Between the Lines: Sephardic Food and Culture

Sephardic Food and Culture: A Culinary-Historical Perspective
with Hélène Jawhara Piñer and Dr. Benjamin Gampel

Part of Between the Lines: Author Conversations from The Library of JTS

Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET
Online

Dr. Hélène Jawhara Piñer and Dr. Benjamin Gampel will discuss how the mass conversion of Iberian Jews in the late 14th and 15th centuries, initially triggered by the anti-Jewish riots that swept Castile and Aragon in 1391, led to distinctive and identifiable food and eating practices among those Jews who were compelled to embrace the Christian faith. Utilizing diverse sources, including records of Inquisition trials, Dr. Piñer and Dr. Gampel will explore how evidence of the diet of those recently converted can shed light on larger historical trends and developments among Jews and New Christians at the time of the Iberian expulsions.

About the Speakers

Hélène Jawhara Piñer has a PhD in Medieval History and the History of Food. As a research associate of the Research Center CESR in Tours, her research interests include the medieval culinary history of Spain through inter- and multiculturalism with a special focus on the Jewish culinary heritage.

Dr. Benjamin Gampel serves as the Dina and Eli Field Family Chair in Jewish History at JTS. He is a specialist in medieval and early modern Jewries.