When a Cookbook Becomes a Book: Rescuing Recipes, Preserving Stories

Award-winning chef Alon Shaya shares the story behind Rescued Recipes, his project bringing to life the handwritten Holocaust-era cookbook preserved by survivor Steven Fenves, who rebuilt his life in the United States—illuminating how a family recipe book became part of the American Jewish story. He is joined by Maura Baumgarten Force, the Director of the Schwartz Family Center for Experiential Business Learning at Tulane, and a collaborator on the Rescued Recipes project. Moderated by Tulane professor Golan Moskowitz, whose work bridges Jewish memory, storytelling, and identity, this conversation traces how intimate recipe collections evolve into public narratives that “publish” and preserve American Jewish experience for future generations.

Co-sponsored by The Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience as part of the New Orleans Book Festival 2026 at Tulane University.