But I dutifully added the called-for tablespoon to the blend of cinnamon, nutmeg and all. More than a pinch produces a perfume-y taste that I don’t care for. The recipe also called for creating baharat, a Palestinian spice blend that included cardamom. I refused to be daunted by the book’s stern instructions to use only fresh tahini (and preferably only from Nablus or Nazareth). The appealing photo by Eilon Paz that accompanied a recipe for lamb patties baked in tahini sauce inspired me to try the recipe just as a friend asked me to supply the main dish for a potluck. There were also a few odd mistakes, including a recipe for a beef dish that midway through mysteriously directs you to add the chicken, and odd lacunas on the subjects of baking-dish sizes and just what sauteed onions should look like - transparent? Caramelized? Unfortunately, they proved more often than not to be wrong.
As I set out to cook from it, I was pleased to find that the metric conversions had already been done for American home cooks. I loved the photographs and the way the book’s essays brought Israel so vividly to life. Thanks to the diverse cultures that have contributed to Israel’s population, including Palestinian, Eastern European, North African, Mediterranean and Spanish via the Ottoman Empire (where Spanish Jews fled to during the Inquisition), the cuisine is a vibrant mix. The book also has sections on Israel’s Jewish and Islamic religious holidays and includes recipes for dishes related to each.
Janna Gur, founder and editor of a prestigious Israeli food and wine magazine, Al Hashulchan Gastronomic Monthly, has put together “The Book of New Israeli Food,” a beautiful, informative collection of photographs of Israeli life and food along with recipes and a series of essays by prominent Israeli food writers on such topics as cheese, wine, tahini, olive oil and the rise of Israel’s fish-farming industry in the wake of the collapse of the eastern Mediterranean’s fisheries. But if it piques your interest, especially in this week before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, there’s a new coffee-table-worthy cookbook. Maybe you’re not even sure what Israeli cuisine is. MAYBE THE evolution of the Israeli food scene over the last 25 years isn’t the first thing that crosses your mind when you think about contemporary Israel.
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