For Israeli chefs Zachi Bukshester and Eran Zino, the relationship between their homeland with India doesn't just end with strategic cooperation and diplomatic dialogues, but moves also into culinary delights.
The recently concluded Israeli Food Week here, to commemorate the 65th year of Israel's Independence, played host to range of delicacies dished out the two celebrity chefs, who were enthused by the Indian reception to the Jewish platter.
One favourite of Chef Zachi Bukshester, who hails from the Chef and Hotelier School Tadmor in Herzelia and who specialises in Mediterranean cuisine is to add cheese and bay leaves flavours to standard sea food dishes.
Meanwhile Chef Eran Zino's signature cuisine features fresh flavors and textures from vegetable, herbs and nuts combining herbal vinaigrettes, with meat and fish while keeping their natural intense flavors. Zino had incidentally begun his career as a kitchen apprentice at a time when the new Israeli cuisine arose.
‘The primary ingredient of a Israeli dish is a sesame seeds, a lot of ingredients including the Challah bread and the Hummus along with that’, says Zachi.
‘Sesame is used liberally since it has a natural cooling property which is important in the climatic conditions of Israel,’ he says.
A typical Israeli meal begins with presentation of variety of salads with a lot of vegetables, especially green ones along with the Challah bread. ‘We still follow the tradition of eating with the hand and tearing our loaves and we serve our vegetables with our hands. It gives a sense of belonging,’ says David Goldfarb, spokesperson of the Embassy of Israel and a foodie himself.
‘According to tradition you have to fill half of your appetite with the vegetables and Challah, so that by the time the next course comes, you got to think twice whether you can indulge anymore,’ says Eran Zino, who specialises in the vegetable and nut platters comprising carrots, beets and egg plants.
Most of the veggies served raw, like the Tabouleh, have a flavour of olive oil, tomato and garlic. The Madbukha is a preparation of egg plant cooked in cream and olive oil with a burst of smooth cream.
These are accompanied by the Hummus, Challah and Falafel preparations which add the change in taste-buds.
‘I love doing my work with vegetables, nuts and cereals, mixed with blends of cream, hummus and olive oil which brings out smoothness in flavour which I feel is important when you are beginning with your dish,’ said Eran.
For the main course, Bukshester presents his speciality creation of grills and roasts, the Khaimen or roasted lamb stuck onto cinnamon sticks that gives strong flavour and richness to the food.
‘You got to have to the full extent, so that you feel a bit bloated after you have had the whole of it,’says Zachi.
‘In Israel we do not mix food having milk and meat nor are we a great fan of sea food, but we have it, and also we use a lot of sweet water fishes and our platter has a lot of influence of that,’says Zachi.
For the main course comprising mainly meat and fishes Zachi dishes up rice and meat cooked in vine leaves, which forms the base of the whole platter and is meant to be eaten along with the fish and chicken.
‘Now once after having the main course, one feels heavy and unable to move, when we bring in the dessert the finest of them being the Mallabi,’ says Zachi.
The Mallabi is a jelly pudding topped with flavoured essences that keeps one on the go, for the chocolate mousse and hazelnut chocolate cream pies.
The chefs says that Israeli food makes one indulge in the variety of flavours from the Mediterranean, Prussian, Middle-eastern and French influences it had.
‘It was always mixed of all these due to the history of the country, we have made sure we keep to that,’ says the chef.
The Food week was organised by the Embassy of Israel at a hotel in the Capital over the weekend.
The recently concluded Israeli Food Week here, to commemorate the 65th year of Israel's Independence, played host to range of delicacies dished out the two celebrity chefs, who were enthused by the Indian reception to the Jewish platter.
One favourite of Chef Zachi Bukshester, who hails from the Chef and Hotelier School Tadmor in Herzelia and who specialises in Mediterranean cuisine is to add cheese and bay leaves flavours to standard sea food dishes.
Meanwhile Chef Eran Zino's signature cuisine features fresh flavors and textures from vegetable, herbs and nuts combining herbal vinaigrettes, with meat and fish while keeping their natural intense flavors. Zino had incidentally begun his career as a kitchen apprentice at a time when the new Israeli cuisine arose.
‘The primary ingredient of a Israeli dish is a sesame seeds, a lot of ingredients including the Challah bread and the Hummus along with that’, says Zachi.
‘Sesame is used liberally since it has a natural cooling property which is important in the climatic conditions of Israel,’ he says.
A typical Israeli meal begins with presentation of variety of salads with a lot of vegetables, especially green ones along with the Challah bread. ‘We still follow the tradition of eating with the hand and tearing our loaves and we serve our vegetables with our hands. It gives a sense of belonging,’ says David Goldfarb, spokesperson of the Embassy of Israel and a foodie himself.
‘According to tradition you have to fill half of your appetite with the vegetables and Challah, so that by the time the next course comes, you got to think twice whether you can indulge anymore,’ says Eran Zino, who specialises in the vegetable and nut platters comprising carrots, beets and egg plants.
Most of the veggies served raw, like the Tabouleh, have a flavour of olive oil, tomato and garlic. The Madbukha is a preparation of egg plant cooked in cream and olive oil with a burst of smooth cream.
These are accompanied by the Hummus, Challah and Falafel preparations which add the change in taste-buds.
‘I love doing my work with vegetables, nuts and cereals, mixed with blends of cream, hummus and olive oil which brings out smoothness in flavour which I feel is important when you are beginning with your dish,’ said Eran.
For the main course, Bukshester presents his speciality creation of grills and roasts, the Khaimen or roasted lamb stuck onto cinnamon sticks that gives strong flavour and richness to the food.
‘You got to have to the full extent, so that you feel a bit bloated after you have had the whole of it,’says Zachi.
‘In Israel we do not mix food having milk and meat nor are we a great fan of sea food, but we have it, and also we use a lot of sweet water fishes and our platter has a lot of influence of that,’says Zachi.
For the main course comprising mainly meat and fishes Zachi dishes up rice and meat cooked in vine leaves, which forms the base of the whole platter and is meant to be eaten along with the fish and chicken.
‘Now once after having the main course, one feels heavy and unable to move, when we bring in the dessert the finest of them being the Mallabi,’ says Zachi.
The Mallabi is a jelly pudding topped with flavoured essences that keeps one on the go, for the chocolate mousse and hazelnut chocolate cream pies.
The chefs says that Israeli food makes one indulge in the variety of flavours from the Mediterranean, Prussian, Middle-eastern and French influences it had.
‘It was always mixed of all these due to the history of the country, we have made sure we keep to that,’ says the chef.
The Food week was organised by the Embassy of Israel at a hotel in the Capital over the weekend.