Foto Friday – Dan Haimovich gets Hip(stamatic)

December 31, 2010 - 5:58 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, Blogging, Food, Foto Friday, General, Life, Pop Culture, Profiles, Travel 

Professional photographer Dan Haimovich left the field several years ago and returned recently to find something completely different. Over the past decade, photography had changed radically by going 100% digital and — thanks to mobile devices and the Internet — becoming part of everyday conversation.

Working with the Hipstamatic app for iPhone, which enables users to take pictures that look like those taken by the analog plastic cameras of the past, Haimovich captures small slices of life in Tel Aviv.

“The app reminded me of the age of film. Under certain lighting conditions it works exactly right and it unleashed something in me — a creative force that I haven’t experienced in a long time. ”

One feature of Hipstamatic , in mimicking its analog predecessor, is to create a slight disparity between what is seen through the viewfinder and the resulting “through the lens” image. It’s a retro touch that Haimovich enjoys. “What’s fascinating is that you have to approximate the frame so things come into it that are unplanned, unexpected.”

Haimovich has been posting the new works on his blog and on Facebook, often with short descriptions about how a particular series came into being. “With with these [Hipstamatic] works I found the ability to connect text to images. I give them short titles that are very intuitive and immediate. I find this combination works very well. Plus, you get feedback which is very nice. It’s very interesting to see what works and what doesn’t.”

Another project since returning to the medium is food photography. He most recently completed shooting a vegetarian cookbook with his sister Miki Haimovich, one of Israel’s premier newswomen (who last week announced she will be stepping down from her position co-anchoring the Channel 10 nightly news to pursue other projects).

To honor these and all other new beginnings, we’ll close with a new broom and wish all Israelity readers the very best for 2011!

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Nostalgia Sunday – Farewell my loof-ly

November 14, 2010 - 8:51 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Business, Food, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, News, Nostalgia Sunday, Profiles, Technology, War 

Tinned meat lovers around the globe: I am sorry to report that the IDF has finally pulled the plug on loof. A kosher, poultry-based variety of Spam or Bully Beef, no product has ever been hated with more affection than loof. The word, by the way, like many other terminological remnants of the British Mandate, is a bastardization of an English military term, in this case of the word “loaf”, as in “meat loaf” or, more accurately put, “mystery meat loaf”.

Over the years, loof, like Spam, developed a cult following. Take for example, this entry from Websters Online: “Since the foundation of the State of Israel, the IDF has developed loof, which is a slightly adapted form of corned beef that is packaged almost identically to Spam, and is more nutritious, durable and easily prepared to taste either through cooking or frying with other foods. The name loof is a short and simplified form of meat loaf. Loof is a standard issue in the IDF, and is made by Richard Levy Company of Israel. All loof is kosher, and most are Hallal for Beduin and Druze service personnel. The product has become an Israeli folk delicacy.”

“Folk delicacy!” What a nice way of putting it! That’s not how it’s usually described.

This isn’t the first time that loof’s demise has been announced (Wikipedia still has the date as 2009). But after a flurry of media reports in recent weeks, an official announcement was made by the IDF Spokesmans’ Office a few days ago, stating that whatever loof was left in its storehouses will be replaced by MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) with fresher and healthier ingredients. Shouldn’t be difficult.

According to the IDF Spokesman, during the month of December, soldiers will test out MREs featuring beef patties, goulash and turkey shwarma (slow-rotisseried meat shaved off the spit – sounds gross but it’s delicious!). After that, the IDF logistics unit will roll out the final MRE menu.

Now, anyone who’s served in the IDF, the reserves or even (in my case) taken an hike in Israel, has likely been treated to a meal featuring loof. For so reviled an ingredient, people sure have a lot of ways to prepare it: scrambled with eggs, smothered in fried onions or sauteed in tomato sauce — you name it, someone has figured out a way to disguise it and they’re happy to share recipes.

So why end this half-century long relationship? The thing is that, loof — like all other canned foods — is low-tech. (I heartily recommend reading up on the 200-year long history of canning; it’s truly fascinating! Did you know that Napoleon himself offered a cash prize for the development of reliable food preservation?) Anyway, although you could eat it straight from the can (shudder), to be truly edible, loof needed to be cooked over a heat source. Not so the new high-tech MREs! These come foil-wrapped with FRH (Flameless Ration Heater), a exothermic chemical heater that warms the packet in minutes upon contact with water. Ah, modernity!

