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Schocken, 2008
Emerging from the remains of old Diaspora communities, Israel's new gastronomic culture is infused with history and alive with the fresh expressions of contemporary chefs.
The five main chapters present recipes that pertain to Salads etc. (Meze, Hummus, Tahini), The Street and the Market (Bourekas, Malabi, Bagels, Falafel), Simple Pleasures (Soups, Fish, Ptitim, Grill (Pargiyot, Kebab), Shabbat (Challah, Hamin, Chicken Soup), and Holidays (Passover, Shavout, Ramadan). Culinary sidebars are included with instructions for flame-roasting eggplants, background information on gvina levana and gefilte fish and open-air markets. The recipes are interesting without being complex, accessible to most home chefs with access to a good market, specialty foods store or online sources. The recipes are conveniently indexed both by main ingredients and alphabetically by title. |
 The Book of New Israeli Food In the Middle East the open-air market, also known as the souk, is one of the most popular forms of commerce. The open-air markets are first and foremost food markets. As such, they are intimately tied to local cuisine. Produce is fresh and accessible and you can touch and select fruits and vegetables at your leisure. Butchers offer freshly-slaughtered chickens, complete with feet, feathers and cockscombs. Fishmongers will net the carp you point to in a tank, and cut and clean it for you. Prices are negotiable and haggling is the norm. Vendors oftem employ funny songs and other theatrics to promote their goods. The atmosphere is dense, casually familiar, cheerful and noisy, with added urgency as the weekend draws near. |
The author of this cookbook,
Janna Gur, was born in Latvia when it was part
of the Soviet Union. She immigrated to Israel in
1974.S he is founder and chief editor of Israel's leading food and wine magazine, Al Hashulchan Gastronomic Monthly. |
