It's Getting Hot In Here

Greetings from hot, hot Tel Aviv. Hot in so many ways…

How exactly can I describe this weather? If summer in Israel is an ice cream sundae, this year’s overachieving heat and humidity—and we’re not even in August yet—are the whipped cream, hot fudge sauce, chopped peanuts, and maraschino cherry on top. I’m in my usual routine: out by 7 a.m., home by 8, then hibernating until the sun goes down at 8 p.m. It’s the Tel Avivian way. The specter of war looms (will they? Won’t they?). But in the meantime, we’re doing our steamy, sweaty, schleppy best to live our lives and, to quote John Mayer, waiting on the world to change…

But I digress. I’m a month-ish back from the Zariz book tour, and I have started to write this post a thousand times. It’s a post of gratitude. Of wonder. Of exhilaration, followed by exhaustion. It’s all of the things a book tour evokes, right down to your kishkes. There were 30 stops in 45 days, and I can honestly say there wasn’t a single stinker.

Every event was a joy, a balm, a boost, a blast. Even the events that went awry—I offer you a freak storm that knocked out the A/C a few hours before a cooking demo in 90-degree weather, and raise you an event producer who kept confusing me with another influencer—were connective, meaningful, and reassuring.

My previous book, Shabbat, came out weeks before 10/7, and my tour continued for almost two months after that sad, sad day. Zariz was released during a moment of relative calm, with cease-fires in place and hope on the horizon. Three months later? Not so much.

So people came out to celebrate, to laugh, to listen, to talk, and to feast. There was the launch event at my beloved Temple Emanu-el Streicker Center in New York, hosted by Gail Simmons, with upward of 900 people! There were collaboration dinners with my bestie Mike Solomonov in both Miami and Philadelphia, plus four other events with Mike—just call him chief roadie! There were also incredible events hosted by Zack Engel and Andres Clavero at Cafe Yaya in Chicago, as well as an event with Alon Shaya at his sublime Safta in Denver. I signed upward of 6,000 books, and I have to say that my right wrist held up well under pressure. Pro tip: Staples-brand permanent markers are even better than Sharpies.

Everyone warned me to prepare for the post-tour crash and the inevitable blues that accompany it, but, to be honest, there hasn’t been a minute to look in any direction but forward. Not long after my return, Jay’s daughter, Shani, and her husband, Or, had their third baby—a girl named Tomer—at home on their kibbutz near Lebanon. We’ve been driving up to see them, spend time with the family, and just hold that little life. This family had to evacuate after 10/7 and moved several times before eventually returning home this year, only to be met with renewed conflict close to the border. They’ve handled it far better than I would have, and holding a “freshie,” as we like to refer to a new baby, is the best cure for anything that ails you. Jay is in heaven. See Exhibit A!

I’ve also been deep back in my kitchen, developing lots of new seasonal recipes for an upcoming project—and working on another exciting venture I can’t quite share yet. The fruit this summer has been the best in years, its natural sweetness somehow intuitively balancing the bitterness that sometimes feels as though it’s encroaching from all sides: Peaches so concentrated in juiciness and flavor that you get a contact high with every bite. Grapes so snappy and sweet they make you feel pre-diabetic. Watermelon so brilliantly pink and crisp you could bounce a quarter off its surface.

We’re still waiting for peak Maya mango season; Mayas are the Israeli cultivar that rivals the best Haitian and Indian varieties. The season is almost urgently ephemeral—blink and you’ll miss it. If you see me in person in the next few weeks, don’t be surprised to catch me with mango juice dripping down my face. Proudly!

And then there’s the corn. Until fairly recently, the best corn available for home consumption here was milky, starchy, and not all that sweet—at least not in that Jersey-corn sort of way. But then a farmer named Yoav Sonino, who had tasted premium corn in other countries, began developing similar cultivars here in Israel. After a lot of trial and error, he came up with a winner and named it Gili, after his wife, Gila. Over the years, his sweet corn has gained traction locally with the help of restaurateurs, farmers’ markets, and many happy customers—yours truly included.

And so I present this recipe. Basically: corn three ways. It’s a meditation on the season in which, yet again, few ingredients and minimal effort yield massive flavor and joy on the plate. Some of the corn is grilled, then creamed with half-and-half using an immersion blender. The rest is sautéed with brown butter and hot chiles, and the whole thing is topped with crushed Corn Nuts, a snack I’ve recently rediscovered and can’t put down. I hope you make it and enjoy it! See you back here again very soon.

CREAMY CHARRED, BUTTERED & CRUNCHY CORN

Serves 4

6 ears fresh, sweet corn

3 to 4 TB butter

1 red or green jalapeño, finely diced

¼ cup chopped basil

¼ tsp kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

1 cup half and half or coconut milk

1 TB olive oil

⅓ cup corn nuts, smashed

Cut the kernels from 4 ears of corn. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the butter and let it brown, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the jalapeño, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the corn kernels, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover and stir in the basil and a pinch of salt. Cover to keep warm.

Heat a grill or grill pan over high heat and grill the remaining 2 ears of corn, turning occasionally, until lightly charred, 7 to 8 minutes total. Cool slightly, then cut the kernels from the cobs. Combine the charred corn, half-and-half, salt, and olive oil in a medium bowl and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

Spread the charred creamed corn over the bottom of a serving platter. Top with the buttered corn, followed by the Corn Nuts.