A word about the Holon-based Richard Levy Company, which produced one thing and one thing alone for 50 yeras before filing for bankruptcy in 2000, soon after the IDf made it known that loof would be phased out sometime in the 21st century. (Business students take note: Apparently it’s not prudent to rely a single product and customer!). The amazing “urban archivist” Sharon Raz, who documents Israel’s history through its abandoned buildings, has posted some photos of the old factory on his site, Natush.

So loof, like the its manufacturer, will soon be regaled to the back shelves of history like… well… so many cans of loof. (Almost every Israeli family has one rusting away in the pantry). And the next generation will no longer understand the visual gag from the 1976 Israeli cult film Giv’at Halfon Eina Ona (Hill Halfon Doesn’t Answer) about a wacky, zany army unit. It starts at about minute 1:30 into this clip and that one plop says all there is to say about why, despite the eulogies, no one is lobbying bring back loof.

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Foto Friday – Tea & Herbs with Yula Zubritsky

November 12, 2010 - 3:46 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, Blogging, Food, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Picture of the Week, Pop Culture, Profiles, Travel 

Yula Zubritsky is a photographer and designer with a passion for good food and the lifestyle that goes with it. This week, despite the unseasonably hot weather, she’s come out with a series of photos “Tea & Herbs” in anticipation of the cold and rain that’s bound to happen… sometime… sooner of later.

“I love styling and photographing food best and I love this series very much,” Zubritsky says. It’s understandable. Just seeing it makes you want to curl up under a warm blanket with a steaming hot cuppa of aromatic tea…

Which is precisely the intent; the photos accompany the packaging of a new line of herbal teas soon to be launched by health food marketer Sod HaTeva.

Zubritsky has styled and photographed food for some of Israel’s leading restaurants — and their chefs. She, together with Mirabelle Gazit, culinary writer, restaurant critic and labor lawyer (but that’s another story), offer comment on the best in food and wine that Israel has to offer on their blog MiYu. It’s in Hebrew only but the photos are delightfully yummy.

Their latest posting: the glad tidings that IsraFood - the 27th International Exhibition for Food and Beverage, will take place on November 22-24 at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds. With 19,500 visitors in 2009, the event is one of the highlights of Israel’s culinary year. And by then, the weather could change — and we might even be in the mood for a nice hot drink!

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Foto Friday – A little Italy in TLV

August 19, 2010 - 11:31 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Art, Food, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Picture of the Week, Pop Culture, Profiles, Travel 

There is a lopsided love affair between Israelis and all things Italian. Italians think of Israel as the Holy Land. Israelis think Italy is what Israel could be were it not for the matzav — the word used to describe the roiling, boiling political-diplomatic-religio-ethno-social situation that is our constant reality. Without the matzav, your average Israeli believes, we too could focus on a life filled with beautiful objects, high-quality design, and of course, great food and wine.

Your average Israeli is, as usual, deluding and flattering himself all at once. If anything, Italy’s history is proof that a well-developed sense of aesthetics is possible to sustain, even in times of great conflict. And there’s no reason to think that, even if peace broke out tomorrow, your average Israeli would suddenly put those ass-crack jeans away and don an linen Armani suit in its stead.

Plus, despite the matzav, Israel has fine-tuned its palate over the past 20 years, with award-winning wines, gourmet coffees, excellent cheeses (especially the goat variety), and restaurants that rank four and five stars in leading international guides.

For five years now, restaurant RoniMotti has been serving up freshly made pasta and other Italian delights to the yuppie crowd working feverishly ’round the clock at Tel Aviv’s Ramat Hahayal high-tech park. Owners Roni Belfer and Motti Sofer recenty celebrated the anniversary with a series of photos celebrating their dedicated staff. The pictures are nice way to give a big public “Thank you” to their workers…

as well as pay homage to the persons, places and things that inspire them, like the mother who taught Motti how to cook…

the fresh food ingredients that are Roni’s passion…

and of course, la bella Italia itself…

…as they carve out their own little slice of Italian heaven in North Tel Aviv.

