Schmaltz is a spiritual-critical cookbook that features both practical and impractical recipes for today’s Jewish cook. In 2021, Sam Kantor, Jill Smith, and Hannah Cohen shared family recipes with Hailey Kobrin, who invited each of them to share stories and make alterations to these recipes to reflect their Jewish experience. The recipes for Revenge Gefilte Fish, Community Circle Honey Cake, Made-For-TV Lokshin Kugel (and many more) are documents of these encounters — three modern Jews’ spiritual explorations and qualms with Jewish identity and culture. It is a hand extended to others who may feel the same.