Joel Haber researches, lectures on, and writes about Jewish Food history. His focus lies in the interplay between food, history, and culture. If food expresses culture, we should be able to use cuisine as a mirror to see the culture reflected back at us. He also works as a culinary tour guide in Israel, highlighting the uniqueness of food and drink in the Jewish state. Recently, he released the e-cookbook Chulent & Hamin: The Ultimate Jewish Comfort Food.

Joel blogs regularly on his website The Taste of Jewish Culture (www.tasteofjew.com). His writing about Jewish Food has also appeared in The Nosher, The Jerusalem Post, Tablet, Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, The Jewish Journal (Los Angeles), Jewlish.com, JamieGeller.com, and the National Library of Israel’s blog. As a lecturer, he’s spoken internationally on many different subjects related to Jewish Food history both in person, and in a variety of online forums. Joel has addressed synagogues, senior centers, JCCs, schools, multiple Limmud conferences (www.limmud.org), and smaller private groups in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Spain, and Israel. Many have invited him back as a repeat speaker. Joel has also been an invited guest on a number of podcasts.

As a licensed tour guide in Israel, Joel has taken over 4,000 individuals on culinary excursions, primarily in Jerusalem’s famous Machane Yehuda outdoor market. Many have booked second or third tours to explore different aspects of Israel’s food culture. In connection with his expertise on the market and its food, Joel has also been featured in articles and videos for many media outlets, including Haaretz, Saveur, Tasting Table, Eat Your World, The Forward, ILTV, TimeOut Israel, Extra Crispy, Chai-FM (South Africa), The Jewish Week (New York), and From the Grapevine.

Chulent: The Most Jewish Food on Earth will be his first full-length book. He is nearing completion of the manuscript’s first draft.