On the last day of Passover, which this year coincided with Easter Monday, I got the call. Friends of my friend Balkees – farmers in the village of Mashhad, just outside Nazareth – were making farike and we were invited to join. Farike – for the unfamiliar – is wheat, harvested when the kernels are … Read More »
Through the Grainfields
I recently received a question from a reader of my blog which was particularly timely. He referred to a passage from the Book of Matthew that goes something like: At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. … Read More »
The Spices of South India
I just had the tremendous good fortune of being able to spend over two weeks traveling with a friend in the South Indian state of Kerala. Among the many extraordinary experiences we had, I was particularly enthralled with the tea and spice growing mountainous region around the town of Kumily, that borders Tamil Nadu. The … Read More »
A Foraging Celebration
Yet another rainy day and we can’t believe our good fortune – this has been the wettest winter for years and the landscape is celebrating. The hills are lush and bright with wild flowers. And of course, for foragers, there is a bounty of edible wild plants to pick. We started the wild asparagus season … Read More »
This Month’s “Fun Day”
As part of the tradition that my friend Miriam and I try and uphold, which is to devote the first Tuesday of every month for a “fun day” (a practice which I highly recommend), we spent this lovely winter day exploring the Carmel Mountains. Such a day typically comprises elements of culture, shopping and eating, … Read More »