On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Rachel Simons, author of "Sesame: Global Recipes + Stories of an Ancient Seed," co-founder of Seed+Mill, based in New York City's iconic Chelsea Market.

The book - and the conversation - talk about the seed's metaphor and connection.

"Seeds are the beginning of life; that's how everything starts: vegetables, fruits, humans, animals, ideas," says Simons, who believes the book is not just about food, but life, travel, and history."

After Simons, who has lived around the world, moved to New York, she saw an opportunity to open a business around a product - mainly Tahini - that hadn't yet had its moment to shine.

"It was an underrated, underappreciated condiment or ingredient, and we wanted to throw our energy behind, you know, doing something fresh with it," she says. "We're nearly 10 years old and we honestly had no idea that this little shop would just turn into a business which would turn into a brand and eventually now a cookbook."

"Sesame" answers is a clear, approachable guide to the world of sesame, from halva and tahini to togarashi, gomasio and furikake. Whether it's in the form of a seed, tahini (a ground sesame paste), sesame oil, or halva (a soft, fudge-like candy made from sesame paste), readers can incorporate it in 100 traditional and modern global recipes.

" I wanted to make the book feel very global, very international, and very embracing," she says. "I wanted the book to be an umbrella where everybody could see a part of their food identity."

Rachel Simons shares her backstory - and the seeds that led her where she is today - as well as her history with and the origins of tahini. She also talks about her love of food, the value of that connection, and her recipe for sesame and peach miso crumble, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

Learn more at SeedandMill.com, follow @SeedandMill on Facebook and Instagram, and get a copy of "Sesame" at your favorite bookstore. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

Note:  Anyone who counts the correct number of times the word "seed" is said in the podcast, will get a free Tahini ice cream from Rachel at Seed + Mill in New York.

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Matthew Jonas and David Foerstner, co-founders of Good Karma Chocolate. Good Karma offers small batch bean-to-bar chocolate, drinking cacao, cacao blend-ins, and plenty of positive vibes.

"Dave and I share a passion for all things dark chocolate," Jonas explains. "Most of the [bean-to-bar and cacao] brands out there are very serious, and we thought, when you get a chance to taste really good chocolate in your life, that is a moment of joy."

Jonas said that while they are serious about how they make it - and are ethical in its production - they also want people to feel good when they eat it, to really enjoy the experience.

Jonas had been seeking an alternative to drinking coffee, when, two years ago, he discovered drinking cacao. He didn't like the products that were commercially available, so Jonas bought some beans and began experimenting. Then, he reached out to Foerstner, a food scientist and founder of Food Forward Consulting, to see if he wanted to partner on making a cacao drinking product.

"I think your exact words were, 'You need to talk me out of doing this chocolate,'" Foerstner recalls. His reply, "I'm the wrong guy to talk you out of things. … I'm the guy that makes you do things or helps you do things."

Foerstner said he'd do it on one condition: "I've always wanted to make chocolate."

Matthew Jonas and David Foerstner talk about Good Karma Chocolate's origin story, their mission, and their recipe for making - and customizing - ceremonial drinking cacao, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcast. Jonas also shares the parallels he has found between the chocolate and the Jewish communities.

"This idea of … trying to make a better impact on the world, leave it better than I found it, I take that from my experience of … choosing to become active in my Judaism," he says.

For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Genna Rosenberg, founder of GennComm and a major foodie! A 30-year toy, licensing and entertainment industry executive, she focuses on the intersection of social impact, consumer products, and business strategy

"When I was a little kid, some of my earliest toys were a play tea set or a pretend kitchen or plastic food," Rosenberg shares. "Then throughout my career I've had a lot of really fun connections with food-based toys."

Her love of cooking started at a young age.

"My mother said she cooked to provide food for us, but my father used to love to cook and to really create lots of different masterpieces in the kitchen, and I really follow suit with that," Rosenberg says. "I love to explore, I love to create new recipes and bring fabulous dishes to the table."

