I just shared a very pleasant Saturday morning coffee with members of the Murad family in K. Manda. Um Malek was about to go off with a friend to gather mushrooms – today’s sun after yesterday’s rain make for optimal mushrooming. Since we are in the height of the edible wild plant season, I told … Read More »
Bread baked over fire
There is something about the Western Galilee that enchants me. The landscape is so rugged and pristine, and it seems like the spirits of Crusaders are still hovering in the air. There are villages here that are particularly isolated from mainstream Israeli life, and one of them is Fassuta. It is populated by Christian Arabs … Read More »
A Day in Deir el Assad
By happy coincidence, a friend invited me to join a cooking class she was going to, to be held by a woman living in Deir el Assad, an Arab village that is built into the mountains opposite Carmiel, in the Upper Galilee. And just as fortuitously, I happened to be free this morning, and able to … Read More »
The State of Foraging – Winter 2010
This winter started off on the left foot – first there were an endless string of hot dry days that lingered through December. Then came the disastrous Carmel fire. And then while the embers were still smoldering, came the first real winter storm – 3 days of torrential rain. I couldn’t even begrudge the 26 … Read More »
On Droughts, Fires and Blogging
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 »