“Every culture has its own way of celebrating the bounty of tomatoes. It’s time that we introduce different flavors into the aisles and aisles of Italian tomato sauce.” – Leetal Arazi, New York Shuk
Welcome back to our food. curated. documentary series on inspiring food artisans and passionate culinary masters in the food space!
It’s been seven years since we first featured Ron & Leetal Arazi, the co-founders and chefs behind the New York-based, Middle Eastern Pantry brand, New York Shuk. Since debuting their signature harissa, they’ve gone on to create a myriad of top-quality, bold-flavored spice blends and preserved lemon pastes which I constantly use in my cooking. Just check out their Instagram stories and you’ll see colorful re-posts from home cooks using New York Shuk in creative ways. Even my dad, who rarely dabbled in Middle Eastern recipes, loves to add their Hawaij and Ras El Hanout spices onto pan-fried potatoes and seafood.
With tons of hard work and passion, they’ve gone from a mom & pop online food brand to a recognized packaged food brand you can find in big supermarkets and gourmet shops nationwide. All while remaining humble!
New York Shuk is helping to change the landscape of what we see on grocery shelves, joining other small food makers – like Chitra Agrawal the founder of Brooklyn Delhi (seen above) – in building a more inclusive food industry. It’s been inspiring to watch!
Bold Spices, Bold Vision
With their growing product pantry, they celebrate their Jewish and Middle Eastern traditions while proudly honoring the stories and history of their food. They want their flavors to resonate with the maturing American palate, appealing to home cooks who want richer spices to their foods. So far, the plan seems to be working. The New York Shuk brand grew quite a lot during the pandemic when people had more time on their hands to play in the kitchen and be adventurous with food.
“I know the day will come eventually where people will use our ingredients on a daily basis without even thinking they are Middle Eastern.” – Ron Arazi
Their mission is to make Middle Eastern spices more accessible for easy, everyday cooking, normalizing flavors that most Americans might deem “exotic.” One of my favorite recent launches was their Kafe Hawaij, a strong aromatic coffee & dessert spice blend which I use in my morning lattes for that beautiful kick of ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom.
Now, they have a new condiment to share – what some call “the mother of all Moroccan salads” – a versatile, Middle Eastern recipe grounded in their culture’s love of tomatoes — made their own with a lemony twist: New York Shuk Matbucha.
New York Shuk Matbucha
My first experience with their matbucha was at a farm stand late fall. Ron, Leetal and I spent the morning picking end-of-season tomatoes at Alstede Farm in New Jersey and picnicked for lunch under the hot sun, tearing into gorgeous ciabatta loaves and focaccia from Liv Breads, an artisan sourdough bakery nearby (which I highly recommend).
“There’s just something so special about the simplicity of matbucha that is really important for us to capture.” – Leetal Arazi
They brought with them a few jars of their new matbucha product which they popped open. The tomatoes we picked were the same Jersey fresh tomatoes they use in their master recipe. Keeping it local is part of the design, a way to honor the ripe tomatoes Ron used to harvest for matbucha in his grandmother’s garden.
The matbucha was a beautiful deep red, the color of tomatoes when cooked down with dark green hatch chilies. I watched as they dove into the jars with the bread, spooning the thick tomato jam into their mouths in big, generous bites. I followed their lead, letting the cold “tomato salad” – as Ron referred to it – both cool me down and heat me up. The preserved lemon paste in the recipe cutting through in nice salty/citrusy waves. Very easy to eat! Even better alongside soft cheese. In the video, you’ll see how they gather friends to make the tomato cooking process an extended family affair.
Ron said he could eat it every day, no problem. It reminded me of things I love about spicy Mexican salsa, except a thicker, smoother texture.
Reimagining the Tomato Sauce Aisle as a Place for All Cultures
Their vision for New York Shuk is very bold like their spices. Instead of slowly hand-holding American customers through new, complex Middle Eastern flavors, testing and re-testing ideas in long development phases, they opt for a quick launch. Offering tried and true, beloved family recipes with traditional names, not dumbing down their history with easy-to-pronounce Americanized names, encouraging food lovers to educate themselves and catch up. It’s a strategy I appreciate. If it’s been celebrated back home in Israel and Morocco for hundreds of years, then it’s bound to be good here.
They trust their culinary instinct, choosing to believe American home cooks are branching out more openly to international cuisine and recipes.
More than anything, they champion access to the best quality Middle Eastern ingredients and spices because they didn’t have that luxury when they landed here. Ten years ago, it was harder for them to find familiar ingredients they needed for cooking their Israeli and North African recipes in the spice aisles. So, they did something about it. They created the hard-to-find ingredients they were missing from back home for anyone in America who might be in the same position — and didn’t look back.
“Today it’s very difficult to find people our age (or younger) who keep their tradition alive.”
As Leetal explained, they’re in it for the long run, even if it takes years to break through. They believe there should be more cultures represented in the tomato sauce aisle, not just Italian recipes. So many different cultures celebrate and preserve tomatoes in their own regional way. Hopefully, more grocery stories will make space and help expose these traditions.
The Versatility of Matbucha
“Knowing you have this in your pantry, you can whip up dinner, entertain friends, you’re sorted.”
The most unique part about matbucha is the multitude of uses. One jar can branch off into so many different ideas and recipes. It’s the simplicity of the ingredients that make this possible. As you’ll see in the video, you can cook it with meats and seafood as a sauce. Use it as a base to make breakfast shakshuka. Or spoon it right out of the jar over eggs or roasted vegetables. You can even keep it simple and use it as a tangy layer in sandwiches with cold-cuts or tinned fish. This holiday season, I served it as part of a charcuterie table with cured meats and nutty hard cheeses which was a big hit!
According to Leetal, having a jar of matbucha around is a life-saver, especially living in a chaotic household with two young kids where you need quick solutions for everyday meals.
Spicy and Not So Spicy
New York Shuk offers two flavors of matbucha: Signature Matbucha (semi-spicy) and Matbucha with Olives & Mint (not spicy). Going the spicy route is the most traditional way to enjoy matbucha. But, for those of you who are sensitive to chilies, it’s not that spicy. Yes, it has a slight burn, but nothing that lingers for too long. Mostly, it’s the hatch chilies just coming to say hello, we’re here! I’d say, it’s balanced perfectly. Medium spicy.
Personally, I like the Matbucha with Olives & Mint more as a dip for bread and appetizer spreads, and the Signature Matbucha for cooking. The olives and mint really accent the tomatoes in a bright umami sort of way. I really really like how it adds juicy depth to the tomatoes. But, honestly, I can easily imagine Ron & Leetal coming up with other variations in the future. Perhaps with different mixtures of chilies? Maybe one with smoked tomatoes? The possibilities are endless.
For now, I hope you enjoy their fun video story. Let me know if you add matbucha to your next meal, I’d love your feedback or any exciting applications you come up with.
Thank so much for watching and supporting food. curated.! Sending lots of love to Chef/Cookbook Author Hetty McKinnon, Chef Caroline Hahm, Brooklyn Delhi Founder/Cookbook Author Chitra Agrawal, and Artist/Ceramicist Shino Takeda for also being a part of Ron & Leetal’s video shoot. Extended family makes living in New York so much brighter.
Be safe out there. Happy eating!
xx Skeeter (@SkeeterNYC)