Biography
Poopa Dweck poopa@poopadweck.com www.poopadweck.com 732.672.7775 Poopa Dweck is the preeminent authority on the food-ways, and customs of the Jews of Aleppo, Syria, one of the largest and most flourishing communities of Sephardic Jews. Dweck comes from a long line of Syrian cooks, whose migrations have spanned the globe from the northeastern hill town of Aleppo in Ottoman Syria to Italy to the United States and South America. Her parents left Aleppo in 1947 at the time of United Nations Partition Plan on their honeymoon, to never return. Today there are no Jews living in Aleppo, with no homeland her extended family and community members continue to reside in the close knit flagship community in Brooklyn, New York and throughout the world. Despite the demographics today their cultural heritage and identity remains strong and very much alive! Through its dedicated adherence to its religious practices and traditions, and its delectable and enticing foods this ancient thriving community has survived as a modern people, and has remarkably defied assimilation. She is best known as the author of the stunning cookbook Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of the Syrian Jews, Harper Collins Ecco Publication, featured in the New York Times Magazine, Year of Ideas in 2007 and winner of the National Jewish Book Award in 2007. Poopa is featured in The Sephardic Heritage Museum`s film, entitled The Syrian Jewish Community: Our Journey Through History, which premiered in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. Poopa was presented The Women of Honor Award by Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem at Sotheby’s in New York. In 2004 a stunning hardcover Hebrew-language edition was published with great success. This is Dweck’s fourth work on the subject and the most comprehensive source for the cuisine and customs of Syrian Jews from Aleppo to date. Poopa`s junket of cooking demonstrations and lectures include Universities such as Yale and UCLA. Radio interviews on NPR, London`s BBC with Claudia Rodin among others. An appearance in the upcoming documentary from Brooklyn to Beirut is scheduled. Poopa`s global book tour included venues all over the world such as Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong; Bogota` Colombia; Jerusalem, Netanya, Tel Aviv, Israel; Istanbul, Turkey; Panama, London and the US coast to coast. She is member of the Harper Collins Speakers Bureau. Five years before the Arab Spring began in 2007 Syrian ambassador Imad Moustapha requested a meeting with Poopa, and a signed book for President Bashar Assad. He praised the authentic recipes and noted that the shared cuisine and traditions of Syrian Arabs and Jews make a good starting point for positive dialogue. Since the Arab Spring conflict started in 2013 the rest of the world has been intrigued and inquisitive, eager to know more, about the cuisine and culture of the Arab world. Poopa has received numerous correspondence from Syrian refugees and descendants expressing their gratitude for documenting the culture of an almost destroyed and lost homeland. Her answer to the Syrian refugee crisis, “Demographics are a small part of the mosaic to one`s identity.” Her mission is to offer an opportunity for all ethnicities and religions to see and not forget the beautiful side of Syria while the citizens and the world are going through this political turmoil. Dweck`social media presence persona is strong. Her Instagram, Facebook, blog and website are followed globally with great anticipation and respect. Acclaimed for her cutting edge, groundbreaking concepts for food photography. Poopa and her husband Sammy raised their family of five children in Deal, N.J. In 1975, she co-founded the Sephardic Women’s Organization of the Jersey Shore. She is passionate about preserving Syrian culinary traditions, serving as Executive Editor of Deal Delights (1976) and Deal Delights II (1985). These Syrian community cookbooks are now standard in Sephardic kitchens worldwide and have raised thousands of dollars for charity. In 1995 Poopa joined the Board of Sephardic Bikur Holim and founded a woman’s division, “Daughters of Sarah.” Dweck and her family founded the Jesse Dweck City Learning Center, a community outreach organization for young men and women from the Syrian Jewish community working and living in Manhattan. It is named in honor of her son Jesse Dweck A”H may he rest in peace, who died tragically at the age of 18 in 2003. Poopa is presently entrenched in her forthcoming book which reaches beyond the conventional boundaries of archetypal cookbooks. Offering the only modern day “cookbook” on the authentic cuisine and culture of Arabia. With Dweck`s deep ancestral roots she maintains her commitment to trace the evolution, significance and place in modern times of the culinary and cultural history of the Levant.