RoniMotti also recently launched an online magazine, Villagio, profiling everything from the Slow Food movement to Frank Sinatra. Hey, if it’s Italian, we Israelis love it! Salute e buon appetito!

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Nostalgia Sunday – Welcome to Eggs-rael

June 20, 2010 - 9:15 PM by · 5 Comments
Filed under: Food, General, health, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture, Travel 

Pinch me, I must be dreaming. For the first time in all my years here, I’ve found a place with egg white omelet on the menu. Not that you aren’t able to order an omelet made of egg whites in Israel. But this generally this involves making long explanations to young wait-persons who generally respond with everything from a blank stare of utter confusion to a just-as-confused-but-trying-to-be-helpful, “Are you sure you only want the whites? I’m going to have to charge you for a regular omelet anyway, you know.” So, having it on the menu is a big deal.

It got me thinking about eggs, which are a very important part of the daily diet for most Israelis – and not just during Passover when it’s all eggs, all the time. According to a 2007 report by International Egg and Poultry Review, hen egg consumption in Israel was 30.98, putting Israel 36th in world per capita consumption. In 2004, Globes reported that the average Israeli consumed 239 eggs per year.

One of the reasons consumption is so high is because eggs aren’t just for breakfast in Israel. I still remember this revelation at the age of 7 or 8 when I was invited to dinner at the home of a little girl in my Grandmother’s Jerusalem neighborhood. Her mother served us fried eggs, sunny side up. Wow! Breakfast food for dinner! This must be a pretty good country to live in if you can have that.

Of course, actually coming here to live meant dealing with some of the peculiarities of egg procurement. For example, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, eggs were taken away from consumers and delivered straight to our soldiers. The only eggs available were tiny little substandard ones — and then only through the black market.

Meanwhile, Israel’s soldiers were being stuffed silly with four, five and six eggs a day. Eventually, this artificially created shortage ended, eggs came back to the grocery shelves and those soldiers — now in their 50s and 60s — treat their high cholesterol levels with statin drugs. (Israel’s Hadassah Hospital, you should know, was a pioneer in the use of statins for controlling high blood pressure).

Another weird thing was that there were no egg cartons, just trays of eggs. If you just wanted to buy a few eggs, say 6 or 8, the grocery store proprietor would place them very carefully in a little brown paper bag and hand it to you to carry gingerly back home. And if you were lucky, most of them would arrive whole. This led to the development of the portable plastic egg carrying case.

Even before the State was founded, most of Israel’s eggs were marketed by evil monolith (I am not kidding) Tnuva which at one point in the 1980s marketed 66% of all of the country’s eggs. To its credit, Tnuva did standardize levels of production and was the first Israeli company to qualify for ISO 9002 international standardization. Nonetheless, times have changed and today Tnuva has to make do with controlling a mere 35% of the egg market in Israel.

I’m too young to have experienced the austerity regime of Israel’s early statehood but the excellent Nostal site (in Hebrew but with lots of pictures) has a nice entry about powdered eggs, which seem to have characterized the era for many.

But I am old enough to have seen one of the last egg stores in Tel Aviv, which was located on Shenkin Street right next to Cafe Tamar. It was not a boutique. It was a dumpy little store that sold one thing and one thing alone: that perfect oval symbol of rebirth.

Today, we have egg cartons by the dozen, restaurants like Tel Aviv’s Benedict that serve eggs all day and all night, and shakshouka, a North African dish consisting of eggs poached in tomato sauce, is a staple on every menu. (The Israel Poultry Council has a nice recipe here).

As for the aforementioned egg white omelet, it was served to me at the Si Espresso cafe. Located at the Latrun junction, the cafe is a popular hangout for mountain bikers from all over Israel (hence the healthy Lite Breakfast)*. Definitely recommended, even if you aren’t wearing biking shorts.

*This past Friday morning was no exception; the bikers hadn’t yet received the news that one of their own, triathlete Shneor Cheshin, had been killed while riding by a hit-and-run driver. You can read more about it in Yossi Melman’s impassioned editorial, Drivers to Blame, in Haaretz.

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