This coming weekend we will celebrate the truly delicious Jewish festival of Shavuot.

We know it very very well as a time to eat dairy products.

It is a time where many Jewish people all over the world fress (eat with abandon!) cheesecake, cheese blintzes and pretty much anything with cheese in it, savoury or sweet. Any opportunity!

There are a number of reasons offered as to why.  The main one is that at the time Moses received the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai, it was Sabbath in the desert, and the new rules meant the meat they had already prepared for eating was not in fact kosher (and therefore they were not permitted to eat it) and they had no choice but to eat a dairy meal. (There are several other compelling and not so compelling reasons which you can read about by googling the question).

But really, for us,  it’s always about the food. 

And while our mouths are watering over all this cheese, you really must check out this Frojalda, Turkish Cheese Bread, from Now for Something Sweet. SO SO SO good.

Our years of research, testing and eating (yes it was so difficult . . . but someone has to do it) has uncovered some of the best Shavuot recipes that can be found. Not to say that there aren’t still some great ones out there not yet discovered, but these ones are truly tried, tested and simply EXCELLENT. And we are honoured that ‘our’  wonderful cooks have chosen to share these recipes with us and with the world.

Our latest addition to our cheesecake repertoire is one from the old world, Ricotta Lattice Cheesecake.

In our first book Monday Morning Cooking Club – the food, the stories, the sisterhood we have:

– baked cheese blintzes 
– ricotta lokshen kugel 
– THE (best!) South African Cheesecake (biscuit crust) 
–  Hungarian cheesecake (pastry crust and lattice)

In The Feast Goes On, we have a few Shavuot options:

– Klarika’s sour cherry slice 
– Paula’s melktert (South African milk tart)
– Ricotta cheesecake (no crust!) 
– Zucchini and Gruyere Gratin

In It’s Always About the Food, we have a few savoury dishes perfect for this time of year:

– Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi (light gnocchi in a tomato sauce)
– Egg Strata Pudding (a savoury cheesy bread pudding – so good!)
– Anglesey Eggs (a Welsh dish of potatoes, eggs and cheese)
– Heirloom Tomato Salad with Feta Dressing

In our latest book, Now for Something Sweet, we have a whole chapter devoted to cheese. It is wonderful!  

– Romanian Malai (a polenta cheesecake loaf)
– a new version of the legendary South African Cheesecake
– Traditional Cheese Blintzes
– Cheese and Raisin (yeasted!) Pastries
– New York Style Cheesecake
– Cherry and Cheese Strudel
– Knafeh
– Kolac (an apricot cheese crumble slice) and a video

And that’s only in the sweet department. In the savoury we have:
– Spiced Cheese Biscuits
– Plechinta (an outstanding spinach and feta pie) and here’s the cookalong
– Frojalda  (the most amazing Turkish Cheese Bread, pictured above) (see the Frojalda Cookalong)

Almost too much deliciousness for one page!!

Chag Shavuot Sameach to all those who are celebrating – and happy cooking to everyone.

Lisa xx