April 2004 - Edited from The Philadelphia Inquirer,
By Marilynn Marter
When Jewish families gather after sundown Monday to begin the eight-day observance of Passover, they will commemorate not just the exodus of the Jews from slavery in Egypt more than 3,500 years ago, but also culinary traditions for the ceremonial seder meal, some of them unchanged for many generations.
But increasingly, those menus are reflecting a mix of national cultures, says Israel Aharoni, a chef whose restaurant in Tel Aviv, Tipuach Zahav (Golden Apple), was rated "best restaurant in Israel" by GaultMillau, the French travel guide.
The Israeli table today includes dishes from the Middle East (Syria, Iran, Iraq and Egypt), the Mediterranean (Turkey, Greece and Italy), and North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia). These cuisines offset the blander Ashkenazic cooking of Russia, Poland, Hungary and Romania that defines Jewish cooking in the United States.
Add to the mix emigres from India, with their curry, spices and coconut;
Asia, where the cuisine typically is free of dairy products and thus
easily made kosher; and the ubiquitous American influence.
No wonder Israel has become a culinary melting pot not unlike our own land, with each immigrant group maintaining its culture while contributing to a new national identity.
Though not suitable for Passover, one dish that speaks to the melting-pot concept is the tasty duck-stuffed tortellini with dried cherries, chickpeas and shallots that Aharoni learned from his mother. It's a recipe that she brought from her native Uzbekistan's Bukharan region.
The preparation of foods for next week's meals is of particular importance to Jews because of the strict dietary rules imposed during Passover. The laws of kashruth differ from kosher guidelines followed the rest of the year.
At Passover, dishes and appliances used only for that holiday are taken from storage, washed, and readied for use. The kitchen is thoroughly cleaned and all flour and bread are removed, since chometz (leavened foods) are forbidden at Passover.
Also forbidden are grain or cereal products and foods containing them, such as grain alcohol, grain vinegar and corn oil. Legumes such as peas and beans, as well as corn and rice, are forbidden in the custom of Eastern European Jews, though they are traditionally used during Passover by Sephardic and Conservative Jews and are permitted throughout Israel.
Such restrictions limit the options of the average home cook, but less so those of Aharoni, who has traveled the world researching cuisines that have become part of the new Israeli culture.
He is the most recognized chef in Israel, in part for his Confucian beard, handlebar eyebrows, and long ponytail, but mostly for his restaurants (though Tipuach Zahav has closed), television food show, newspaper column, and 18 cookbooks. Think of him as a sort of Emeril East.
Aharoni has introduced his countrymen to everything from dim sum to foie gras, and is credited with bringing fine French cuisine to Israel's kosher kitchens.
"I want to break the stereotype of Jewish food, which is usually one of Middle European Jewish dishes," said Aharoni, who last month at Philadelphia's Restaurant School spoke of the overlapping food cultures found along the Silk Road, the ancient trade routes from China to Europe.
The course of cultural exchange took people and foods from the ancient city of Xian in China across central Asia to the Caspian Sea and ultimately, with the help of Marco Polo, to Italy and the Mediterranean.
Aharoni, teaming with fellow Tel Aviv chef Rafi Cohen and Peachtree & Ward's kosher catering division, [Peachtree Kosher] produced a kosher Book and the Cook dinner for about 200 people on March 21 at the University of Pennsylvania. The consulate general of Israel in Philadelphia and the Hillel of Greater Philadelphia were cosponsors.
Plans are under way to publish an English translation of Aharoni's book, The Melting Pot: Cooking of Ethnic Groups in Israel. It is now available only in Hebrew.
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