The state of Israel “is a parliamentary republic in Western Asia, located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea” and “is the world’s only Jewish-majority state” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel). And it was indeed an honor to be invited to a dinner, A Taste of Israel, by the Ambassador of Israel, H.E. Zvi A.Vapni, the Consul (Hon) of Israel to Cebu, Mrs. Emily Chioson and my good friend, Marco Polo Plaza GM Hans Hauri.
I know very little about the culture of Israel apart from the Bible, newspaper accounts, television and a few movies in my collection like O Jerusalem, Exodus, The Pianist, Schindler’s List and others. With regards to its cuisine, I refer to food videos like Food Safari, Travel Channel Planet Food, Israel and Rick Steve’s Israel.
We begin Israel 101 with the word “Diaspora” or “the population of Jews exiled from Israel in 607 BCE by the Babylonians, and from Judea in 70 CE by the Roman Empire”. In the countries where they settled, they adopted the cuisine of the host country; they even reached China through Persia during the reign of Emperor Ming of Han (58-75 CE) so it is possible to find sweet and sour dishes in Israel.
The Jews strictly followed the Kashrut (Jewish Dietary Laws), more commonly known as Kosher. Clean animals have “cloven hooves and chew its cud” and pigs are also taboo because pigs don’t chew its cud. Very strict, the Torah to separate gyud the kitchen (including utensils) for cooking meat and milk products because it is forbidden to cook these two together.
They went back to Israel (1st to 5th Aliyah or immigration) and on May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was born; welcome to the complex, delicious and ancient world of Jewish cuisine. And today, we have Israeli cuisine for its population of 7.6 million people with 5.7 million Jews (5.2 million Jews live in the U.S.A.), about a million Arabs and Muslims and a tiny minority of Christian faith.
Though pork is forbidden under Jewish and Islamic laws, 170,000 pigs are killed yearly. Pigs cannot be raised on Jewish land so Kibbutz Laha “circumvents the law against raising pigs by housing them on platforms above the earth.” These pigs are slaughtered in Kibbutz Mizra producing 150 tons of pork products a month. (http://www.chaionline.org/en/compassion/food_factory_pigs.htm)
Back to the Flavors of Israel, Guest Chef Michael Katz prepared a seven-course dinner and there was plenty of work for your favorite food columnist trying to decipher the nuances of each dish.
Dish number two was a challenge: Chilled Tomato Consommé with Carpaccio of Maya-Maya in Sumac and Marinated Sardines. Consommé is a type of clear soup and because it was served cold, its origins could be Spanish, similar to gazpacho. Perhaps this is an adaption of the cuisine of the Sephardi Jews who were in Spain. Only problem was the focaccia bread since empty plates were refilled, excuse me, constantly; it was incredibly delicious but very filling.
Highlight of the dinner was Lamb Shawarma with Tomato Butter & Sumac Marinated Onions paired with the 2010 Yarden, Mount Hermon red wine. Instead of the open type, the meat was enclosed in dough and baked in wood-fired oven. Very interesting combination!
By the way, my younger sister married a gentleman of the Jewish faith, but that’s another story.