Flavours of Freedom
In honour of our Hostages and those lost since October 7th
The History of Israeli Food
Israel is a litteral melting pot of flavours. Israeli food culture is a fusion of food from all across the middle east and the world. That in turn has brought with it a new and exciting fusion culture in Israel.
Much of what people assume to be “Israeli” food crosses over with many other parts of the middle east. Additionally a lot of the food now synonomous with Israel also was brought to Israel by Jewish people who made Aaliyah (Imigration) to Israel from central and Eastern Europe.
Images provided free of charge from www.pexels.com; Photos by Polina Tankilevitch and Nataliya Vaitkevich.
Borscht and Schnitzel for example. Neither is an Israeli dish in it’s origin. Borscht was brought by Jews from Eastern Europe; places like Russia, Poland and Lithuania. Schnitzel was brought in from cetral Europe; places like Germany and Austria. In fact, as you might know, Schnitzel is a massively popular and important dish in those countries. However a massive difference is that over there it is primarily made from veal or pork cutlets. In order to stay in line with the laws of Kosher, the Jewish emigrants swapped that out for chicken. Shakshouka even! That was brough across to Israel from Sephardic Jews and other emigrants from North Africa.
Even Hummus, in my honest opinion, the national dish of Israel, is not Israeli in origin per say. The exact origins of Hummus are widely debated across the world and you can find many papers discussing the history of this one dish. However what I can tell you from my own research is that recipes for Hummus start showing up in middle eastern food literature around the 13th centuary. Additionally I can tell you the the word Hummus in Arabic, حُمُّص, directly translates to chickpeas in English. Chickpeas of course being the primary ingredient in hummus.
Israeli Food Inventions
Enough about the crossover stories. What about genuine Israeli food. Stuff that is actually from Israel. Well truth is there is a fortune.
Image courtesy of Julia Nagy www.pexels.com
The famous Israeli Cherry tomato aka Tommaccios.
While not an entirely Israeli invention. Israeli Professors, Rabinowitch and Nachum Kedar spent years in Israel spent years perfecting this variety. The science here is extremely fascinating.
While varieties of cherry tomatoes were in existance for many years they were not the sweet flavoursome fruit that we know today. The professors set out to create that. As a result we now have a highly marketable cherry tomato that has a very long shelf-life. Additionally in 1995 a company known as Lycored was founded in Beersheva. This company extracts lycopene from tomatoes, that’s the compound responsible from the red colour. They then distill that down into rich oils that can have positive effects on the heart, blood pressure, bones and skin.
Another major Israeli invention comes from multi million dollar company Osem.
Osem Investments Ltd now a subsidiary of Nestle.
Osem was founded in 1946 when the first factory was opened in Bnei Brak. However it was in 1953 during the period of Austerity in Israel that Osem grew to become a household name.
During this time in the early beginnings of the state of Israel, food rationing was implemented. Resultingly Prime Minister Ben-Gurion, approached Osem with the challenge of creating a wheat based alternative to rice. They not only succeded in creating an affordable and easy to prepare product, they improved on the concept and now we have what is known as Ptitim, aka pearl couscous. Today Osem is one of the largest food manufacturers in Israel. In 1997 they were acquired by Nestle and now operate as their subsidiary.
This really only scratches the surface of Israel’s contribution to food worldwide.
My top 3 Israeli and Jewish Chefs and Influencers
This list could be a million miles long. However I have limited it to 5. That took a lot of work in order to cut down my original list of around 35.
#3
Jake Cohen
Much like myself, Jake Cohen went to culinary school and worked in some of NYC’s best restaurants. Now Jake is a New York Times Best Seller for his book Jew-ish. He has over 1 million followers on Instagram where he has become an internet sensation.
#2
Yotam Ottolenghi
An Israeli born chef, Yotam now owns 7 restaurants in and around London. He has written countless books and even had TV shows. His revolutionary style of cookery looks at the middle eastern conflict through the lens of food.
#1
Micheal Solomonov
Founder, owner and executive chef of Zahav Restaurant in Philidelphia. Chef Solomonov has written 3 cookbooks and has won multiple awards. Solomonov is best known for infusing his traditional Israeli recipes and cuisine with modern and contempary techniques.
Honouring the Fallen
As I write this there still remain over 100 innocent men, women and children being held hostage in Gaza. Thousands more suffered the wrath of Hamas on October 7th. We cannot forget our brothers and sisters. Our fathers, mothers and grandparents. We must continue to uphold our heritage and our culture in the face of outstanding evil.
Please check out my last show for ChaiFM on the Essen Fressen Show where I discuss all of these topics and much more!
“Even as I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me”
