Rundown of some of this week's food articles

Wow, it seems like food has been in the news a ton recently. There are a lot of great articles to talk about, in fact too many to go into in an in depth manner on one blog post. So, here's a summary of what I find to be some very interesting articles.

First, tonight is the airing of what should be a great documentary on the legendary Tel Aviv cafe, Cafe Cassit. While no longer in business, the Dizengoff St. cafe was a unique place where one could find govt. politicians, intellectuals, tv stars, singers, and the average joe all mingling and exchanging ideas in one place. Cafe Cassit has had no equal in this regard since its closing and there may never be as well.

An interesting argument from the NY Times Freakonomics blog about the effects of organic farming on carbon dioxide emissions and the environment in general. You'll be very surprised to see what scientists say about these farming practices.

In another farming related article, this one decidedly more Israel focused, the LA Times talks about designer food seeds. One Israeli company in particular, Hazera (meaning "the seed" in Hebrew), is one of the world's leaders in genetically engineered tomatoes and other kinds of vegetables. Hazera has tomato varieties with higher sugar contents, all sorts of colors, you name it. Israel is well known for its agro-technologies and Hazera is one of the industry leaders in the field of seed development.

Finally, a few events this week have lead to a renewed discussion about the humaneness of kosher slaughter. New Zealand became the fourth country in the world this week to outlaw kosher slaughter as they require cattle to be stunned before being killed, a practice not  allowed in the kosher slaughter rituals. Many people are up in arms, claiming there is religious discrimination in this law. However, many people are not (myself included). One other such person is Jonathan Safran Foer, a well known advocate for vegetarianism. With his latest book being set to be introduced in Israel this week he wrote an article for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz about the New Zealand kosher slaughter issue and the ethical issues regarding killing and eating animals in general.

I hope you all find the article as interesting as I do, and feel free to let me know what you think about any or all of them. Its also getting really hot in Tel Aviv. Painful Tel Aviv Summer Hot! So...I'm going to have to start making some dishes to cool off. The first things that come to mind are refreshing cocktails (mojitos and caipirinhas) and cold soups and salads. No meat for sure, and I'm sure Jonathan Safran Foer would be happy about that. I'll post some good summer recipes to help deal with the Tel Aviv heat shortly.

Rundown of some of this week's food articles

Erez Komarovsky Workshop

Roasted Eggplant Salad

Last weekend I was able to attend a cooking workshop led by Erez Komarovsky. Erez is the same Erez behind the successful chain of Lechem Erez (Erez Bread) stores throughout Israel. Erez leads a variety of different workshops at his beautiful home in Matat, located in the Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border. He has incredible views of the Galilee and has an impressive organic garden full of broccoli, swiss chard, no less than five kinds of sage, beets, kohlrabi, and much more. I never though kohlrabi had much flavor, but eating it picked straight out of the ground made me realize how incredibly sweet the vegetable can be if grown right and eaten freshly.

Swiss Chard

Upon arriving at his home you are greeted by the smells of several different fresh baked breads that have just come out of his stone oven. There were delicious roasted eggplant, roasted tomato and roasted pepper salads along with a massive bowl of homemade hummus to eat. Before the workshop even starts Erez makes sure you’re pretty full.

After the tour of his garden, where I had the best kohlrabi of my life, we were led into his downstairs kitchen where we gathered around a long table and eagerly anticipated Erez’s cooking demonstrations. The specific workshop that day was breads and soups. He preceded to make a garlic confit bread, a jerusalem artichoke bread, a pumpkin seed and leek challah, a spicy asian soup with a pumpkin and leek stock, a beef and bean stew, and finally a leek, artichoke and garbanzo bean soup. All of the breads and soups were really tasty and the workshop was very inspiring. I posted the garlic confit bread recipe, which was the highlight for me.

Hummus and leek soup, variety of breads

Erez is extremely knowledgeable not only about bread recipes, techniques, and all things bread, but about Israeli and Galilean cuisine in general.  Seasonality is a strong theme in his cooking, hence the heavy use of leeks throughout the day. This focus on local and seasonal ingredients is something I try to model my style of cooking after as well. The workshops last 4 to 5 hours, and I highly recommend trying it out.

 
Galil Olive Orchards
 
Homemade hummus

Savor Israel
www.savorisrael.com

Erez Komarovsky Workshop

Sustainability Conference

(Carmei Avdat vineyards in the Negev region of Israel)

Last month the first ever Israeli Sustainable Food conference was held in Tel Aviv. It was sponsored by Hazon, the American Jewish food and biking folks, and The Heschel Center, a leading Israeli environmental organization. Unfortunately, I was not able to go, and I am disappointed I can't give a first hand account of the event. I'll be sure to make the next conference, and am thrilled that this issue is more in the forefront in Israel. Israel is an agricultural powerhouse in terms of its production and technological advances, but the environmental impact of this production is rarely discussed. Can food production for 10 million Israelis and Palestinians in a small, desert be sustainable at all? Does sufficient food production have to come at the expense of diminishing water resources and pollution through mass use of chemicals that enhance yields? I hope to explore these issues much more in depth in future posts. Stay tuned...

Sustainability Conference

Wine and Cheese in the Desert

This past weekend I was in the Northern Negev visiting some food sites for the tour. Outside of the wine and cheese tasting great, one of the most impressive aspects to visiting these farms is the fact they are able to thrive in desert conditions. There are acres of grapes, pomegranates, olive trees, and more. It seems absurd that anyone would even think to grow anything, let alone large farms, in such hot and dry conditions.

However, for thousands of years not only has there been agriculture in the Negev region of what is now Israel, but agriculture has thrived. The Nabateans developed some very advanced techniques to adapt to the desert conditions, primarily finding ways to provide water to their crops. By creating sophisticated irrigation systems they were able to water an area much larger than the land that actually received rainwater or runoff from rivers and streams. At the height of the Nabatean period, around the 2nd century BCE, they were able to have successful agriculture in an area much larger than what is in use today. Today, farms in the area use many of the same techniques the Nabateans used. Carmei Avdat vineyard, for example, has its vineyards in a flash flood plain. A few times of a year when floods come through they are able to siphon off the water into reservoirs that provide the grapes enough water throughout the year when there is little if any rainwater. Their wine is very good too, by the way. If you're interested in learning more about ancient agricultural practices in the Israeli deserts visit this interesting and very thorough site.

One of the highlights of the weekend was Naot Farm, a goat cheese farm very close to Sde Boker. Started by the former owners of the famous Argentine steak restaurant chain El Gaucho, Naot Farm has around 250 goats, producing 750 liters of milk per day! They make 10+ varieties of goat cheeses and yogurts, ranging from Camembert to hard cheeses. There's a red wine cheese, a house specialty, one infused with thyme, all of which are very good. My favorite was the "kesem" or magic cheese, that is unique to their farm. The plain tzfatit was also very, very good. You can stop by any day of the week during daylight hours and have a free tasting and walk around the farm. The goats are milked twice a day, and groups can call ahead for a tour of the farm with the owner. There is also a very good meat restaurant (going back to the El Gaucho roots) that offers excellent steaks, although at slightly expensive prices. If you're in the region travelling or just driving through I highly recommend a stop at the farm.

Wine and Cheese in the Desert