Beyond Cheesecake and Blintzes: A Shavuot Recipe With Meaning (From Tablet Magazine)
Now this is what I'm talking about! A way to bridge your (or your partner's) cultural/culinary heritage with the holiday at hand. This essay is by a Jew-by-Choice. A common problem for those who throw their lot in with "the Tribe" is that you can't convert to having had a Jewish grandmother, with all the gastronomic nostalgia that conveys. But you CAN honor your Sicilian grandmother with a tweaking of her recipes.
Over on Tablet, The author offers a Baked Sea Bass with Artichokes, Mozzarella, and Old Bay Seasoning:
"Although unusual for Shavuot, the dish matches the holiday’s use of dairy and symbolic white food. Beyond that, with the Old Bay, I like to think it represents the ingenuity of Jewish migrants remaking their lives in new places, reminiscent of the ingenuity and perseverance of the Jews who escaped Egypt. And more personally, the recipe marries my past with my present, my Italian heritage with my Jewish one—on a holiday celebrating commitment, values, and community—a community that embraces Jews by choice and what each of us brings to the table."
This piece by Marcia Friedman (author of Meatballs and Matzah Balls: Recipes and Reflections from a Jewish and Italian Life) is particularly meaningful as the text read on Shavuot is that of Ruth, that most famous Moabite who joins the Israelites due to her love for Naomi, her mother-in-law.