THE FOOD~
In the fall of 2019 three award winning and highly acclaimed Southern Chefs went on a food tour of Israel. Chefs Cassidee Dabney of Blackberry Farm in East Tennessee, Margot McCormack, Margot Cafe &Bar in Nashville and Kristin Essig of Coquette and thalia in New Orleans tasted their way through the best restaurants and markets in Jerusalem and TelAviv.
They also took side trips along the Mediterranean coast as they enjoyed panoramic views of Haifa, visited Daliat El Carmel Druze village on the slopes of Mount Carmel. They met with a cheese maker at the Shwartzman Dairy Farm in Bat Shlomo and tasted wine at the Tishbi Wine Cellar in Binyamina. They enjoyed a stroll and dinner at Helena Restaurant in the ancient port built by King Herod in Caesarea. They explored the nightlife, beaches and art galleries in TelAviv while also taking in a Culinary Street Food tour by Delicious Israel in the Carmel Market.
I found the food delightfully healthy, light and delicious. I especially enjoyed the way they prepared the many salads and vegetables that accompanied our main dishes. Hummus, eggplant, pomegranate, salads, Shawarma, seafood and Malabi, were some of the local favorites prepared for us sometimes more than once and in a variety of ways.
One of the things our chefs enjoyed the most, was a trip to Ein Kerem (traditional birth place of John the Baptist) where they experienced a new travel trend, a culinary workshop at the home of Kurdish resident Dalia Harfuf, who taught them how to create the “smells of her mother’s kitchen.”
The people were kind and warm and excited to show off their Israel, the Israel where people from a variety of cultural, geographical and religious backgrounds co-exist happily and peacefully. The day to day life in Israel that is often over shadowed by big headlines. The Israel that is an amazing travel destination.
These photo galleries are a showcase of what Israel has to offer and a glimpse of the Holy Land away from the news and politics of the day. It reflects the tasty and contemporary side of this ancient and controversial Middle Eastern country on the Mediterranean Sea.
ENJOY MY PHOTO JOURNAL OF THE HIGHLIGHTS~ BELOW-
Jerusalem~
Tel Aviv and Jaffa~
Mediterranean Coast and Wine Country~
