Janna Gur was born in Riga, Latvia, and immigrated to Israel in 1974. She is the founder of Al Hashulchan, the premier Israeli food and wine magazine, which she edited for almost 30 years. Gur is the author of The Book of New Israeli Food and Jewish Soul Food: From Minsk to Marrakesh and has written and/or edited nearly 40 other cookbooks. She lives in Tel Aviv.