Remember the trending "Rainbow Cake"? Feast your eyes on the new(ish) Jewish version: the "Rainbow Challah." The inventor of the patent belongs to Amy Kritzer, 34, a San Francisco blogger currently in Israel. "I came up with the idea one time when I made a braided challah from six parts. Jewish food always has a brown color, like kugel and stew, for example, and I like colorful things, fun is fun. "I made it for a lesbian wedding in Austin and people were really enthusiastic about it. Children loved it, too. Now I'm thinking about how to use natural materials instead of food coloring."
© Amy Kritzer
Kritzer grew up in a Jewish home in Texas, and says that from a young age she used to bake with her grandmother: "People know Italian and Chinese food, so why not eat Jewish food?" She turned to the source, aka her grandmother and mother, for a large quantity of recipes. "I tried them out, but I don't like following instructions to a T, so I started to change things up a bit. Since I was living in Texas at the time, I added spices and local ingredients like Chili."
© Amy Kritzer
Her blog is called What Jew Wanna Eat and contains recipes for every Jewish holiday. The style: colorful, happy, with clear American influences.
Kritzer has more than 37,000 followers on Instagram, not necessarily Jews. "I think that there's no need to be a Jew to enjoy Jewish food. In my house they ate Ashkenazi Jewish food from Russia, but there is also Jewish-African and Mexican-Jewish food. Jewish food exists all over the world and it constantly develops and changes."
© Amy Kritzer
The woman behind What Jew Wanna Eat came to Israel with 30 Jewish media influencers, as part of the Jewish Women's Renaissance Project (JWRP) hosted by the Ministry of Tourism. The group is touring the country for eight days and the experiences from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Tzfat, and the Dead Sea are expected to reach more than 10 million followers worldwide through social networks.
Stay up-to-date on Amy's foodventures at whatjewwannaeat.com