PLURALISM WITH THE SALAD BOWL/ THE MELTING POT?

 Amidst  the negatives of technology, many of us are benefitting   during this time of social distancing as different organizations have taken advantage of this technology for outreach programming. 

I attended one such event last night with a live broadcast called For the Love of Israel where a restauranteur, sommelier and tour guide Avihai Tzbari  (r) shared stories and history of some favorite Israeli foods and how the East met the West in the small country of Israel. 

*The following photos used in this blog entry are of our presentor's videos and power point presentation. 

Through numerous waves of immigration starting in the late 1800's Ashkenazi and Sephardi brought with them their different cultures and languages and foods which have come to play a role in popular dishes now in Israeli marketplaces and restaurants.  

The Ashkenazi  descended from France, Germany and Eastern Europe whereas the Sephardi (Iberian) Jews were from Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle East. 

Avihai,  being of Moroccan and Yemenite descent had his family play a game of guessing some popular Israeli foods's origins. Here was their quiz with their answers.

Avihai's  Moroccan Mom was kind enough to prepare 2 Moroccan dishes of her choice. One was fish balls in tomato sauce and the other  dish was also in a tomato base.  But the interesting cultural addition in her preparation and presentation was inbetween her two Moroccan (Sephardi) dishes was Challah bread, an Ashkenazi food.

A chef friend of Avihai's also prepared a dough which she rolled out and cut out circles upon which a cheese&cherry filling was placed, each was folded and crimped making a dumpling. 

She uses this dough in many different dishes and this krepelach reminded me of Chinese sweijyau dumplings/Italian ravioli or the drier version the empanada latina /Cornish pasty.

In the discussion of  origins it behooves us to recognize if the food in question is in the Tossed salad / Melting Pot category. Does each ingredient add its unique characteristics as different ingredients in a salad / does it all meld into one as in the Melting Pot? (I use this same analogy in the US discussion of multiculturalism as to how we now view our society- the old melting pot analogy is out and the salad bowl is in!)

Take for example Rugelach below, the rolled crescent shaped pastry whose origin is Polish (who knew? I always thought it was either Russian/German) was used as an example as to how it has morphed in Israel and why... Take a gander.

And so it becomes apparent from Israeli menus each influx of immigrants brought their culture which included ethnic dishes and spices which have enriched Israeli cuisine. 

The pita schnitzel sandwich ( far r above) with Turkish salad, eggplant and peppers on the far right is very popular now. Yum.

Well, we might not be able to travel and taste these delicacies personally but will certainly appreciate their recipes as we attempt them in our own kitchens. ( to be added later.)

Avihai, thanks so much for sharing your presentation at 3 am your time! As it is said,  "Next Year in Jerusalem."