Jewish foods pop-up to debut during 5th Street Market event 

Megan Steinberg has a vision of bringing the world of Jewish food to Eugene. She’s starting with Olam Global Jewish Market, a pop-up specialty food market that will debut during the 5th Street Public Market’s Aug. 22-24 Market Fest.

“Olam means ‘whole’ or ‘world’ in Hebrew,” Steinberg said. “I think a lot of folks in the community would like to have a place to get a range of classic Jewish foods, but in a modern way, along with specialty ingredients that are harder to find for some Jewish cuisines.”

After moving to Eugene last year from Portland with her husband, Lenny, Steinberg felt Jewish foods were not well-represented in the food scene. 

They’re both from the East Coast — Megan is from New York and Lenny is from Miami — so they are used to larger Jewish communities where a variety of foods is easily available. 

“We connected to the food scene pretty early on, and I was just like, how can I create a space to bring the Jewish community together, obviously, but also just bring everyone together who loves food, home cooks, anyone who wants to explore food? The Jewish community is so global that you can present a really wide array of different flavors, ingredients and spices and all under one roof. It’s not all gefilte fish.”

Olam aims to, at least temporarily, fill that gap for the local Jewish community. Steinberg understands the appeal of convenient options that taste delicious and allow people to eat foods that meet Jewish dietary requirements without having to put a lot of thought into it or go out of their way to shop for hard-to-find items, but she emphasizes that the appeal of the foods she’s curated extends to all food lovers. Early community response to her idea has been good, with the word about her plans spreading organically through social media. 

“I’m starting small at the Market Fest, and then I’m going to turn on the website for online ordering, local pickup and some delivery,” she said. “I want to see what lands with people.”

If successful, Steinberg hopes to open a brick-and-mortar location. 

“That’s part of the dream,” she said.

Beyond retail, Steinberg envisions Olam as a community-building platform. She’s also exploring other experiences such as cooking events.

Steinberg will offer a curated selection of cookbooks, snacks, specialty ingredients and foods from Jewish-owned businesses. For example, instant matzo ball soup from Nooish uses premium ingredients in an instant cup-of-soup format that requires water and three minutes in a microwave. She’s also stocking a cookbook representing Ethiopian Jewish cuisine called “Gursha: Timeless Recipes for Modern Kitchens, from Ethiopia, Israel, Harlem and Beyond,” by Beejhy Barhany and Elisa Ung.

She’s selling New York Shuk items, which combine barbecue sauces with global flavors such as harissa, preserved lemons and shawarma spices. Fresh Fizz Sodas come in flavors such as hibiscus ginger and vanilla lemon cream, all sweetened with honey. Matzo chips made by the Matzo Project are kosher and certified for Passover. 

Those who like shakshuka, the North African dish of eggs poached in a spiced tomato and bell pepper sauce, will appreciate Saturday Sauce by Sababa Foods. Saturday Sauce is a slightly spicy tomato sauce that’s ready to use for shakshuka or as a marinade or spread. Steinberg also raves about Legit’s gluten-free challah bread mix. 

Want to go?

Find Olam at the 5th Street Market’s Market Fest
Friday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Monday TBD
It is on Instagram @olamglobalmarket
The website, olamglobalmarket.square.site, is set to launch Aug. 25