Joan Nathan

For Joan Nathan, food is more than her occupation - it's history, heritage and culture.

The author of award-winning cookbooks and the host of the acclaimed PBS series Jewish Cooking in America with Joan Nathan. Nathan is an internationally recognized expert on food culture and a recent inductee into Who's Who in Wine and Food by the James Beard Foundation.

Her own history provides the explanation for her expertise. As a child, Nathan often traveled to other countries with her father, a German businessman, and made the connection early between culture and food. With a masters degree in French Literature from Harvard she took a job as foreign press officer to Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, a leader who often combined meetings and meals. The experience inspired her to write her first book, The Flavor of Jerusalem. In 1994, she published Jewish Cooking in America, an instant classic that received numerous accolades from organizations such as The Julia Child Awards and the James Beard Foundation. Her newest book, The Foods of Israel Today, contains recipes from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions.

A founder of New York's Ninth Avenue Food Festival, Nathan has appeared on TV programs ranging from Today to Martha Stewart. In 1995 she received the Golda Award from the American Jewish Congress for her creative contributions to the quality of life in Washington, DC.

Nathan is host and executive producer of Jewish Cooking in America with Joan Nathan, her second national television project. The first was the award-winning Passover: Traditions of Freedom, which debuted on public television in March 1994. Jewish Cooking in America with Joan Nathan is a national production of Joan Nathan, frappé, inc. and Maryland Public Television.