Why subscribe?

Why Subscribe to Beyond Babylon?

Because history is best served with spices.

Because food isn’t just about sustenance—it’s about memory, migration, and the stories we tell around the table.

Because somewhere between Baghdad and Bombay, Aleppo and Shanghai, Calcutta and Singapore, Jewish food took unexpected turns, absorbed flavors, and created something entirely its own—only for many of these traditions to be forgotten.

And because, if we’re being honest, you don’t really need another challah recipe.

Beyond Babylon is where Jewish culinary history meets deep storytelling, cultural memory, and the unapologetic joy of eating.

What’s Inside?

  • 🥘 Recipes with a story – from Awafi comfort food to Burmese-Jewish curries

  • 📖 Lost culinary traditions – the flavors of forgotten Jewish migrations

  • 🔥 Sharp, thoughtful takes – because history is messy, and so is food

  • 🤔 Conversations that challenge – food as identity, food as power, food as survival

Who’s This For?

  • If you’ve ever argued about whether your grandmother’s way of making something is the real way

  • If you love a good footnote as much as a good spice blend

  • If you think cookbooks should come with history lessons

  • If you believe food tells us who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going

Come for the recipes, stay for the stories. And if you don’t like it? At least you’ll leave with a great way to cook crispy ALoo makalla jumping potatoes.

👉 Subscribe to Beyond Babylon today.

Stay up-to-date

Never miss an update—every new post is sent directly to your email inbox. For a spam-free, ad-free reading experience, plus audio and community features, get the Substack app.

Join the crew

Be part of a community of people who share your interests. Participate in the comments section, or support this work with a subscription.

To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.

User's avatar

Subscribe to Beyond Babylon | Jewish Food Stories from Southeast Asia

👉 Telling the untold food stories of the Baghdadi Jewish diaspora—through recipes, memory, and migration, from Baghdad to Calcutta and the kitchens of Southeast Asia.

People

From courtroom battles to kitchen fires, I went from lawyer to chef to food historian. Now I’m retracing the breadcrumbs—the detours, relapses, and side quests of a life well-traveled. Think Hansel & Gretel, but with better snacks and fewer regrets.