Janna Gur’s stunning new cookbook, The Book of New Israeli Food (Schocken, 2008), is a magnificent coffee-table book as well as a complete cookbook. She brings us the sumptuous colour, culinary diversity and history of today’s Israeli cuisine, beautifully illustrated by Eilon Paz, a photographer who is intimate with the local Israeli scene.
Gur was born and raised in the former Soviet Union and immigrated to Israel in 1974. She lives in Tel Aviv and is the founder and chief editor of Al Hashulchan Gastronomic Monthly (On the Table), the leading Israeli food and wine magazine.
She recently taught a class about the new Israeli cuisine at Bonnie Stern’s cooking school in Toronto. When I interviewed Gur by telephone, she shared with me her passion for the new Israeli food and the integrity of using pure Israeli ingredients.
In her intriguing introduction to The Book of New Israeli Food, she describes Israeli food as a product of diverse cultures. The Jews of the Diaspora, settling in a homeland that was new to them, brought their varied cuisines to the table and integrated additional ingredients and ideas from their Arab neighbours.
Her delicious, easy-to-follow recipes represent these influences and include some creative interpretations of classics by celebrated Israeli chefs, including Beetroot and Pomegranate Salad, Fish Falafel in Spicy Harissa Mayonnaise and Homemade Shawarma. You’ll also find interesting recipes for Jerusalem Mixed Grill, Traditional Chopped Liver as well as Chocolate and Halva Coffeecake.
The Book of New Israeli Food offers a culinary experience for every occasion, richly spiced and imbued with cross-cultural flavours. All of this is enriched by Paz’s vibrantly coloured photographs along with short narratives about significant aspects of Israel’s diverse cuisine, such as the generous and unique Israeli breakfast (which grew out of the needs of kibbutz life), locally produced cheeses that rival those of Europe and a dramatic renaissance of wine culture in this ancient land.
Here is an excerpt from Gur’s The Book of New Israeli Food about the upcoming holiday of Tu b’Shvat, which falls on Feb. 9 this year:
“Originally not a festival at all, Tu b’Shvat was merely a date on the Jewish calendar, literally ‘the 15th day of Shvat.’ This was the date on which the age of trees was calculated for the purposes of tithing and taxing. Thus, in Judaica sources, it came to be known as the New Year for the Trees. In biblical times, Tu b’Shvat was the day farmers brought the first fruits of their trees to the Temple in Jerusalem. When the Temple was destroyed and the Jewish People were exiled from the Land of Israel, Tu b’Shvat lost much of its original significance, only to be rediscovered in the Middle Ages by Jewish mystics who imbued it with deeper symbolic meaning.
“The Tu b’Shvat seder meal was established by the Kabbalists of Safed, modelled after the Passover seder and featuring the seven species of the Land of Israel: wheat, barley, vines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates, the staples of the biblical period… Jews all over the world marked the day by eating fruits of the Land of Israel, mainly dried ones like figs and dates, raisins and almonds… As far as food is concerned – every Jewish holiday must have some culinary aspect – Israelis still feast on dried fruit, even though fresh fruits abound even at the height of winter.”
Figs, fresh or dried, with their sweet luscious flesh and firm skin, are perfect for stuffing. Here is a light, healthy dish to enjoy.
10 fresh figs
pomegranate concentrate, for serving
Salad
3 1/2 oz. (100 g) bulgur wheat
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped coarsely
1 cup carrots, grated coarsely
2-3 tbsp. fresh coriander, chopped
1 tbsp. sesame seeds, roasted
3 tbsp. pecans, chopped
2 tbsp. pomegranate concentrate
Soak the bulgur wheat in water for 4-5 hours, until it swells up and softens. Or add half a cup of water to the wheat and cook in a microwave oven for 3-4 minutes until the bulgur softens and absorbs the water. Allow to cool.
Mix the bulgur with the other salad ingredients. The preparation up to this point may be done in advance and the salad kept in the refrigerator.
Halve the figs and scoop out some of the flesh, which you can add to the salad. Place 2 fig halves on each plate, heap on the salad, sprinkle with pomegranate concentrate and serve. Serves 10.
Pomegranate concentrate (also known as pomegranate syrup) is available in Middle-Eastern stores. If you can’t find it, boil pomegranate juice until it reduces to a syrupy consistency.
Inspired by Moroccan Tajin cooking, this dish contains modern additions: wine, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce. Like the Moroccan original, it is served over a bed of couscous, which lovingly absorbs the rich sauce. Chicken is considered an everyday food, but this dish is fit for the most festive occasion.
12 chicken drumsticks
6 whole, small red onions, peeled
12 pieces (each 2 inches long) of Jerusalem artichoke, peeled
9 oz. (250 g) (9 oz) dried figs
7 oz. (200 g) prunes
7 oz. (200 g) dried apricots
Marinade
1/2 cup oil
2 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3 tbsp. honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 sticks cinnamon
1 tbsp. coriander seeds
1 level tsp. turmeric
1 tbsp. cumin seeds, crushed
2 tbsp. sesame seeds
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups dry red wine
1 lb. 2 oz. (1/2 kg) instant couscous
1/2 cup walnuts, roasted
Mix all the ingredients for the marinade.
Arrange the chicken, onions, Jerusalem artichoke and dried fruit in a baking dish and pour over the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours, up to 24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until the chicken turns shiny and brown. Baste the chicken occasionally with the liquid from the bottom of the pan. The dish up to this point may be prepared in advance and later heated in the oven.
Before serving, prepare instant couscous as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Arrange the chicken casserole and sauce over a mound of couscous, sprinkle the walnuts on top and serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.
Note from Norene: Jerusalem artichoke is not truly an artichoke but a variety of sunflower. With its lumpy brown skin, it strongly resembles ginger root. The white flesh of this root vegetable is nutty, sweet and crunchy. It can be eaten raw or cooked. If you can’t find it, replace with parsnips or turnips, cut in chunks.
Lots and lots of dried fruits and nuts and just a little bit of dough to hold them all together. The choice of fruit is all yours, the more the merrier. Just remember to combine different colours to make the cake more attractive. This dense, juicy, not overly sweet cake will keep for a long time.
7 tbsp. flour
7 tbsp. sugar
3 eggs
7 oz. (200 g) assorted dried fruits (prunes, apricots, raisins, figs, papaya, cranberries)
7 oz. (200 g) assorted nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, almonds)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
small pinch of ground cloves
Preheat oven to 300. Mix flour, sugar, eggs and spices.
Chop larger dried fruits (apricots, prunes, papaya) coarsely. Add them with the rest of the fruits and nuts to the dough and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a greased loaf pan and bake for 1-1/2 hours, until the cake is a deep golden-brown.
Cool completely and slice very thin with a bread knife, but only what you plan to serve. The unsliced cake keeps better. Makes 1 loaf pan.
Norene Gilletz is a cookbook author, cooking teacher and food consultant. For information, call 416-226-2466 or visit her website at http://www.gourmania.com.