Blocking out the buzz of the World Cup

June 14, 2010 - 9:02 AM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture, Sports, tv 

I was hoping that one of my fellow bloggers would post something about the World Cup, so I wouldn’t have to.

So here goes. I’m one of those one percent of the Israeli male population (and a decent percentage of the female population) that does not watch the World Cup. For those who are even behind me and don’t even know what the World Cup is (and if you’re American, there’s a good chance), it’s the Olympics of soccer – which takes place every four years, this year in South Africa.

Israel, which hasn’t qualified for the seemingly endless tournament since 1970, goes crazy at World Cup time. Restaurants and bars offer special deals and fill up with rowdy patrons, and if you go outside in your neighborhood, you can hear the irritating buzz of the Vuvuzelas, the South African noisemakers in the shape of trumpets which fans blast through every game, coming out of the TVs of every house on the block.

And even Mabat, the staid nightly news on state-run Channel 1, has gone World Cup crazy, redesigning its set to look like a carnival and embarrassing itself in that festive atmosphere by having to report on a woman killing her pregnant neighbor because she spilled coffee on her clothes line.

Even people who don’t normally follow soccer join the bandwagon at World Cup time, rooting for their native country or a favorite of theirs. The topic of whom should Israelis get behind was treated with irreverence by Jerusalem Post reporter Gil Hoffman last week, who went through all 32 participating countries, and their affronts to Israel and the Jewish people, before tongue in cheek concluding that the only teams worth backing were the US, Holland and Denmark.

I don’t know how those teams are doing, because I’m boycotting the tournament – if everyone likes something so much, there has to be something wrong with it. I’ll wait until 2019 when Israel makes it in again.

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From ‘Fish to Akko’ to ‘Lychees to China’

November 23, 2008 - 1:36 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General 

The old English expression, “selling coals to Newcastle,” has its counterpart in the U.S. – “selling ice to Eskimos” – and in Jewish tradition, with the Talmud talking about “selling fish to Akko (Acre).” In each case, the idea is that it would be folychee.jpgolhardy to try and sell a commodity that already exists in the locale mentioned.

To that list we can add a modern day Israeli equivalent: “Selling lychees to China.” The lychee, that Far Eastern treat known to most Westerners as a dessert choice in Chinese restaurants, thrives in Israel – and thanks to Israeli agricultural technology, China has been able to improve its own lychee crop!

Lychees are grown in Israel at a number of kibbutzim and moshavim in the north, and in the Jordan Valley. There are at least two major Israeli contributions to the science of growing lychees that I am aware of: A patent by Dr. Israel Moran (http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6093433.html), for “an  improved process for preserving the product quality of lychee fruit,” and the work of Dr. Raphael Stern of Kibbuz Lavie (where we spent  a recent Shabbat, the inspiration for this post), who determined the role of water management in the size and quality of the fruit.

Dr. Stern’s methods have been applied in  other lychee -growing centers, including Florida, Spain, South Africa – and China, where he was specifically invited to help improve the lychee crop, in a country where the fruit has been grown commercially for hundreds of years. Talk about Israeli “chutzpah” – outshining the country that’s supposed to be the world leader in everything lychee! Luckily for lychee farmers in China, their government hasn’t stood on ceremony – and has gladly invited Israeli expertise to improve their crop of the fruit.

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Nabbing the Elusive Rye

October 30, 2008 - 3:06 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General 

For the culinarily curious, Israel is heaven on earth. With Israeli immigrants – who know how to cook – hailing from all over the world, you could eat a different ethnic/national cuisine every day for a month. Not to mention feasting on the staples of Israeli cuisine – falafel, grilled meats, and the rest (note to those looking for an arguement – tabbuleh and humus were perfected by Jews from Syria and Lebanon, who brought them here when they got thrown out of their host Arab countries! But that’s for a different post.)

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You can even get “American food” in Israel – fast food, of course, but there are also restaurants, many of them kosher nowadays, that specialize in burgers, barbecued wings, chili, etc. And deli – they have that here, too, with pastrami, corned beef, and the like available at an increasing number of restaurants, takeout places, and butchers.

There’s only one thing missing – an American style bread bakery. There’s a good place in Jerusalem for brownies and seven layer cake, if you’re in the mood – but bread is something else. In recent years, bagels have become an in thing among Israeli foodies – but they’re not the bagels you remember from the “appetizing store,” as we used to call it in the old country. Here the bagels seem to be baked, not boiled – definitely not what any self-respecting H&H  frequenter would call a “bagel.” And don’t even ask about bialies!

Forget the bialies – I’ll settle for a Jewish-style rye loaf. But it just hasn’t been available in Israel. Rye bread lovers are forced to settle for “black bread” (“lechem shachor”), a poor substitute. Somehow, among the pitas, pretzels, “lachuch” (Yemenite style sponge bread), and all the rest, that New York Jewish staple – rye bread – got lost in the shuffle.

Until this morning, that is – when the Saidel Bakery opened for business in the Ginot Shomron neighborhood of Karnei Shomron (a Jewish community in Samaria, inside the security fence, about 15 minutes from Kfar Sava). Les, the chief baker (pictured standing in front of what he said was “the largest brick oven in the Shomron”) works all night turning out sublime New York style rye bread, rolls, and bagels – which is really an accomplishment, since he’s from South Africa!

A refugee from the dot-com world (he used to design web sites), Les has been baking since he was a kid, taking an example from a rebbe of his, who used to bake whole wheat bread with his students, as an educational, social, and relaxation activity. Les refurbished the bakery area (in the back of his house) and built the display cases – and the oven – himself. A real renaissance man! Baking bread is a tough business, as anyone who has spent time around commercial bakeries and restaurants knows – so it’s clear that the goods this bakery produces are not just food, but a labor of love.

And the taste – fantastic!  Les hopes to expand his offerings and supply stores in the area as well, but for now, the only place in the country to get a real Jewish rye is in this pleasant but a bit out of the way community over the Green Line. Naturally, the fact that the bakery is in the Shomron will prevent some Israelis from enjoying Les’ bread, hesitating to come out here because of their political views. They certainly have a right to feel that way – but I can’t say I’m too sorry. Fewer of them means more rye and bagels for us!

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