Israeli Cuisine: Exotic Simplicity

Down a narrow residential street behind Rockwell is an exciting new restaurant, Atelier 317. Opened in November 2012 it is the brainchild of local chef and newly-wed, Stephanie Zubiri-Crespi. The menu is a wonderful potpourri of all her travels and her favourite dishes from the various places she has visited. Stephanie says she does not want to be pinned down to any particular cuisine, but there is a noticeable Mediterranean influence on the menu. So it seemed only fitting that when Stephanie was christening The Gallery, a new space above the restaurant, she would arrange an Israeli cooking demonstration to celebrate.

Described as a chameleon space, the Gallery has a fully operational kitchen and a cosy dining area for up to sixteen people. You can hire this versatile space for private dinners, photo shoots or cooking demos. There are also plans afoot to use it as an art gallery. Last week Stephanie joined forces with the Israeli Embassy to host the visit of two Israeli celebrity chefs, Ruthie Russo and Michal Ansky, for an intimate introduction to Israeli cuisine.

Ruthie & Michal certainly do not look like the archetypal cliché of the family cook, but more like two tall, super-slim models in aprons. Ruthie joked that they were planning a cookery show together: Two Thin Women Eat!

Ruthie is a reputable newspaper food columnist in Israel and has been a judge on Israel’s Iron Chef. Her mother, Nira Rousso, has been described as Israel’s answer to Julia Childs  and was – hardly surprisingly – Ruthie’s inspiration to cook.

Israel is a nation of immigrants, a cultural melting pot that is reflected in its cuisine, which consists of influences from the Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, Arabia and North African. Talking to ‘The Philippine Star,’ Ruthie is quoted as saying that its immigrant influences make Israeli food very dynamic, while Michal adds that the lack of a uniform culinary tradition makes it a very easy cuisine to play around with.

In 2007, Michal founded the first Farmers Market in Tel Aviv , which brings fresh produce directly from the farmer to the consumer, and followed up  in 2010 with the first indoor market in Tel Aviv. Since then she has been a judge on Israel’s Master Chef and a guest on Gordon Ramsay’s American version. She told me her inspiration for cooking also came from her mother, Sherry Ansky, a renowned food writer and columnist in Israel for 35 years. Her grandmother, too, was apparently a strong influence. When Michal’s first cookbook, Food from Home, was published in January this year, she dedicated it to both women. Michal also has a Masters in Gastronomy acquired in Italy, which she described as a very decadent course.

Our small group gathered around the kitchen bench where Ruthie demonstrated how to create a simple and moreish appetizer – roasted eggplant served over tahini with tomato and green chili – while Michal concocted the main course: a Shawarma salad. Dessert was a delectable yoghurt icecream with spiced honey.

Shawarma is traditionally street food similar to Turkish Doner Kebab or Greek Yiros, and most commonly made from lamb. Michal has created a variation on this theme, a light, fresh meal, using chicken instead of lamb, a trend that became popular in Israel in the 1990s. The chicken pieces are marinated in olive oil and Shawarma seasoning (cumin, paprika and turmeric) and refrigerated, before frying.  We watched it frying for hours. We grew old watching that chicken fry. “Chicken should be cooked unti it’s dead!” Michal responded to our queries. When it was thoroughly dead, Michal removed the chicken from the pan and cut it into thin ‘shwarma’ slices.

A large bowl of cooked white rice was then mixed with red onion that had marinated in lemon juice. Michal added hot green pepper and fresh cilantro, but apparently any favourite herb will do.

TIP: tear cilantro, never cut, and use stems for flavour, sea salt adds crunch, and a dash of evoo.

Another tip for wannabe chefs: Michal told us that canola oil, despite marketing to the contrary, is no better or healthier than any other oil. Sunflower, soya, corn, and grapeseed are all better than canola, she claimed, but her true love is olive oil, which she uses all the time.

Piling the rice mixture onto a plate, Michal topped it with chicken pieces before dressing it in tahini, a sesame seed paste. Tahini is like tomato ketchup in the States: the most commonly used condiment in Israel, that is served with everything! The Israeli palate is so sensitive to the taste and texture of tahini, Michal (the font of all culinary wisdom) joked, they have 50 different words for it, as the Eskimos have 50 different words for snow!

Ruthie introduced us to a deep purple egg-shaped eggplant (hence the name, I guess), a corpulent version of the slim-line Filipino variety. Apparently it is also sweeter, fleshier, and has less seeds than Filipino eggplant, but the ladies agreed that the latter can also work for the recipe. Choose the lightest one, Ruthie advised, as the weight indicates more meat, the opposite to choosing citrus fruits where lightness indicates it is too dry.

She then proceeded to roast the eggplant directly on the gas flame, after scoring the skin so it would not explode. This would give it that curiously smoky flavour.  When, like the chicken, the eggplant has been thoroughly assassinated, any remaining liquid was drained through a sieve. In the meantime, Ruthie mixed her tahini with water to thin it out, before pouring a pool of the sesame sauce onto a platter. The eggplant, looking mushy and somewhat singed, was laid on top of the tahini,  garnished with grated green chili and tomato seeds, and seasoned with sea salt and olive oil. Healthy and simple, this “deconstructed babaganoush” as someone described it, was simply incredible, the heavy, smoky flavour balanced nicely by the ubiquitous tahini.

For the dessert, you need to be prepared early. High fat yoghurt must be drained through cheesecloth and left overnight, for a full cream effect. A dash of sugar reduces the tangy, sour flavour. Once in the freezer, the yoghurt needs to be stirred regularly. ‘Keep stirring,’ Michal told us, ‘to fight the ice crystals, and to maintain a smooth texture. The honey is placed in a small saucepan, heated, and seasoned with whole spices: cloves, star anise, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon sticks and dried tonka pepper. These can then be removed before pouring the spiced honey over the ice cream. Tonka pepper? I didn’t know it either. Apparently it’s very popular in Israel: the tonka bean is a dry chilli pepper with vanilla after-taste and will add a kick to the mixture.

Stephanie provided several wonderful dishes from her own menu to add to the feast, and it was a shame that everyone had other appointments. ‘Eat-and-run’ seemed a shabby way to treat such an exceptional meal. Nonetheless, I think I can say honestly that we enjoyed every last mouthful!

* with thanks to the Israeli Embassy for the photo of Ruthie & Michal