Grandmas cook off in Jerusalem

March 23, 2009 - 1:27 PM by David

Shoshana Levi with chef Moshe Basson of Eucalyptus (Photo: Nikita Povolov)

A group of Jerusalem grandmothers duked it out yesterday at the Mahaneh Yehuda food shuk. But they didn’t use boxing gloves, they used ladles.

The 15 ’savtot’ were paired with 15 chefs from some of the capital’s finest restaurants, among them Canella, Gabriel, La Guta and Magare for the first Grandmothers’ Cooking Competition. Each chef prepared his partner’s recipe at the contest, which was sampled by a panel of judges including food critics and other culinary professionals.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the competition was devised by members of Wake Up Jerusalem, “an organization aimed at encouraging Jerusalem’s youth to be active on behalf of the city that is also represented on the city council, its goal is to inspire Jerusalemites to embrace their cultural roots.

“The recipes originate from countries as diverse as Hungary, Iran, Poland, Romania, Yemen and Ethiopia,” explains the movement’s Neta Yaron.

“In a country like Israel, which is made up of people of so many different cultural heritages, it’s important for people to have a sense of their own backgrounds as well as each other’s. Food accomplishes this on so many levels. Family recipes provide people with a link to their past, and meals enable families to come together and connect,” she says.

A second goal of the competition is to forge a connection between the capital’s senior residents and its youth. “As a youth organization, we think it’s important to encourage the younger members of our city to interact with different segments of its population and particularly to have an awareness of the needs of its elderly members,” Yaron says.

Yaron also hopes the event will promote Jerusalem as a gastronomic attraction. “There is a misconception that all the sophisticated restaurants are in Tel Aviv. We want to show that Jerusalem also has something to offer on this front.”

The proceeds from the cook-off – entrance was free but each dish cost NIS 15 – went to the Elem charity for youth at risk.

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