Chef in the City

By Rachel Carp

Dallas, Texas, is home to our own local celebrity-chef, Tina Wasserman, a passionate and highly trained Jewish cooking instructor and author.

Rachel and Tina Wasserman

At nine years old, Tina’s love for cooking was born when she moved next door to a famous German baker in New York. In junior high, Tina took a home economics class from a young, inspiring Jewish teacher, and by the age of 12, she knew she wanted to teach cooking.

Tina was trained in nutrition and education, earning a BS from Syracuse University and an MA from New York University. Early in her career, she worked as Chef Fields at Marshall Field’s Department Store in Dallas, cooking alongside many important regional and national chefs.  In 1994 Tina was honored by the International Culinary Society and invited to join the Les Dames d’Escoffier for her expertise in Jewish Historical cuisine.

Tina is now the face of food for the Reform Judaism movement. She began culinary writing as the food columnist for the Reform Judaism magazine and created the food column to impart her readers about the deep connection between food and Judaism.

Because the upcoming generation would only learn about Jewish history in religious school, Tina wanted to use food to teach the rich, fascinating history of the Jews. Tina believes that “the sense of smell is the most direct link to memory” and used her food column to enlighten the community about the Jewish identity.

After forty-three years of teaching and ten years as a food columnist, Tina was ready to write her own cookbook, Entree to Judaism: A Culinary Exploration of the Jewish Diaspora. Beyond recipes, Tina’s cookbook is chock full of ancient Jewish history. The book explores Jewish cuisines of countries all over the world that were home to ancient Diaspora communities.

Although Tina’s cookbook teaches about Judaism, the recipes are international and not exclusive to the Jewish cook. The recipes in Entrée to Judiasm--some adapted and some new--have all been extensively tested, and include Tina’s Tidbits, which are helpful cooking hints for the home cook.

Tina Wasserman is “not a writer who enjoys food, but an educator who wants to teach about food.”

Entree to Judaism: A Culinary Exploration of the Jewish Diaspora is sold at local bookstores and can also be bought on amazon by clicking here. 

Visit Tina’s website where she shares many recipes. You can also schedule a private cooking class with Tina by contacting her at tina@cookingandmore.com.