Food is always the perfect gift to send — and it just may be the most Jewish expression of gift giving there is! Here’s a list of some fun food presents to send to your loved ones this year.
1. La Newyorkina Babka Ice Cream Sandwiches
Babka ice cream sandwiches. Do we even need to say anything else!? La Newyorkina, which is owned by Mexican-Jewish sweets genius Fany Gerson, produces these delectable treats that are made with homemade ice cream and Mexican chocolate-filled babka. We just can’t imagine a better gift.
2. eCreamery Hanukkah: 8 Nights Collection
Everyone has that family member or friend who is just obsessed with ice cream. This is the perfect gift for them: eCreamery’s Hanukkah: 8 Night Collection, which consists of eight pints of ice cream with Hanukkah-themed packaging. The flavors that you will get are mint chip, chocolate s’mores, peppermint, sea salt caramel, chocolate chunk, snickerdoodle and butter pecan.
3. La Boite-Ptora Family Special Edition Olive Oil
Nothing says Hanukkah like olive oil — after all, the holiday commemorates the miracle of a small amout of oil lasting for eight nights! Gifting some olive oil, therefore, is both delicious and meaningful. And this year, spice guru Lior Lev Sercarz of La Boite and Chef Eric Ripert of world renowned restaurant Le Bernardin have collaborated with the Ptora Family Farm in Israel to produce a premium quality, cold-pressed olive oil. The oil comes in three different sized bottles and truly makes a fantastic gift.
4. Lin Farms Israeli Delights Set
If you want to give the gift of authentic Israeli deliciousness, this set features Israeli olive oil, honey, vegan chocolate date spread and fruit preserves, all produced on a family-owned farm in Israel. Lin Farms has been producing honey and other products more than 80 years, so you can feel great that you’re sending a delicious present while supporting a family business with a unique history.
5. NY Shuk Middle Eastern Condiments
NY Shuk, a popular address for Middle Eastern condiments, has put together a “best of” gift box filled with all you need to make the tagine of your dreams. Their gift set includes their recently released matbucha (a tomato and pepper sauce), harissa hot sauce, preserved lemons and a variety of must-have spices all for your Levantine recipes. You will also get a glazed ceramic bowl and spoon made especially for New York Shuk by a Japanese ceramicist. There’s so many great other products to order as gifts (or for yourself) including the Harissa collection or the Middle Eastern Spice Collection.
6. Fatty Sunday’s Hanukkah Pretzels
Sugar and spice and everything crunchy is what you’ll find in a gift box assortment of Fatty Sundays’ Hanukkah pretzels. In the spirit of do-it-yourself, they offer a pretzel kit in which you do the decorating (a gluten-free option is also available). And if you want the work done for you, they have a box filled with pretzels in eight different flavors, plus additional pretzels decorated in blue and white, as well as gluten-free sprinkles. A portion of each sale will go to the Queens College Hillel to host a holiday dinner for students.
7. Dylan’s Candy Bar Hanukkah Treats
Sweet tooth? Look no further than Dylan’s Candy Bar. You can get a “Festival of Lights Tackle Box ” filled with kosher sweets like jelly beans, Hershey’s kisses and Hanukkah gelt — there’s a candy compartment for each of the eight nights and then some! If cookies are more your thing, they have a very cute decorated Hanukkah butter cookie set, too.
8. The Gefilteria’s Pickle Making Kit
Jeffrey Yoskowitz and Liz Alpern — the founders of Gefilteria, a food venture focused on preserving Eastern European Jewish food traditions — have put together a pickling kit that gives you the tools, spices and recipes to make pickles the old-fashioned way. You bring the fresh vegetables, the kit will walk you through how to pickle them.
