![\"Kosher](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mushka-600x338.jpg\")
St. Louis native Mushka Cohen<\/p>\n St. Louis native Mushka Cohen<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Kosher.com<\/a> brought back its hit competition series \u201cFood Fight 2.0,\u201d producers looked for contestants who could cook with skill, soul and story. Enter St. Louis native Mushka Cohen<\/a>, who learned to cook for crowds in the kitchen at Chabad on Campus<\/a>.<\/p>\n After years of helping lead Shabbat meals and cooking programs on campus, she stepped onto a professional set earlier this year to compete on a show that has already sparked national conversation about women\u2019s voices in kosher media and the future of Jewish entertainment online.<\/p>\n From Chabad kitchen to competition set<\/p>\n Cohen now serves as Director of Learning and Student Engagement at Chabad at Washington University with her husband Rabbi Tzemach Cohen. She said cooking on campus shaped her approach to \u201cFood Fight 2.0.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe host hundreds for meals so in some ways the \u2018Food Fight\u2019 kitchen actually felt easier,\u201d said Mushka Cohen. \u201cI only had to make four plates. Before we had our team at Chabad finishing before Shabbat always meant a real race to the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n She also tied her St. Louis upbringing to her cooking. \u201cI am a proud St. Louis native and actually moved back home right after filming. Unfortunately, I did not get to make toasted ravioli on the show. Growing up in St. Louis we did not have many kosher restaurant options, so I learned to recreate the dishes I saw in restaurants at home.\u201d<\/p>\n A show made by and for Orthodox women<\/p>\n The strong response to the new season has shown how much representation matters in kosher media, said Leah Gottheim, vice president of Kosher.com.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is so much media and entertainment out there, but this show is unique in that it is professionally produced by Orthodox Jewish women for Orthodox Jewish women. Everyone wants entertainment that is in line with their own values,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Gottheim said the conversations happening online have been just as interesting as the episodes.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen got involved in debating whether the judges were kind enough or if criticism was OK in the context of a competition,\u201d said Gottheim. \u201cIt gave them the opportunity to discuss with each other what really matters to our community and refine and clarify their perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that casting was open to anyone and resulted in contestants \u201cfrom Brooklyn to the Midwest from Chabad to Syrian,\u201d which she said reflects the depth of talent within the Orthodox community.<\/p>\n Filming and behind-the-scenes flavor<\/p>\n The season was filmed earlier this year with episodes now rolling out online. Cohen said viewers only see a slice of what the experience was like.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other contestants are genuinely amazing. They are talented in the kitchen but also just really special people. Filming takes a long time. What you see in a 20-minute episode is just a tiny piece of what goes into it,\u201d said Cohen.<\/p>\n The winner will receive a $2,500 grocery shopping spree, a case of Herzog wines, a wig from Adele\u2019s Salon, a set of Legend cookware and a recipe column in Mishpacha\u2019s \u201cFamily Table.\u201d<\/p>\n Gottheim said the show\u2019s goal is to celebrate creativity while staying grounded in what kosher home cooks actually want and need.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople want tradition, they want excitement and freshness and they also want quick and easy dinners that their kids will eat,\u201d said Gottheim.<\/p>\n Bringing lessons home<\/p>\n For Cohen, the experience has already changed the way she teaches and cooks on campus.<\/p>\n \u201cI am always cooking with students or teaching them how to make challah babka and other staples, so it has been fun bringing what I learned on the show back to campus,\u201d said Cohen. \u201cThe judges taught me some incredible skills that I have already passed along. I have even recreated a few of the dishes from the show for students.\u201d<\/p>\n For Cohen the heart of Jewish cooking remains the same no matter the setting.<\/p>\n \u201cCooking connects us,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is a way of showing love of welcoming someone new. That is what Jewish food has always been about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St. Louis native Mushka Cohen \u00a0 When Kosher.com brought back its hit competition series \u201cFood Fight 2.0,\u201d producers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[102,6636,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-295025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-nutrition","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}