Elana Benjamin in conversation with Indira Naidoo

Waverley library invites you to attend this special talk with local writer, cook and literary contributor, Elana Benjamin presenting her new book Indian-Jewish Food: A Book of Recipes and Stories from the Back Streets of Bondi .

This book captures the spectacular – but little-known – cuisine of India’s Baghdadi Jews who immigrated to Australia in the 1950s and 60s.

India was home to three Jewish communities, including one which originated in Iraq: the Baghdadi Jews. By incorporating Indian spices into traditional Iraqi dishes and following the Jewish dietary laws – which prohibit the mixing of meat and dairy – India’s Baghdadi Jews created a delicious cuisine that isn’t quite typical Indian.

Baghdadi Jews from India, mostly Bombay and Calcutta, began arriving in Australia in the late 1940s. Many settled in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, especially Bondi. This was well before the end of the White Australia Policy, well before the first trickle of Indian immigrants to Australia in the 1960s.

Elana will share the stories of Bondi's rich culinary history like Eze Moses’ legendary Bondi spice shop, as well has recipes, flavours and fabulous samples from the book. This is a special night not to miss. Help us celebrate Diwali Week by attending this talk.

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Elana Benjamin is a Jewish-Australian writer of Indian-Iraqi heritage.

Her articles have been published widely, including in Good Weekend, Sunday Life, the Sydney Morning Herald, SBS Voices, The Jewish Independent (formerly Plus61J Media), Kveller, Debrief Daily, Essential Kids and the _Jewish Book Council _blog.

Elana is a contributor to Black Inc.’s forthcoming anthology Growing Up Indian in Australia. Elana’s cookbook, _Indian-Jewish Food: Recipes and Stories from the Backstreets of Bondi, _published by the Sydney Jewish Museum, will be released in August 2024.

Elana is also the author of My Mother's Spice Cupboard: A Journey from Baghdad to Bombay to Bondi(2012, Hybrid Publishers), a memoir-history which traces her family's migration from Iraq to India to Australia.

She is a co-founder of Sephardi Mizrahi Voices Australia, an organisation which seeks to raise awareness of the traditions, culture and history of Jews from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North African and Iran.