When you enter the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem you’ll see carts piled high with large rings of crusty bagels. They’re not the bagels we’re used to that are heavy and dense, requiring a thick slab of cream cheese. These are light and airy, and slightly sweet. They’re coated in sesame seeds and sold in a piece of newspaper. Traditionally, they are dipped in the dry spice, za’atar or cumin seeds. I prefer to tear them and smear them into hummus or spicy yogurt. They’re easy to make, but require some time a nd patience, but It’s worth every second when you pull them from the oven, crispy on the outside and light the inside. They’re best served warm, of course!

If you want to make a big impression in your kitchen I recommend baking a pan of these cheesy popovers. They come out of the oven puffed up like pillows, and the centers are filled with air pockets that capture the aromas of chiles and smoked cheese inside. I recommend roasting your own green chiles for this recipe, but if you can find canned Hatch chiles at your grocer they will work fine.

These muffins might just change your life because they are just so good! Use good quality ham and cheese because their flavors are going to explode when you bite into these gems. They freeze well, but really taste their best shortly after they’re baked.

There is nothing like fresh pita hot out of a piping hot oven! I watched a woman in Nazareth quicky roll and bake the soft dough into pillowy mounds of the best bread I’d ever eaten. She let me try to make it myself, and she kindly showed me I was rolling the dough too thinly.

Naan is a light and bubbly flatbread well-known in India, and best when made in a tandoor oven. I happen to own a tandoor because I fell in love with naan on my first trip to southern India. On the beach in Goa there were tents with delicious naan baking in make-shift tandoor ovens.

Focaccia is a bread with ancient origins, and although it is prepared differently all over Italy, it remains a staple on most Italian dinner tables. Historically, it was cooked either over hot stones or on the hearth of a wood-fire oven, similar to flatbreads in other cultures. It is always topped with olive oil, and often with fresh herbs and other ingredients such as olives and onions.