Plenty of Israelis live in the Boston area, and plenty of Israelis share their culinary expertise on social media.
So why has one particular Israeli food blogger in the Boston area amassed 582,000 followers (and counting) for her RuhamasFood Instagram page?
“From my followers’ messages, I see the key to all the love I get is that, first of all, I’m very authentic,” Ruhama Shitrit tells ISRAEL21c.
“I’m not trying to be somebody else. I showcase my food, my culture, my language, my family. I’m a mom with four kids. I’m living in America and I’m an immigrant. People get attached to things they can relate to.”
Still, she probably wouldn’t have become a social-media influencer without the genuine warmth she projects as she presents easy-to-make recipes inspired by the Israeli cuisine and Middle Eastern flavors of her heritage.
“Even when October 7 happened, I wanted to share positivity and love,” she says. “I am very down to earth and emotionally expressive. I’m speaking with you like you’re my best friend. This is who I am.”
The making of an influencer
Born to Iraqi Jewish parents in Tirat HaCarmel, a Haifa district town of which her father was mayor, Ruhama did military service like everyone else and earned a teaching degree at Gordon College of Education in Haifa.
She married Yossi Shitrit (of Moroccan extraction) and had two boys, Shoham and Dor. When Dor was a toddler, Yossi got an offer from his high-tech company to move to the Boston office.
Ruhama and Yossi figured it would be a fun and interesting experience for a year or two. But one thing led to another, and they’ve been in Massachusetts for 18 years.
Ruhama says it was hard to raise her children — including two daughters, Zoe and Noa, born in Boston – without their parents nearby, in a different culture and language.
But she found her place as a Hebrew teacher in Jewish schools. “The Schechter school in Boston has been like my family for the last 13 years,” she says.
“When Covid started, all of us were in the house. The kids were learning on Zoom, Yossi was working on Zoom, I was teaching on Zoom. It was a very Zoomy house and everyone was looking for something different to do. I thought maybe I’d get a master’s degree or learn something new.”
She always loved cooking and hosting. She involved the whole family in these activities so that her kids, who speak Hebrew at home, would be nourished on the food she and Yossi grew up with.
One morning during the pandemic, her sons encouraged her to open an Instagram page and post one recipe. She was very hesitant but they assured her that she could always take it down later.
“Remember, during Covid everyone wanted to cook,” she says.
“So I posted a recipe – I think it was a babka — with photos. People said they wanted more. So I bought video equipment and learned how to use it.”
For the first couple of years, she continued teaching in the morning, creating recipes in the afternoon, and expanding her technical skills to include video editing and voiceovers.
“I was, and still am, a one-woman show with just my family supporting and helping me. I learned what it means to be a social-media influencer while raising four kids and keeping my day job.”
Middle Eastern flavors
The dishes she concocts run the gamut from poultry, meat and fish to vegetarian and vegan.
Their common denominator is Middle Eastern-Mediterranean flavors imparted by seasonings such as ras el hanout, Baharat spice blend, sumac, tahini, date syrup (silan) and amba. For people who can’t purchase these ingredients locally or on Amazon, she provides DIY recipes.
Ruhama soon amassed followers in America, Israel, and Jewish communities in Australia, Europe, Iran, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico and Morocco.
Eventually, buoyed by “the hugs I got from everybody around the world,” especially after October 7, Ruhama quit teaching and devoted herself to RuhamasFood full time.
Ruhama and her family spend summers in Israel. The culinary scene she most appreciates and misses when she’s back in Boston is street food.
“The falafel, the shawarma, the hummus… there’s nothing like it. You go to the beach in Haifa and then you go to Abu Maron Hummus, it’s so easy and so good. In Boston you do have good food, but not like in Israel. The way they cook veggies is amazing.”
Her go-to menu for Shabbat dinner includes challah, one-pan chicken and potatoes, spicy Moroccan fish and a variety of “salatim,” classic Israeli salads such as cabbage or beet.
Ahead of Rosh Hashana, Ruhama shared with ISRAEL21c the recipes below, and also a message from her heart.
“It’s obvious but important to say that I wish for shalom, peace for Israel and peace around us,” she says.
“Just be nice to each other and spread love. I know it sounds cliché, but I do believe spreading love and positivity is the key to a better world.
“I hope and pray with all my heart every day – not just when I light the candles for Shabbat – for my country and my homeland and everywhere in the world to take a deep breath and appreciate everything you have in your life.”
Want to follow Ruhama on Instagram? Click here.
Ruhama’s roasted cauliflower with lemony green tahini
Ingredients
1 cauliflower, cut to small florets
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil
Lemony green tahini dressing
3 garlic cloves
Handfuls of mint leaves, parsley leaves and dill
1 jalapeño pepper without the seeds
1/4 cup raw tahini
1/3 cup cold water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1 lemon
Blend all the dressing ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Method
- Put the cauliflower florets on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
- Season with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Mix well.
- Arrange the florets in one layer. Broil at 450F for about 10-15 minutes or until golden.
- On a nice plate, pour some of the green tahini dressing and place the roasted cauliflower on top.
- Drizzle more of the dressing on top.
- Garnish with a touch of sumac and few mint leaves.
Ruhama’s festive kebab casserole
Ingredients
2.5 pounds ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1.5 teaspoons ras el hanout
1 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoons olive oil
10 small golden potatoes, washed and cut thinly on a mandoline.
Green herbs mixture ingredients
4 garlic cloves
1 sweet onion, cut into quarters
1 bunch cilantro
1/4 celery root, peeled
Grind all the ingredients in a small food processor.
Red sauce ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon date syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ras el hanout
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 cup water
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 420F.
- Combine the ground beef, salt, pepper, paprika, ras el hanout, olive oil and green herbs mixture.
- Knead it with your hands and make around 30 large meatballs.
- With your hands, make a “sandwich” with two potato slices and one meatball.
- Place the meatball “sandwiches” in an oven-safe pan close to each other in a -circle.
- Continue with this method to fill the pan. You can add more potato slices in between.
- Pour the red sauce over everything.
- Cover with wet parchment paper and transfer to the oven. Bake 35-40 minutes.
- Remove the parchment paper and broil it at 450F for 7-8 minutes until it’s golden and ready.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and a drizzle of tahini.
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