You got chocolate in my wine! No, you got wine in my chocolate!

January 12, 2012 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Food, Israeliness 

Wine and chocolate at Tishbi

I’m a big fan of wine tastings. And an even bigger fan of chocolate. So when I had the opportunity to visit the new Tishbi tasting center, which combines both wine and gourmet imported French chocolate, my interest was piqued. Moreover, my palette was proud of yet another Israeli innovation, not so much hi-tech this time, but palpably pleasing nevertheless.

The Tishbi winery has been around since 1984 and is run by the family of the same name, which is committed to keeping it small and boutique. Winemaker Golan Tishbi was the one to come up with the idea of mixing wine and chocolate. The new tasting center, which was opened earlier this year, has been a word-of-mouth success, bringing in more than 40,000 visitors so far.

Tishbi takes its wine and chocolate seriously. Once in the tasting room, you settle into a standing station around a wooden bar. In front of you are three glasses and a rectangular box with six pieces of chocolate. Each chocolate is paired with a specific wine to bring out the flavors in both.

The glasses are of different sizes: the larger the glass, the more of the wine’s vapors enter your smell receptors, changing the overall sensory experience. I didn’t notice it so much, but I’m sure the late Israeli dean of wines Daniel Rogov would have.

For each chocolate, Tishbi instructed us to break off a piece and let it rest on our tongues. Taste it, feel it, let it melt, he beseeched us. It was hard not to bite, but then I was never very good with lollipops either. Once the tongue is thoroughly coated with chocolate, you drink in the wine. Let it float over the chocolate, Tishbi implied.

We then had a choice: let the wine carry the chocolate down, like a wet pill, or take them in one after another.

After a few moments of contemplation, it was on to the next wine and chocolate pairing. We learned the difference between “Manjari” chocolate from Madagascar and the Caribbean “Caraibe,” as well as the percent of cocoa inside (up to 85%, as decadent as they come).

At NIS 30 (less than $10) for a 45-minute gastronomic and oenological indulgence, it’s worth the gas to huff it up to Haifa (Tishbi is on the way, in the picturesque village of Binyamina). And if you need to chill out afterward and let the wine settle, Tishbi has a nice dairy restaurant right next door. But go for the apple pie – enough chocolate for one day!

There’s more about Tishbi and other delights in Israel’s Carmel region in this article I wrote for our sister publication Israel21c.

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Explaining flavor

January 9, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: design, Environment, Food, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness 

Chefs at work at Machneyuda

There are times, many times when I’m reading an Ha’aretz article about something — whatever — and I’m just stumped about what they’re trying to tell me, the reader. Consider the piece in last weekend’s Haaretz Magazine, “Creative, But is it Edible?”, about how — I think — local chefs go to incredible lengths to come up with innovative dishes. It takes a while for the writer to get to the idea that local chefs, mostly Tel Aviv chefs, of course, are aspiring to be the kind of chefs that create from scratch, not merely copying or interpreting but making new flavors, textures and, eventually, recipes. It takes a while because the piece begins with chefs in Spain, and while that’s interesting, it’s not clear what their connection is to us.

Anyway. I was pleased to find that they quoted Asaf Granit, one of the chefs from the very popular Machneyuda, which is in Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market and is considered one of Israel’s top restaurants right now. Unusual, really, as Jerusalem is seldom considered the have the best of anything trendy in this country. We may not care, but, sigh, I guess I do. So his contribution to this piece about coming up with unusual dishes was the following:

“Last week, there was a married couple and four young women here for a bachelorette party. We quickly got into a very interesting discussion and I decided to prepare a dish of beef tartare for them – right in their hands,” says Granit. “We put on their hands a layer of beef, onion, parsley and capers, all minced. We squeezed on some fresh lemon, drizzled a little olive oil, and all they had to do was lick their fingers.”

A traditional mahlabia

And down in Ashdod, a flourishing seaside city, Balzac’s Nati Shafrir (whose restaurant is possibly named after a very popular restaurant in NYC) is thinking about serving a dessert in a glass ashtray (you think there may just a little bit too much smoking around here?): He’s working on an “edible version of cigarette ash. It will be made of roasted coconut or cinnamon and cloves.”

Lovely. And, finally, a quote from Itai Rogozinsky, who owns the Vaniglia ice cream parlor chain and is most proud of his frozen yogurt made with rosewater, roasted pistachios and apricot jam, kind of a takeoff of mahalabia, a pudding dessert that is popular in many Arab countries. How does this boy who says the yogurt is “a nostalgic reminder of his childhood in Kochav Yair” — a suburban town east of Kfar Saba that has been around about 25 or so years, created by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to solidify the Green Line — know about mahalabia? Probably from the excursions his family used to take to nearby Nablus, Kalkiya and Tulkarm, three Arab towns in the vicinity.

It’s all good, drawing from memories and good flavors to create new tastes. And, interestingly, way down in the article an unnamed source commented that Israeli chefs just travel abroad to the chicest restaurants and come back to copy what they ate there. Would have liked a little more on that idea. Just a little context would help, oh Ha’aretz editors.

