food

A Tasty Exploration of Israeli Cuisine

November 2, 2017 Movies

For my love of discovering new tastes, I caught up with a Netflix documentary called ‘In Search Of Israeli Cuisine’ also due to my keen interest in Israeli traditions and culture. I have always believed a lot has been misinterpreted and misunderstood about the State of Israel given the geopolitical nature of the Middle East, and so apart from the military and tech industry news that I keep reading here was a documentary that presented me with a hitherto unexplored food lifestyle of Israel.

The documentary is guided by Israeli chef and restaurateur Michael Solomonov who is on a quest to find if there is indeed such a thing like ‘Israeli Cuisine’. The film follows Chef Solomonov to over 100 locations (or so I’m told) through the Israeli hinterland in search of unique culinary experiences, and on a scenic tour of Tel Aviv, Nazareth, including a place called Taverna near the Sea of Galilee for the taste of freshwater fish and crabs, and the Golan Heights to indulge in the choicest Israeli wines. It wasn’t until the the early 80s and the economic boom when Israelis traveled great lengths as tourists, experiencing the western world lifestyle and realized they needed to develop and nurture a distinct flavourful identity that is established from locally sourced ingredients only. A cuisine that is their own.

The documentary traces Israeli flavours and texture from the Jewish communities of Ashkenazi and Sephardic and outlines the uniqueness it has brought to local cuisine. Basically, the Ashkenazi Jews have their origins in Eastern Europe, and the Sephardi Jews in the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal), besides also gaining its rich taste from middle-eastern cultures such as Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. Chef Solomonov profiles home cooks, chefs, farmers, and even food writers to get to the depth of Israeli food traditions and local recipes with an elaborate history behind its source, and also goes hunting for dishes on the streets and hotels of faraway cities in Israel.

Although there were mostly non-vegetarian dishes (being a vegetarian) it left me awe inspired to learn that Israel is a historically rich land of multi-faceted ethnicities and customs whose food is not just influenced by Arabs, Christians, Druze, and Jews but also Moroccan, Turkish, Uzbek, German, Iraqi, and even French culinary traditions.

Discovering Klondike

November 11, 2015 General

Much as Twitter is a wonderful place for sharing updates, I realized early on it’s also a wonderful place to make lifelong friends. Regardless of where you are or the timezone one can always round up buddies around a clever discussion, as I mostly aim to do there. At one such rather insipid chat with @Shadez today I was introduced to the Klondike brand (which I foolishly thought he was referring to the Gold Rush). But the inquisitiveness drove me to taste one these ice-cream bars. And trust me, they were yum!

Then @hiway joined us to reveal how Klondike Bar was mentioned in one of the acts by the famed ventriloquist Jeff Dunham with his Achmed The Dead Terrorist. And before I knew I was enlightened by another discovery of a great act of ventriloquism, quite by chance! This was one of my lucky days loaded with fun and learning, and I couldn’t thank my friends enough for this. Cheers mates!

Fun @ Mocambo

November 12, 2005 General

Mummy out of town means party for me. Yesterday I had continental lunch at Cafe Mocambo situated at Fort in south Mumbai. I like experimenting and this proves it. I had continental food for the first time which was an Italian rissoto – rice with american sweet corn and lots of cheese and other stuff. I have forgotten what it’s called. The food was delicious but when I go there next time I am going to order rice with stirred fried mixed vegetables. My colleague Asha ordered the same and it sure looked colourful and delicious. If ever you come to Mumbai please pay a visit to Cafe Mocambo. Day before Aadesh and I went to a restaurant called Urban Tadka which is situated at Thakur Complex in Kandivli. The food was superb and delicious. It was later told to us that showing the TCS ID would have got us a 10% discount. No regrets though.

Ever since I have come back from Nasik I have this thriller story in my mind which I want to write but I can’t seem to get the peace of mind that I need to fulfill it. Neverthless once I complete it I am going to display it here for you guys to rate me as an author :-)

Khari & Raspberry

July 1, 2005 General

Weekends are fascinating and it’s not always that we end a friday at 5 pm from the office! Thats exactly what I did today when I decided to accompany Randhir to a baker shop at Grant Road called B. Meherwan & Co. (estd. 1914 & not kidding). Mom used to bring their famous Mawa cakes for me when I was a kid. Now the adult in me decided to explore the place all by himself :)

So here we were seated inside the bakery….well actually an Irani hotel and I was starving. The waiters seemed least bothered to look at us. The interiors of the hotel were very disappointing; as if they hadn’t been looked after ever since it they were set up. Amidst some suspicious glances by the fellow eaters, we ordered “2 plate khari and a Dukes Raspberry drink”. The waiter must’ve almost died hearing this. He would have been franctically looking for a photographer to capture these two great souls who have ordered such an “outstanding” combination of snacks. Wasn’t Khari supposed to be “married” with tea or coffee? & the Raspberry drink would have suited “Ms Idli Sambar” pretty much! We had a good laugh ourselves :D One must have a knack of serious humour to try such things out in real life.

The cakes were anything but good. The mawa version had sold out but their fruit cousins were still there. Their open display on the counter rack, with the flies having an aerial view turned Randhir off but not me :D I bought a plum cake which was, of course, wrapped in plastic.

My first experience at an Irani hotel was worth remembering. May the khari and raspberry have a wonderful time forever :D