We are now almost two weeks into the Omer – the 49 plus one days that are counted between Passover and Shavuoth. In a region that has basically two seasons – winter and summer, the Omer, which bridges between them, has always been a period of tremendous climatic uncertainty, with drastic implications for agriculture. So … Read More »
roasted wheat
The First, First Fruits of Spring
Early on in Arabic class, we learned the names for the seasons of the year, and one of the topics for discussion was, “what is your favorite season?” Visiting in Kufar Manda to practice my lessons, I took up this conversation with Abu Malek and Um Malek. I like winter best, I told them. The … Read More »
The Limitations of Cultural Identity for Food
I recently visited my old friend Ayoub in Fassouta up near the Lebanese border in the Western Galilee – one of the few Arab villages populated almost, if not entirely by Christians. Ayoub’s wife likes to use a certain kind of rennet for making cheese from the goat’s milk from their herd, and I had … Read More »
Back from Oxford
I just returned from my first time participating in the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery – an annual conference of food historians and other professionals and non-professionals who are engaged in food inquiry. It was an extraordinary experience to be in the company of so many like-minded individuals from all over the globe, in … Read More »
When the scales will tip
These are grim times here, where a disproportionate number of innocent people are enduring great suffering because of the actions of a few. Nothing new about that, and yet it is heartrending every time. In the pastoral Palestinian town of Arrabe in the Galilee near the Bet Netufa Valley, they are mourning a 14 year … Read More »