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

Orb/ganic

Yesterday I went with my friend Sarah to visit a newly renovated and opened part of Tel Aviv, the Tachana (station). The Tachana is specifically where the old Jaffa train station was located on the old Jaffa to Jerusalem line. For years the area (old Manshiya) was in complete disrepair, but a few years ago the Tachana was renovated and has been used for art exhibits for some time. Only a few weeks ago, however, was the place opened up for private businesses. Today you can eat at several different cafes and restaurants, see a monthly changing photo exhibit, cool down on a hot day with ice cream, and also peruse through an organic farmer’s market each Friday.

The market is called Orb/ganic which is a play on words. Orbanic combines the obvious “organic” with “urbani”, which means urban in Hebrew. Hence an urban organic market. There are not a lot of vendors at the market, but you can find some really good heirloom tomatoes, greens of all kinds, potatoes and much more. I bought some nice looking swiss chard, and I’m still thinking of exactly how to use it. I’m leaning towards making a rice dish where I cover the rice with the swiss chard as it cooks, but I’m open to any suggestions. Have a look at some of the pictures of the market.

 

 

 

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Orb/ganic