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Foto Friday – LunchBox cooking up a photo project

January 6, 2012 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Art, Blogging, design, Food, Foto Friday, General, Israeliness, Travel 

Publishing house LunchBox specializes in creating beautifully designed cookbooks that are as fun to read as they are to use. The Tel Aviv-based company is the brainchild of Ofer Vardi, established journalist and foodie, who last year published the first Israeli cookbook app for iPhone and iPad.

Israel To Go is the name of a new cookbook slated for release in the coming months. The book, says Vardi, will present kosher Israeli cuisine with recipes and artwork solicited via crowdsourcing, which is an open call conducted mainly via online social networks, such as Facebook.

Photo: Untitled - Sasha Abramowitz

Contributing artists include Tali and Jonathan Korman, graphic designers with a sideline in fashion. Their T-shirt company, Bubulu Design, features images inspired by life in Tel Aviv — like this one, Hallo Artik, which pays homage to the humble beachfront popsicle vendor.

Photo: Hallo Artik – Bubulu Design

“We are looking for photos, artwork, drawings and graphic works documenting the Israeli culinary experience wherever it is. For example, a family dinner, people cooking, children playing with food, unique dishes, a special angle or places and situations that make your mouth water. Every artist has their own take on things, and their own taste.”

Photo: Israeli Breakfast – Orit Kovatz

“Israel To Go will be published in A6 (postcard) format – small, sweet and sassy. This size allows tourist to carry the book easily in their bag or pocket and take it home as a souvenir — a delicious gift for friends and family.”

Photo: Jerusalem – Benny Sharoni

Lunchbox is still soliciting artwork submissions and while the project does not pay it does offer exposure and, of course, copies of the book. In addition, Vardi says, “We also hope to organize an exhibition with the launch of Israel To Go in bookstores.”

Photo: Dining Room – Adi Kfir

Interested artists and photographers are invited to submit according to the following specifications: 1. Files in jpeg or eps in full color (CMYK) and print quality (dpi300); 2. Vertical work size: width: 11 cm, height: 16 cm, lateral work size: width: 22 cm, height: 16 cm. 3. Contact details: First Name (English only), Last Name (English only), email address and website (if any). Works should be sent to israeltogo1@gmail.com. Deadline is January 15th.

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Hanukkah at the Dead Sea

December 26, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, Food, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Religion, Travel 

The country is in full Hanukkah mode this week. Arriving late afternoon at a Dead Sea hotel for an overnight stay, we were kicking ourselves for forgetting to bring our Hanukkia with us in order to light candles.

But soon after checking in, and returning from a quick walk to the Dead, we returned to the hotel, and found tens of guests in the lobby with hotel staff lighting around 15 different hanukkiyot. We joined them – some observant, some not, some even non-Jewish tourists (and without any separation between men and women) – and then participated in singing a few Hanukkah songs. A hotel worker wheeled out a tray of fresh sufganiyot and passed them out to everyone.

Even though I appreciated the gesture, I’ve already eaten my share of fried dough and jelly for the next few years, so I passed, and headed to the hotel spa. Not a bad way to spend the sixth day of Hanukkah.

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Revel in Casino de Paris

December 12, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Business, Entertainment, Food, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life 

Well, I’m clearly not the first Jerusalemite to have visited Casino de Paris, the latest bar in the shuk, but I’m a happy customer. Truth is, I’m always happy in any establishment owned by Eli Mizrachi, the man responsible for the rejuvenation of the market, and the chairman of its merchants association. He’s the guy who opened the shuk’s Cafe Mizrachi, first known as Hakol Laofe V’gam Cafe (Everything for the Cook, and Coffee Too), and then Tzachko, a really wonderful bistro that unfortunately closed but was my favorite restaurant when it was still open. His idea? Mix the coffee drinkers among the ‘bastot,’ or stalls, so they drink their coffee while staring at sides of beef, bins of olives, sacks of beans. It worked.

Eli Mizrachi, the man who started it all

Casino de Paris is his joint venture with musician Shaanan Street, the lead singer of Hadag Nachash and a Jerusalemite as well, albeit from the northern neighborhood of French Hill. It was Street who came up with the marvelously ‘Jerusalem’ cocktail names, including King Agrippas – cava, a touch of arak, sugar and walnuts; Ha’agas 1 – pear syrup, white rum, spearmint and a pear slice (named for one of the shuk streets, Ha’agas or The Pear); and Yitzhak Rabin – Scotch whiskey, soda, ice and an olive branch, among others.

The menu is spare, fresh bread and spreads, excellent sandwiches, fishes, simple foods that go well with the great beer list, including all the Israeli microbrews. But it’s the space that’s the best part of this bar, located as it is in the former site of a British officers’ bar cum bordello. Now it faces the Georgian market of the shuk, an inner courtyard that includes a bakery and other small stalls. The bar itself is dim but not dark, with the right selection of tables, bar stools and outside tables. It’s intimate, friendly and most importantly, very well stocked.

Make sure to visit soon.

Directions: From Rechov Yaffo (Jaffa Street), walk down the open part of the market, turning left at the first left and continuing into the courtyard. The bar will be on your left.
And it opens at 12 noon every day, perfect for a beer and sandwich before or after a shopping trip.

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