A Conversation with Cookbook Author Alissa Timoshkina

A Conversation with Cookbook Author Alissa Timoshkina brings award-winning food writer and historian Alissa Timoshkina to the Capital Jewish Museum to discuss her new cookbook, *Lozhka: Eastern European Soups, Stews & Other Things We Eat with a Spoon*. In conversation with chef, writer, and cooking instructor Susan Barocas, Timoshkina will examine the overlapping culinary traditions of Eastern Europe and the ways recipes preserve Jewish memory, identity, and a sense of belonging.

The program will explore the cultural history behind soups, stews, dumplings, grain dishes, and desserts from Ukrainian, Jewish, Tatar, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, Roma, and other traditions. Attendees will also receive samples of Timoshkina’s Crimean Jewish Borsch with Quince.

When: Wednesday, November 4, 2026

Showtimes: 11 a.m.–12 p.m.

Tickets: Members: $5; general admission: $10; Chai: $18

Venue: Capital Jewish Museum, 575 3rd Street NW, Washington, DC

Featured speaker: Alissa Timoshkina, a London-based food writer, cookbook author, and historian specializing in Eastern European culinary culture. Born in Siberia to a family with Ashkenazi and Eastern Slavic roots, she later earned a PhD focused on Soviet culture and Holocaust history before pursuing food writing and cooking. She founded the KinoVino supper club and catering company in 2015 and operated it through 2020.

Alissa Timoshkina’s work: Timoshkina is the author of *Salt & Time* (2019) and *Kapusta* (2025), which received the André Simon Special Commendation Award. *Lozhka* is her third cookbook. She also writes the newsletter *In Her Hands* and co-founded the #CookForUkraine fundraising campaign, which has raised more than £2.5 million for humanitarian relief.

Conversation partner: Susan Barocas, a chef, writer, and cooking instructor whose work focuses on Jewish food, particularly Sephardic cuisines, culture, and history. She appeared on the 2025 PBS program “Family Recipes: Jewish American Style,” co-founded and co-directs Savor: A Sephardic Music & Food Experience, and served as guest chef for three Passover seders at the Obama White House. She has also worked with the Capital Jewish Museum and the former Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington, including as founding director of the Jewish Food Experience.

Run time: Approximately one hour

Food sample: Crimean Jewish Borsch with Quince will be served to attendees.