Say Cheese!

Celebrating all things dairy for Shavuot.

They call it the cheesecake holiday, but Shavuot is, oh, so much more. According to rabbi and food historian Gil Marks, author of the “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food” (Wiley, $40), “The use of dairy to celebrate this holiday is not a biblical injunction, nor is it mentioned in the Talmud. Shavuot falls when the animals are beginning to be weaned away from the mother, so you have a surplus of milk and therefore cheese, yogurt and dairy products. Once you have a tradition, you will find biblical reasons for it.”
    Herdsmen of almost 6,000 years ago stored milk in the waterproof stomachs of animals (the first “bottles”), he explained. These ancient people discovered that when the milk separated, it coagulated into curds – the first fresh cheese – which not only tasted good, but lasted longer than milk. (Blintzes would come much later!)
    More importantly, Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mr. Sinai. “No Jews existed before the giving of the Torah,” Marks said. “One of the new laws concerned keeping kosher, and since their utensils and any meat products they had produced before were no longer kosher, for the first Shavuot they ate dairy products. Milk also suggests the purity of the people not only having received the Torah, but having accepted it and having agreed to become a holy nation.”
   When preparing a Shavuot menu, cheesecake is a popular choice, and Dana Shrager’s colorful Cheesecake Bites never fail to satisfy.
   For Shrager, a food blogger and recipe developer at Dana’s Table (danastable.com), food has always been more than sustenance. It’s memory, community, and a way of practicing Judaism around the table. She grew up in what she calls “a very food-centered family,” surrounded by accomplished home cooks – her mother, grandmother and aunts – and by the camaraderie that filled the kitchen, especially during Jewish holidays. Those early experiences shaped not only her love of cooking but also her understanding of how food binds people together.
   A self-taught home cook, Shrager approaches recipe development with the analytical mind of her former profession: she is a psychologist by training. “I develop recipes in a very scientific way,” she explains, working methodically to create dishes that are deeply flavorful, use a manageable number of ingredients and are easy for home cooks to replicate.
   Her first recipe experiments were born from family lore. Like many families, hers passed down beloved dishes in the form of incomplete ingredient lists and vague instructions – impossible to reproduce as written. Shrager began researching, testing and tweaking those fragments until she could faithfully recreate the flavors she remembered. Those reconstructed family recipes became the foundation of her website, Dana’s Table, which she launched about 15 years ago after repeated requests from friends and fellow parents at the Jewish nursery school her children attended, where she taught cooking. Over time, that online presence grew into something much larger. Shrager now runs two Jewish cooking groups on Facebook. She took over Joan Nathan’s long-running Jewish Cooking group and has since doubled its membership. She also moderates her own Jewish Holiday Cooking group. Together, they function as vibrant online communities where thousands of people trade recipes, ask questions and try to recreate dishes from their childhood.
   “People come hoping to recreate their grandmother’s recipe that they no longer have,” Shrager said. “Taste memory from childhood is very strong.” Members post descriptions of half-remembered dishes, hoping that someone else’s family recipe will be similar. Shrager answers questions, shares her own recipes and watches as group members help one another. “It’s a two-way street,” she notes. “Yes, it’s about the food and the best version of a recipe, but beyond that, it’s what you do with it – gathering people around the table and building community.” That sense of connection extends beyond the screen. Shrager has taught cooking classes through Wilshire Boulevard Temple, has presented at the Skirball Cultural Center and hosts private classes at her home. This fall she will present a Rosh Hashana menu at Melissa’s Produce. Jewish food remains the thread that runs through all her work. That thread led her, unexpectedly, to southern Italy.
   For nearly 20 years, Shrager had dreamed of attending cooking school in Italy. She waited until her children were old enough for her to travel, then began researching programs and took a cooking class at The Awaiting Table Cooking School in Lecce, Italy, in the Puglia region, run by Silvestro Silvestori. When she finally went, she expected an immersive Italian culinary experience. Instead, she found herself surrounded by Jewish history.
   A few years earlier, during renovations for what was supposed to be a restaurant in Lecce’s historic Jewish quarter, workers discovered a medieval mikvah. The owner pivoted, turning the space into a Jewish museum that opened in 2016. Silvestori began researching Jewish recipes to connect with this newly uncovered local history. When he learned of Shrager’s background in Jewish cooking, he proposed that she return to teach a Jewish-Italian cooking class and invite members of her Facebook community to attend. The idea was born in 2019, but then came the pandemic. After Shrager returned to Italy for extensive research in 2023, she and Silvestori finally taught the class together in 2025 with participants exploring the region’s Jewish past together.
   For Shrager, it was a full-circle moment. “Food is the thread of my life,” she said. Whether she’s reconstructing a grandmother’s kugel, answering questions in an online forum or teaching Jewish-Italian recipes in a centuries-old town, her mission remains the same: to help people gather around the table, reconnect with their heritage and build community, one recipe at a time.