Creativity serves her well in the kitchen and as a publicist and changemaker in the toy industry. Last month, Rosenberg was named 2025 Wonder Woman Catalyst for Change by a global empowerment organization: Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment.

Cooking is one of the best ways to be creative, though many people prefer to follow a recipe.

"I might look at a recipe or I might look at three or four or five different recipes for the same thing," Rosenberg says. "Then I make it up my own way, because there's not really one way to do things."

Rosenberg talks about her social impact backstory, toy trends and fun projects, and her cooking philosophy. She also shares her love of Jewish food and her recipe for "make it your own way matzo brei," which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

Learn more about Genna Rosenberg at Genncomm.com and connect on LinkedIn. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Jamie Milne, founder of Everything Delish. When Milne launched 12 years ago, she had no idea she would become a viral food sensation! Her Instagram has 820,000 followers, Pinterest has 255,00+ and TikTok has 2.5 million. You get the idea.

Whether she's demonstrating quick recipes, sharing tips or partnering with brands, Milne is all about making cooking delish, accessible and fun.

"From a really young age [I knew] that food and cooking are really at the heart of the table, and they bring so many people together," she says.

Everything Delish began as a creative outlet for Milne, who was substitute teaching in Jewish schools in Toronto at the time. She was the person everyone turned to for recommendations, and instead of answering everyone personally, she started an Instagram page, called Everything Delish.

Everything Delish has changed over the years; Milne is constantly pivoting and reinventing herself as certain life events happen. And it has grown beyond anything she could have imagined.

" I constantly tell my audience, when you do what you love, you'll succeed; I wholeheartedly believe in that," Milne says. "My passion has turned into my career, and I believe that if I can do it, anyone can, and it's never too late to start."

Jamie Milne talks about the origin of her love of food, the evolution of Everything Delish, and being authentic on social media. She also shared her brisket recipe - a twist on the traditional, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

Learn more about Jamie Milne - and get recipes - at Everything-Delish.com. Follow @Everything_Delish on social media, including Instagram and TikTok, and subscribe to the Everything Delish Substack.

For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Noah Rothbaum, author of "The Whiskey Bible: A Complete Guide to the World's Greatest Spirit," among others.

In the book - and in the interview - Rothbaum shares everything you ever wanted to know about whiskey, and more, including the pivotal role of Jewish immigrants in bringing whiskey to America.

"In many ways, American Jews invented whiskey in this country or at least helped popularize it, around the turn of the century, the late 1800s to 1900s," Rothbaum explains. Because of the laws of kashrut, Jews were accustomed to making their own alcohol in the old country; a skill they brought with them when they started emigrating to America and Canada.

"Fortunately the rules for making spirits are a lot simpler than the rules for making wine," he explains. "Most whiskey by its very nature is kosher … because there's only really three ingredients: water, yeast and grain. … The fourth ingredient is the barrel, because all whiskey comes off the still clear; the color and so much of the flavor comes from the barrel."

"The Whiskey Bible" contains more than 600 pages of knowledge, history, and stellar recipes from bartenders from around the world, including one from Sam Ross, called "penicillin."

When Rothbaum asked where the name came from, Ross said that when he was smelling the cocktail - the different kinds of notes from the whiskey and the honey ginger syrup and the citrus - it reminded him of chicken soup aka Jewish penicillin.

More than anything, Rothbaum wants to elevate people's knowledge of and confidence in drinking whiskey.

"I wanted folks to feel empowered and savvy." Rothbaum says. When someone hears something about whiskey, whether it's from their colleague, a know-it-all friend or they see a movie where somebody's drinking it, they can pull out "The Whiskey Bible, flip to that page or section and see what's what.

