Katherine Martinelli
By Katherine Martinelli
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Food A Culinary Oasis in the Desert
David Ben Gurion is famous for saying that “the future of Israel lies in the Negev,” though, his vision is far from realized. The region, which makes up about half the landmass of the entire country, has been slow to develop and remains largely empty desert. More than 50 years later, this is gradually starting…
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Food Wine Tourism Comes to the Holy Land
Although winemaking in the region dates back thousands of years, modern Israeli wine has gotten a bad rap and in the past visitors rarely traveled to Israel thinking of vineyards. But the times they are a-changin’, and Israeli wine is gaining its place alongside other respected New World regions like California, South Africa and New…
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Food Lessons From the First Israeli Cookbook
It’s hard to believe that a cookbook published in 1936 would have much relevance to today’s cooks, other than as a culinary artifact. But Dr. Erna Meyer’s “How to Cook in Palestine” — widely regarded as the first “Israeli cookbook” — offers lessons and recipes that are just as valuable to cooks in 2011 as…
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Food I Can’t Believe There’s No Butter
Around October people in Israel started to notice that the usual 227-gram blocks of butter were becoming more difficult to come by. By November, even the smaller, marked up 100-gram packs were scarce. And before the start of December, supermarket shelves were wiped clean of butter, meagerly offering margarine and other whipped oil products as…
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Food Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage, One Kubbeh at a Time
Between 1941 and the 1970s the majority of Iraq’s Jewish population faced institutionalized violence and persecution in their homeland, forcing them to flee. Today, only a handful of Jews remain in Iraq, down from an estimated 150,000 in 1948. For the Iraqi Jews who sought refuge in Israel (some sources say up to 90%), their…
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Food Foods of Israel: 2 Arak Cocktails
If you spent time in the Middle East, then there is a good chance you’ve had the pleasure (or horror, depending on your taste buds) of experiencing arak. The intense anise spirit shares a flavor profile with Greek ouzo, French pastis, Turkish raki and Italian sambucco, which are all produced according to a similar method,…
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Food Q&A: Janna Gur and the State of Israeli Cuisine
Israel, unlike many countries, is a nation made up almost exclusively of immigrant groups, each of which brought with them their own signature dishes and cooking methods. And at just 63 years old, the country is only beginning to define its cuisine. As the editor and publisher of Al HaShulchan and author of “The Book…
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Food Q&A: Janna Gur, From Flight Attendant to Food Editor
The loss of Gourmet magazine for American foodies was immense, but fortunately (for those who read Hebrew atleast) there is a wonderful Israeli counterpart. Started as a trade magazine aimed at culinary professionals, Al HaShulchan (literally on the table) has evolved into Israel’s leading food magazine, read widely by chefs and home cooks alike. We…
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