Eating the Bible

One weekend, a decade ago, author Rena Rossner was served a bowl of lentil soup at dinner. The portion of the Bible that had been discussed that week was the chapter in which Esau sells his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of red lentil soup. Rossner was struck by the ability to bring the Bible alive in such a tactile way and decided on the spot to see whether she could incorporate the Bible into a meal each week. And so she has. The result, Eating the Bible, is an innovative cookbook with original, easy-to-prepare recipes that will ignite table conversation while pleasing the stomach. Every meal will become both a tactile and intellectual experience as the recipes enrich both the soul of the cook and the palates of those at the table.Every cook must glance at a recipe countless times before completing a dish. Often recipes involve five- to ten-minute periods during which one must wait for the water to boil, the soup to simmer, or the onions to sauté. It is Rossner’s goal to help enrich those moments with biblical verse and commentary, to enable cooks to feed their souls as they work to feed the members of the household and guests. From the zesty “Garden of Eden Salad” to the “Honey Coriander Manna Bread,” each recipe will delight the palate and spark the mind.

Rena Rossner has written extensively for the Jerusalem Post and the Jerusalem Report. Her Jerusalem Post cooking column, "The Weekly Portion," combined recipes with biblical verse. As a mom to five kids, she is always looking for ways to bring more meaning to her family's meals, and she blogs about this process at eatingthebibleblog.wordpress.com. She holds an MA in history from McGill University and a BA in nonfiction writing from Johns Hopkins University's Writing Seminars program. Her poetry and short stories have been published in various print and online magazines. Raised in Miami, she also lived in Canada and Ireland before making her home with her family in Jerusalem, but she still travels extensively to North America and the United Kingdom.