Italian Frittata with Zucchini and Tomato

Yield: 12 servings

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 medium zucchinis cut into 1/4-inch half-moons (2 1/4 cups cut)

1 medium onion, diced small (1 cup)

1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes (3 ounces)

12 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil, loosely packed (1/2 ounce)

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom (not sides) of 9×13 pan with cooking spray or oil. Set aside.

2. In large nonstick skillet, over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and onion. Cook about 5 minutes, mixing occasionally until softened. Increase heat to medium-high, add zucchini, and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often. Transfer to bowl and set aside. Add cherry tomatoes and remaining 1/2 teaspoon olive oil to empty pan. Cook over medium-high heat 3-5 minutes just until tomatoes begin to blister and char. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.

3. In large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, salt and pepper until just combined and yolks and whites form uniform mixture. Don’t overmix; otherwise, it will start to rise in oven and deflate into a denser frittata once set. Mix in most of the zucchini mixture (leaving some aside for garnish), basil, and half the parmesan. Pour egg mixture into prepared pan, even out mixture, and sprinkle top with remaining parmesan. Decorate top with cooked tomatoes and remaining zucchini slices. Make sure sautéed tomatoes are facing upwards revealing inside of tomatoes.

4. Bake on center rack of oven 21 to 23 minutes, or until top is speckled light golden brown and most of top is firm. Okay if very center of the frittata jiggles very slightly, as it will continue to cook as it cools. Run a knife around edges to loosen frittata from pan. Allow to cool 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: Recipes from danastable.com

Cheesecake Bites

Yield: 24 Bites

For crust

2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs (crushed from about 6 graham cracker sheets or ready-made)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

For filling

2 (8-ounce) blocks full-fat Original Philadelphia Cream Cheese

2 tablespoons brown sugar (not packed)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon zest

For topping

1/2 cup jarred fruit preserves or spread, chunky style, any flavors

1. Line two mini muffin tins (12 muffins each) with parchment mini cupcake liners.

2. In medium bowl, combine graham crackers crumbs and melted butter and mix thoroughly.

3. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of graham cracker mixture in each liner. Using a small shot glass, firmly press and twist to prevent crumb mixture from sticking to cup. Set aside. (Note: Crust is NOT prebaked.)

4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

5. Soften cream cheese by leaving it out on counter at room temperature about 30 minutes, or microwave 20 to 40 seconds until very soft and pliable.

6. Using electric mixer on medium speed with flat paddle or whisk attachment, beat cream cheese until soft and creamy, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and mix until just combined. Then add eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Mix until fully combined, but do not overmix, which adds air bubbles, causing cracking. Add filling to crust in cupcake tins. (Using a small cookie scoop or pastry sleeve makes the task easier.) Fill to top to help prevent sinking. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are set and the centers are slightly jiggly. Then turn off oven, open oven door, and leave cheesecakes in oven 10 minutes to avoid rapid cooling that could cause cracking or sinking. Remove tins from oven, and place them on cooling racks until cheesecakes reach room temperature, about 30 to 60 minutes. (Optionally, to speed things up, carefully remove each one from tin and cool directly on rack.) Chill in covered container in refrigerator at least 1 hour or, ideally, 4 hours or more. Can be chilled overnight. When ready to serve, top each mini cheesecake with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon preserves. Serve chilled. Store uneaten bites in refrigerator up to 3 days.

Jlife Food Editor Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of “Cooking Jewish” (Workman) and “The Perfect Passover Cookbook” (an e-book short from Workman), a columnist and feature writer for the Orange County Register and other publications and can be found on the web at www.cookingjewish.com.