Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
koshercookbook author, cooking teacher, and culinary tour leader. Her ''Kosher By Design'' series of cookbooks was a runaway best-seller for ArtScroll, with over 500,000 copies sold.Marcus, Ariella. "Kosher by Design Cooking Coach: Susie Fishbein's eighth in the KBD series emphasizes cooking knowledge and skills". '' Binah'' Magazine, 29 October 2012, p. 43. In 2008 she was included on the
Forward 50
''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, '' ...
as one of the 50 most influential Jews.
Biography
Susie Fishbein was born in 1968 in
Oceanside, New York
Oceanside is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the southern part of the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 32,109 at the 2010 census.
History
Originally known as South Bay, the En ...
. She was raised in a strictly kosher home. She earned an MA in science education and taught fourth-grade science in a public school for four years.
In 2000 she co-edited ''The Kosher Palette: Easy and elegant modern kosher cooking'', a 308-page hardcover, spiral-bound, community cookbook produced as a fundraising tool for the
Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy
The Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy is a coeducational Modern Orthodox Yeshiva Day School located in Livingston, New Jersey. The Academy is dedicated towards developmental education and religious growth, for both boys and girls from Pre-Kindergart ...
of
Livingston, New Jersey
Livingston is a township in Essex County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,366, reflecting an increase of 1,975 (+7.2%) from the 27,391 counted in the 2000 Census. In 2019, the Population Estimates Prog ...
, where her first child was a student. The book went through four printings comprising 36,000 copies from April 2000 to December 2001.
After this project, Fishbein sought to upgrade her cooking knowledge by taking lessons and collecting recipes from professional chefs. Professing an interest in bringing to the kosher cookbook market "something like what
Martha Stewart
Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing pu ...
does – meals that are easy to prepare, and elegant and healthful, and that appeal to all the senses", she assembled the team of Renee Errich, a
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
event planner, to choreograph table settings, Larry Sexton, florist at the Plaza Hotel, to provide flower-arranging tips, and John Uher, a professional food and lifestyle magazine photographer, to direct the photo shoots for a new kosher cookbook titled ''Kosher By Design''. This team continued to work with her on subsequent books, along with other experts such as Bonnie Taub-Dix, spokeswoman for the American Diabetic Association (the nutrition consultant on ''Kosher By Design Lightens Up'') and kosher
caterer
Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio.
History of catering
The earliest account of major services b ...
Moshe David (who contributed many recipes for ''Passover By Design'').
''Kosher By Design''
Between 2003 and 2016 Fishbein produced nine cookbooks in the ''Kosher By Design'' series.Bensoussan, Barbara. "Going Out with a Bang: Susie Fishbein ends her cookbook series with a new blockbuster". ''
Mishpacha
''Mishpacha'' ( he, משפחה, : Family) - Jewish Family Weekly is a Haredi weekly magazine package produced by The Mishpacha Group in both English and Hebrew.
History
The Mishpacha Publishing Group was founded in 1984 with the publication ...
'', February 10, 2016, pp. 42-44. The ''Kosher By Design'' series combines elegant yet easy-to-prepare kosher recipes approved by two rabbis with full-color glossy photographs to appeal to the growing segment of American Jewish women with disposable income who want to produce contemporary kosher fare. Fishbein put a new spin on kosher and
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...
classics with her creative recipes, such as Tri-Colored Matzah Balls, Challah Napkin Rings, and Beer-Braised
Brisket
Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the nine beef primal cuts, though the definition of the cut differs internationally. The brisket muscles include the superficial and deep pectora ...
. Though her recipes sport exotic names such as Broccoli and Almond Bisque, Pecan Crusted Grouper over Amaretto Whipped Potatoes, Kalamata and Mustard Crusted Roast Beef, Sweet Potato Wedges with Vanilla Rum Sauce, and Chocolate Mint Dalmatian Cookies, Fishbein emphasizes the use of simple ingredients that can be found in any supermarket and markets herself as an "everyday cook".
In addition to recipes, Fishbein's books feature sample table settings and floral arrangements, party themes, wine lists, and explanations of Jewish traditions and kashrut laws which are an educational aid for non-Orthodox readers.
In media interviews, Fishbein explains that her recipes aren't necessarily "Jewish", but they are all kosher. She claims that her popularity is even greater among
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
and
Reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
Jewish women who do not have a kosher kitchen but are interested in cooking
gourmet
Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...
. ArtScroll has realized the books' saleability by extending beyond its traditional Orthodox Jewish market into the mainstream market, including sales on
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
booksellers
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...
, in
Williams Sonoma
Williams Sonoma is an American retailer of cookware, appliances, and home furnishings. It is owned by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and was founded by Charles E. (Chuck) Williams in 1956.
History
In 1947, Chuck Williams settled in Sonoma, Californ ...
stores, and in supermarkets.
In 2016 Fishbein announced that the ninth book in the series, ''Kosher By Design Brings It Home'', would be the last.
Media personality
Concurrent with her cookbook career, Fishbein developed a public career as a
celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...
with cooking demonstrations at Jewish benefits, bake sales, kosher cruises, and food festivals, appearing before a new or repeat audience almost every week. She has also appeared nationally on ''
The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...
Martha Stewart Living Radio
Martha Stewart Living Radio was a 24-hour satellite radio station on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 110 produced by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. The station aired a variety of programming hosted by the company's team of experts, covering topi ...
'', and the
Nachum Segal
Nahum ( or ; he, נַחוּם ''Naḥūm'') was a minor prophet whose prophecy is recorded in the ''Tanakh'', also called the Hebrew Bible and The Old Testament. His book comes in chronological order between Micah and Habakkuk in the Bible. H ...
Show, earning her the sobriquets of "the Jewish Martha Stewart" and the "kosher
diva
Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...
". She has become the darling of the Jewish media, which quotes her and her recipes in pre-holiday features and lauds her easygoing and gracious personality.
The kosher industry that Fishbein rode to stardom used her success to help promote its own products. At the 21st Annual
Kosherfest
Kosherfest is an annual, two-day trade fair for the kosher-certified food industry held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. Established in 1989, it includes an exhibition hall, lectures, cooking demonstrations, a culinar ...
2009 in the
Meadowlands Exposition Center
The Plaza at Harmon Meadow is a shopping complex in the Meadowlands of Secaucus, New Jersey, approximately six miles from New York City. It was developed by Hartz Mountain Industries, whose corporate offices are located in the Plaza. The Plaz ...
in
Secaucus
Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,
Cooking coach
In addition to her cooking demos, Fishbein has led "culinary tours" to Israel, Europe, and other destinations. She will serve as a cooking instructor for two girls camps at a soon-to-be-opened $150,000 culinary center being constructed to her specifications by the New Jersey Y.
Family
Fishbein lives with her husband Kalman, three daughters, and one son in Livingston, New Jersey.
References
Bibliography
* (co-edited with Sandra Blank)
* 1st edition 2003, 2nd edition 2005
*
*
* (with John Uher)
* (with John Uher)
* (with Bonnie Taub-Dix)
*
*
*