PHOTO: ALEXANDER SLANGER PHOTOGRAPHY
Ben Lesser
recipes that Ben had learned from his father.
Specifically, mandelbroyt, a twice-baked
almond cookie, considered the Eastern
European cousin of biscotti.
An emotional reality… Lesser-Gerber
immediately offered to take on the job as
president of Papa Ben's Kitchen and spent
days documenting measurements and watching her father's every baking step. "He did it
all by touch and smell, what he remembered
doing as a kid with his father," she says. "We
had to get that gold standard."
Once they had their recipe, they went
to work developing others flavors, including
minty dark chocolate, chocolate espresso
bean, lemon blueberry with poppy seeds,
and spicy chipotle with ginger and dark
chocolate. "A lot of Jewish bakeries sell
mandelbroyt but they don't have flavor like
ours," Lesser-Gerber says. "We use Maine
blueberries and Belgian chocolate; almost
all ingredients are organic. The cookies have
a 10-month shelf-life."
Gelson's Market in Los Angeles was the
first buyer, stocking its shelves in October
2012. From the beginning, tasting demos
for the kosher cookie became emotional
experiences. "We'd have people at our table
for a long time," says Lesser-Gerber, "telling
us, 'My bubbe used to make mandelbroyt,'
'I used to make this with my mother,' 'My
grandmother taught me how to make this.'
It brought back memories for people who
associated it with a labor of love."
Spreading the word… The family has now given out more than 100,000
Zachor Foundation pins. Total sales of Papa
Ben's mandelbroyt have not yet been compiled, but several Whole Foods outlets in
California are selling them as well as Smith's
in Las Vegas. Soon, the cookies will come
to the Midwest and East Coast. The family
influence continues as Ben's granddaughter
Jenica, 30, is head of sales and marketing.
Ben, who is now 85, continues to
do speaking engagements and still bakes
almost every weekend. "He wanted to leave
a bigger footprint—bigger than him,"
Lesser-Gerber explains. "He feels that
both the Zachor Foundation and mandelbroyt are the way to do it."—J.B.
Now as tasty on the outside as they are on the inside.
John Wm. Macy introduces tasty new packaging for his famous CheeseCrisps, SweetSticks and CheeseSticks.
Now these delicious boxes of all natural snacks with fresh sourdough, fine cheeses and spices look as crisp as they taste!
John Wm. Macy's
®
CheeseSticks
cheesesticks.com
Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 3104
26
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