Ever since “The Goldbergs” premiered on ABC 9 years ago, Beverly Goldberg has been talking about creating a cookbook filled with her family recipes.
TV’s most famous smother mother saw her signature dishes become famous by the success of the sitcom loosely based on her family’s true-to-life adventures “sometime in the 1980s.” Both in the hit TV show and in reality, many of the most memorable family moments took place in the kitchen – with TV mom Wendi McLendon-Covey whipping up real Bev’s cheesy shrimp parm, meaty baked ziti or batches upon batches of mood-boosting brownies.
Like the show, many of the 70 recipes featured in “The Goldbergs Cookbook” are more or less based on reality. Some are Bev’s legit go-to dishes, others are exaggerated versions of recipes she made for her “schmoopies” in her Jenkintown kitchen all those years ago. Adam F. Goldberg, the show’s creator and Bev’s youngest son, confirms that the book was willed into existence by fans of the show – who proudly call themselves Goldnerds.
“For the last 6 years, you’ve constantly tweeted my mom, asking to have her heart-clogging, cheese-covered recipes,” he wrote in the book’s introduction. “You got her so riled up that I had no choice but to help her release this book. So thank you, Goldnerds. You did it!”
Beverly spoke with SJ Mag about her new book (and how its recipes were a hit this summer at the Jersey Shore).
Q: How did this book come to be?
When I first broached the subject with Adam, he dismissed it. He said that nobody buys recipe books anymore, that they’re obsolete because everyone just goes online for recipes. But so many people kept asking for my recipes for shrimp parm and other dishes from the show. During season 6, he told me to gather 60 or so of my recipes that could be connected to funny stuff that happened on the show. I did that and contacted my friends and family for recipes. It finally came out during the pandemic (in 2021) when everybody was home cooking, so there were a lot of books sold. I was also supposed to go to different Barnes & Nobles to promote it, but I didn’t get to do many because of Covid.
Q: Which are your favorite recipes?
In the third chapter, “From Bev with Love,” are all the things my kids love, like Barry’s butter cookies and my banana bread. Everybody loves my banana bread. I used to make it all the time. I still do, but I don’t make it as a cake anymore because people usually cut a big piece and then they don’t eat it all. Now I make little cupcakes out of them. I always had them around this summer in Margate to give out to people. I also made cupcakes with amazing South Jersey blueberries. People kept telling me mine were better than the blueberry pastries at Steve & Cookie’s in Margate.
Q: What’s your go-to ingredient?
I do tend to cheese things up, especially for my parms. I recently went to Costco and got 3 huge bags of cheese. But then I went to a nutritionist with my husband Stan [Her first husband Murray Goldberg, played by Jeff Garlin on the show, died in 2008]. She said we need to cut down on cheese. I was like, “You’ve got to be kidding.” I will cheat some, but maybe use less of it.
Q: What’s the most exaggerated recipe in the book?
The Hearty Seven-Meat Meatloaf. Who really makes meatloaf with 7 different meats? I like to make meatloaf and I really did make a great one, but not with 7 meats. I made it with 3 or 4 different meats, which is still more meat than most people use. My mother’s generation made everything from scratch. She was from Russia and she was a great baker. She never used a measuring cup in her life. My generation wasn’t like that. When the kids were young, I would make SpaghettiOs with the meatballs – right out of the can – for the kids. I’d use recipes from the soup cans for string bean casseroles. I liked to cook, but I wasn’t some super gourmet cook.
Q: Do you like the way the book turned out?
I’m happy in general with the cookbook. The pictures from the show are great and I’m glad they put a picture of the (TV show) kids on the cover. In the end, everything is about the kids, it always is.
Q: What are you up to lately?
We’re back in Florida for the winter, and I’ve been pretty busy making messages for people on Cameo. I discovered it last year when I had cataract surgery and my doctor said he got a birthday message for his wife from Melissa Etheridge on Cameo. Since I went on Cameo, I’ve made more than 600 messages for people, and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve done everything: greetings for a cancer patient, a 100-year-old lady active on Facebook, gay weddings – even one where a dog was the best man. I’m really popular around Mother’s Day. Across the board, I’m proud to say I get 5 stars. I had one guy complain that I mispronounced his name. I think he was trying to get it for free. He was from Philly and didn’t speak very clearly. I also think he thought he was getting Wendi (McLendon-Covey). But I’m the real deal.
