Catching Up with Tahini Goddess Adeena Sussman
It's hard to remember what life was like before Tahini came into our kitchens. We can't imagine our days without tahini-bulgur grain bowls, Middle Eastern chicken schnitzel, or tahini granola. Luckily, we never have to, thanks to Adeena Sussman, the author behind all those recipes.
Adeena's a busy lady. She splits her year between New York City and Tel Aviv, writing and testing recipes for cookbooks. But we caught up with her for a few minutes to chat about her eating habits, her dream dinner party, and her deep love for Tahini.
Short Stack Editions: Which cookbook(s) couldn't you live without?
Adeena: Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by Naomi Duguid; anything by Claudia Roden; The Canal House books; my friend Asha Gomez's new book My Two Souths.
SSE: What was the biggest surprise in working on Tahini?
Adeena: I would say my endless appetite for the stuff, and also the fact that I really did learn how to distinguish the good stuff from the rest; also, the number of people who've never had tahini who taste it and say, "this tastes familiar...I've got it...peanut butter!"
SSE: Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Adeena: Dead or alive, right? Notorious B.I.G and Stevie Wonder; Golda Meir, Malala Youssef, John Stewart, writers Richard Russo, Virginia Woolf.
SSE: How do you start a typical day?
Adeena: French press coffee with half and half (second cup iced with Califia coconut-almond milk, the NY Times, dreaming about lunch.
SSE: What's your favorite thing to cook?
Adeena: Eggs in infinite varieties, for every meal of the day - shakshuka or soft scrambled for breakfast, torta espanol for lunch, a burger with a drippy yolk for dinner.