Noah Rothbaum shares his journey into the world of whiskey, numerous whiskey facts and points of history, and Sam Ross' penicillin recipe, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

Get "The Whiskey Bible" at your favorite bookstore and follow @Noah_Rothbaum on Instagram. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Alan Silberberg, an award-winning author, cartoonist and children's TV creator, whose latest book is "The Bagel Who Wanted Everything." This funny, heart-warming story of a plain bagel's quest to see what else is out there in the world is the latest in his series of silly kids' books about Jewish food; other titles include "P is for Pastrami" and "Meet the Latkes."

When asked what it's like to be in his head, Silberberg says, ""It's like going up a really beautiful hill that sometimes you trip and then fall very fast into a big, splashy pool of chicken soup. I'm up, down, making things up … coming up with characters; it's a fun life."

Silberberg loves drawing food; it's the gateway to every kid, every family.

"It's like a muscle memory for your tummy," Silberberg says. "There aren't enough good funny stories about food, especially Jewish food; I have the Jewish funny food niche."

Silberberg shares his journey from loving to doodle, to working in kids TV, to author. He also talks about his favorite Jewish foods, bagel preferences, fun with food characters, and how to live an everything bagel kind of life.

"My books allow kids to enter the story and not identify as the kid, but go, 'Oh, I'm kind of like that bagel,'" Silberberg says. "There's something safe about … being able to connect [and identify] with a food."

To learn more about Alan Silberberg go to silberbooks.com and follow @alan_silberberg on Instagram. Read the article at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Trisha Pérez Kennealy, owner and culinary educator of the Inn at Hastings Park in Lexington, MA.

A proud Puerto Rican Jewish woman, Kennealy lived in Puerto Rico until she was 12, at which time her family moved to Massachusetts. She says she is like "Juanita Epstein" from the "Welcome Back Kotter" TV show.

"What I love about both my Jewish religion and my Puerto Rican heritage is that they both are inspired by a diversity of experience," she says. "[As Jews], what we eat and how we celebrate is so tied to [our] family's [origin]; everything is so symbolic.

"Likewise, in Puerto Rico, we spend a lot of time around that [multigenerational] table … food is really an important part of the way we spend time together, the way we take care of one another."

Soup is a definite common ground between the cultures. "I am a big believer that everyone should know how to make chicken soup, because it's the base; chicken stock can be used to do so many different things," she says. "It really is good for you."

Kennealy talks about her background, heritage, and love for being a culinary educator - especially around the globe, along with tips for entertaining and hospitality. She also shares her recipe for mofongo and matzo ball soup, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

For more cooking inspiration, follow @trishaperezkennealy on Instagram.

For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Babette Pepaj, founder of BakeSpace.com and BakeBot.ai. The free AI-powered cooking assistant generates recipes, digitizes family favorites and suggests ingredient swaps.

"It helps you do everything from thinking about what foods you're going to buy to seeing what's in the fridge [and figuring] out what you can make with what you already have on hand," Pepaj says. "AI … isn't just about making a new recipe, this is about actually helping someone at the most important moment of cooking."

As the High Holidays approach, people start pulling out old recipe books - passed down through generations - or binders with cutouts of recipes. However, many of these recipes have faded or are missing ingredients or instructions. If you are the person who has been making that recipe for years, it's not a problem. But what about everyone else?

The magic of AI is it can look at a recipe, see if something's missing and then be able to modify it. It's also great for adapting it for a different number of servings and substitutions.

"For example, you might have a recipe that's [been] in your family and all of a sudden your sister-in-law is gluten free [or] maybe you became vegan; you want to keep it within the same style, you want to make sure it has the same flavors," she explains. "When [you] are preparing … especially anything that's holiday related - anything that's truly memorable, anything that has history and tradition - you don't want to mess up."

Babette Pepaj talks about BakeBot, ways to use AI for not just recipes, but confidence in the kitchen, and the evolution of recipe discovery. "Social media is like the cooking tool no one knew that they needed," she says. Pepaj also shares her BakeBot.ai created recipe for Rosh Hashanah cupcakes with apple butter cream, which you can get at JewishJournal.com/podcasts

Try out at Bakebot.ai and explore Bakespace.com.

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