more important, she tells in detail why the while Passover experience for her extended family is an uplifting 'spirtual renewal' for all who come to her seder...Make your seder the way Joan does, and you and your guests will have a memorable, spiritual renewal."

Cynthia Dettelbach, Editor, Cleveland Jewish News
"Whether you're a seasoned cook or a novic, Cleveland Jewish News food writer, Joan Kekst, in her Passover Cookery provides new insights as well as new, delicious recipes for the holiday."

Sybil Kaplan, Author of Kosher Kettle:
International Adventures in Jewish Cooking
"Passover Cookery is the perfect gift for anyone planning their first kosher seder. Recipes vary from easy to gourmet, traditional and contemporary. There are low-fat and low-cholesterol main dishes and desserts, special ties for children, and a full page on beating egg whites. To get started, there's a preliminary guideline, seder information, its symbols, and a nice selection of seder menus. The Countdown from six weeks on is particularly useful to busy people. Add Passover Cookery to your gift list."


From Amazon.com

Midwest Book Review from Oregon, WI USA
Joan Kekst is a Cleveland food columnist, lecturer, kosher cooking instructor, and passionate cook who in Passover Cookery has compiled and indispensable guide designed for the novice cook seeking to prepare a memorable Passover dining experience. Every aspect of this Jewish holiday meal is covered including its requirements, customs, unique cooking ingredients, and the symbolic foods of the Seder table. Passover Cookery provides a six week "Countdown to Passover" guide to help busy cooks and families break down their holiday preparations into easy, worry-free steps for each week, resulting in healthy, tantalizing, and meaningful dinners for each of the eight days of this annual celebration. Passover Cookery is a "must" for anyone facing the preparation of their first Passover celebration, and has much of value for even the more experienced Passover kitchen cook.

Booklist by Mark Knoblauch
A gastronomic tradition predating many other world cuisines, Jewish cooking focuses yearly on the observance of Passover. Most Jewish families have their own obligatory and traditional Passover dishes, but those seeking new tastes will find many kosher novelties in Kekst's Passover Cookery . From Kekst one learns that Passover dietary strictures needn't yield tasteless foods. Liberal use of spices and herbs show up in her recipes, each clearly labeled as meat, dairy, or pareve. Numerous Sephardic dishes broaden the expected American Jewish traditions. Libraries will find Kekst's treatise useful both for Jewish patrons and for those seeking more knowledge of Jewish Passover customs and practices.


Judy Bart Kancigor, author Melting Pot Memories (www.cookingjewish.com)
Excerpted from Fullerton News Tribune, April 19, 2001

"Passover Cookery by Joan Kekst is no ordinary matzo masquerade on parade. I'll be serving her Chicken Roulade with Scallion Sauce year round. Ditto her New York Style Cheesecake and Chocolate Mousse. Her full page on the proper beating of eggs is alone worth the price of the book! (My aunt's lemon sponge cake swelled from nice try to mile high under her tutelage.)

Passover Cookery is more than a collection of recipes. It's a Passover primer, with equal appeal to mavens and neophytes. Especially helpful are her Six-Week Countdown to Passover and sample menus. A welcome twist are Kekst's low-fat Passover tips. (Low fat? Passover? Think that's an oxymoron?) 'If you over-indulge on a one-day holiday, it's not so bad,'says Kekst, 'but keep that up for a whole week, and you'll get in trouble,'so the book features a variety of fruit desserts and sorbets as well as defatting options throughout. I caught up with Kekst as she was preparing for her family's seder (the festive Passover meal)...37 family members will attend, but with four out of five of her children local, 'I never peel a carrot or dice an apple. They all just fall in and out of my house and do their jobs,' says Kekst."


Donna Yanowitz, Amazon.com Customer, from Pepper Pike, OH
Passover Cookery is the ultimate in clarity, order and completeness, not only for the neophyte, but is a wonderful reference and reminder for the experienced Seder maker. The layout, with the ingredients to the left in a shaded area and instructions to the right, makes it easy to follow instructions. I especially appreciate beautiful colored photographs in a cookbook. They present a goal to be achieved. For those of us who have been preparing Seders for over a quarter of a century, it offers new ideas and alternatives to the usual chicken and brisket. And for desert - sponge cake move over and make room for new, delicious desert delicacies! If you are among those who are invited out for Seders, this is a most appropriate gift to bring your hostess.

Debra A. Aleksinas, Reviewer, from Waterbury, CT
Excerpted from Republican-American, March 21, 2001

"Joan Kekst has now made cooking for Passover 'a piece of cake' by collecting all the information cooks need in her new book, Passover Cookery: In the Kitchen with Joan Kekst.

...Passover Cookery immediately puts cooks on the right track with explanations of the holiday, its requirements, customs, unique cooking ingredients and the symbolic foods of the Seder table...More than simply an instructional cookbook, Passover Cookery depicts the pride and passion with which Jewish homemakers celebrate the eight days of Passover

...The author provides a six week, 'Countdown to Passover' guide to help busy cooks and their families break down their holiday preparation into easy, worry-free steps for each week. By following these steps, even first timers will find it easy to create a 'Kosher for Passover' home, with healthy and meaningful dinners for all eight days of the holiday...The author also includes the Sephardic and Askenazic ethnic specialties, dishes that can be made in advance of the Seder, foods children will love, and low-fat, low-cholesterol and vegetarian recipe suggestions. A full description of the baking with egg whites as the leavening agent could make cooks' Passover baking rise to new heights."