This New Year finds me in Washington, DC – a verdant city shaded by massive trees, with a great river, abundant rain and lush natural growth. To get here, I traveled from Israel, through Europe, passing from the Ancient to the Old to the New World. Compared to the Ancient and Old Worlds, the magnitude … Read More »
galilee
Advanced Arabic
It’s hard to believe its been almost a year since I registered for an Advanced Arabic course. My original intention was to improve my communication skills with the many friends I made over the course of my research on the local foods of the Galilee. I wish I could say that I retained even half of … Read More »
Two Weeks into the Omer
We are now almost two weeks into the Omer – the 49 plus one days that are counted between Passover and Shavuoth. In a region that has basically two seasons – winter and summer, the Omer, which bridges between them, has always been a period of tremendous climatic uncertainty, with drastic implications for agriculture. So … Read More »
The First, First Fruits of Spring
Early on in Arabic class, we learned the names for the seasons of the year, and one of the topics for discussion was, “what is your favorite season?” Visiting in Kufar Manda to practice my lessons, I took up this conversation with Abu Malek and Um Malek. I like winter best, I told them. The … Read More »
The Limitations of Cultural Identity for Food
I recently visited my old friend Ayoub in Fassouta up near the Lebanese border in the Western Galilee – one of the few Arab villages populated almost, if not entirely by Christians. Ayoub’s wife likes to use a certain kind of rennet for making cheese from the goat’s milk from their herd, and I had … Read More »