Take Israeli society and narrow it down to the sub-set of English-speakers, then divide it further to get those people who blog in English, and then take away another giant slice, to capture those people in Israel who blog in English about food – and you come up with about ten people, all sitting around … Read More »
Culinary Historian
Cracking Olives
The olive harvest is officially underway here in the Galilee. At this point, though, relatively early on in the season, most people I know are picking olives for eating – the large scale harvesting to make olive oil will probably begin in another week or so. As we do every year, Ron, our good friend … Read More »
Sukkot
The holiday of Sukkot, for those of you who are not familiar, originally celebrated the late summer harvest, with a pilgrimage to the Temple bearing offerings of the season’s yield. In commemoration of the local practice during Biblical times, Jews are commanded to build a “Sukka” (booth, tabernacle) – a makeshift outdoor structure that recalls … Read More »
Bagels With a Twist
Every family has their Yom Kippur fast-breaking tradition, and ours involves a spread of bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, pickled herring, etc. This is a nod to the tradition that I grew up with in the United States, and homage to my grandfather, who was in the deli business, and whose dining room table never … Read More »
Fig Season in the Western Galilee
I spent last weekend doing research for my book in the Western Galilee – an area of tremendous natural beauty which is quite off the tourism track, with villages that have long and illustrious histories yet are still relatively isolated from mainstream Israeli life. The foodways I was fortunate enough to encounter during this trip … Read More »