Get a Taste of Israel
By Skip Sheffield
When I visited Israel for the first and only time in the
spring of 2008, the thing that surprised me most was how doggone good the food
was.
“In Search of Israeli Cuisine” is about the wonders of food
you will find all over Israel.
Israelis are big on fresh, locally produced food. The State
of Israel is small; approximately the same size as our State of New Jersey. Ah,
but what a wide variety of culinary delights. Much of Israel is desert-like,
but they have instituted revolutionary irrigation techniques that literally
make the desert bloom.
“Israeli Cuisine” is largely told by Michael Solomonov, who
was born in Israel but raised in the USA and runs a restaurant in Philadelphia.
Michael’s older brother was killed in combat in Israel. The tension between Palestinian
and Jewish Israelites is unavoidable. Yet much of this documentary celebrates
the contribution of Arab-Palestinian cuisine.
“Food is not political,” says one of the chefs interviewed.
The key to Israeli cuisine is local ingredients, including olive oil, bread,
seafood and lemon.
There is probably no person more goy than me; as an obvious
northern European, but I bow to the culinary wonders of the Promised Land. If
you want to learn more about the delicious delights of Israel, this is a good
place to start.
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