The duo’s idea is that while many a Jew­ish gal enjoys shop­ping, beau­ti­fi­ca­tion, and eat­ing out, a real Jew­ish princess bal­ances it with run­ning a love­ly home that upholds the cen­tral­i­ty of food in the Jew­ish tra­di­tion. To achieve this bal­ance, Tarn and Fine pro­vide recipes that are non-time-con­sum­ing, have under ten ingre­di­ents, and that look impres­sive too.

I try out these claims, first cook­ing Pael­la Mia­mi, a kosher ver­sion of the seafood clas­sic, for a large Shavuot din­ner. While this recipe breaks the ten ingre­di­ent rule and does leave me slav­ing away for much of an after­noon, it cer­tain­ly ful­fills my goal of wow­ing the crowds; it looks beau­ti­ful mix­ing rice and fish with red pep­pers, black olives, and green peas, and it tastes even more deli­cious cold the next day. 

In the true spir­it of the Jew­ish Princess, I meet my sis­ter for a birth­day treat at the spa (and, yes, some shop­ping after­wards) and still have to make the first course for a Shab­bat din­ner that night. I whisk up the Pars­ley Pota­to Sal­ad which is extreme­ly easy and pret­ty and avoids the heavy may­on­naise fre­quent­ly asso­ci­at­ed with the dish in favor of olive oil and added greens. 

The Jew­ish Princess Cook­book com­bines sim­ple, nutri­tious, and snazzy recipes inter­spersed with the wit and advice of its authors, women who tru­ly have their cou­ture and bake their apple cakes too.