About

photo by Nomi Ellenson

Jeffrey's a Brooklyn-based writer, food entrepreneur, pickler, and public speaker at the intersection of food, culture and business. He's a Jewish food expert and a devotee to all things fermentation.

Jeffrey writes about food, culture, and the environment for publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Forward, among others. He has contributed to both The Mile End Cookbook and The 100 Most Jewish Foods. He speaks about food waste, culinary history, Jewish food revival, and much more to audiences around the world in his signature, dynamic style. He has also taught thousands of people to make sour pickles using the age-old practice of lacto-fermentation while weaving together stories of history and culture.

As co-founder of The Gefilteria, he produces a cutting edge artisanal gefilte fish and culinary events, presents lectures and cooking demos around the world, and creates unique content related to Jewish food. Jeffrey co-authored the cookbook The Gefilte Manifesto: New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foods, which was named a National Jewish Book Award finalist and a top book of the year in USA Today, Epicurious, Newsday, etc. The book sparked a national conversation about the legacy of eastern European Jewish food traditions.

In May, 2020, Jeffrey served as co-executive producer of The Great Big Jewish Food Fest, a 10-day virtual food festival that raised over $150,000 for COVID-19 relief efforts. He led a quick response team of 20 to create a wide range or programs in just about a month that attracted about 20,000 participants, showcased the diversity of Jewish food, and celebrated the role of food in culture and community. 

Jeffrey proudly teaches on the anthropology of Jewish food at The City College of New York in one of the largest and most diverse Jewish Studies departments in the nation. He joins the Brandeis University faculty each summer to teach the anthropology of Jewish food. And he serves as the chef and scholar-in-residence for the innovative culinary heritage tour through eastern Europe he developed in conjunction with Taube Heritage Tours and the award-winning POLIN museum (next tour is August 2020).

He was named to both the Forbes 30 Under 30 in food & wine and to the Forward 50, and he served as a guest chef at the esteemed James Beard Foundation multiple times.

Samples of Work

70 Faces Media/The Nosher - Curating, writing and cataloging travel food guides for top cities around the world
In Geveb (Journal of Yiddish Studies) - Reviewing Academic work on Cafes and Modern Jewish Thought 
The New York Times (Op-ed) - Advocating for reviving the lost tradition of serving and rearing goose for Hanukkah
Pork Memoirs - Created, edited and Published literary archive of stories about complicated relationships to pork
The New York Times (Dining Section) - A sort of review of the first ever Hebrew-language pork cookbook
Meatpaper - All about religious prohibitions against eating pork

Selected Press

​Jewish Food Society - Becoming a pickler
Epicurious - That time The Gefilte Manifesto was named a top cookbook of the year
The Cooking Channel - Making Gefilte Fish on TV with Sherri Shephard on Holy and Hungry
NPR All Things Considered - Making Gefilte Fish on national radio!
Milk Street Radio - Talking all about the fascinating history behind Jewish dishes
Forbes - Named 30 under 30
The New Yorker - Changing minds about gefilte fish, a thinkpiece
The Forward - Named to the Forward 50