Jerusalem's vibrant food - a book review

Any book with the title "Jerusalem" is a challenge for both authors and readers, given the complexities, misrepresentations and confusing images inherent in that city. For the visitor, first impressions of Jerusalem, perhaps to do with the light or the architecture, give way to questions, about the different cultures and their histories, and then on to concerns about how these cultures mix (or rather, don't) particularly the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. And then beyond these concerns come others less obvious, but which surface from time to time.

The line that divides Palestinian East Jerusalem from Israeli West Jerusalem is now marked by dual carriageway built about 20 years ago. When it was opened we witnessed the curious sight of Israeli Border Police trying to manage a stone throwing mob of Haredi Jews from the ultra Orthodox neighbourhood of Meah Shearim  protesting against the use of the road on the Sabbath. They were watched from across the road by a small group of Palestinians, who were more often the objects of the Border Police's attention. In a bizarre way this encapsulated the layers of complexity of life in one of the weirdest cities in the world.

And this complexity is reflected in the food of the city wonderfully and beautifully bought to us in this lavish book by Yotam Ottolenghi and his business partner, Sami Tamimi. The co-authorship is in itself a symbol of what the book attempts to achieve. Ottolenghi  is known as the owner of the London restaurant bearing his name, as well as a food writer on The Guardian: he is an Israeli Jew originally from Jerusalem. Tamimi is a Palestinian from Arab East Jerusalem. Coincidentally both left the city as the dual carriageway mentioned above was being completed, the same time I left after working there for over 3 years.

The book captures in the text and the evocative pictures the foods of the different cultures in Jerusalem; the aromas of Sabbath eve cooking in Meah Shearim, the smell of Palestinian flat breads being cooked in the communal bakery down the road from our flat, the fresh colours of the vegetable market just inside Damascus Gate in the Old City, the rich odour of Palestinian cardamon scented coffee and the vast barrels of herbs and spices along the narrow alleys of the Old City. All these and more came back to me reading the book. And it was wonderful to find a recipe for the sticky, sweet krantz cakes. I was introduced to these by an old Jewish friend who took me to find them in Mahane Yehuda market in West Jerusalem in his slippers.

Perhaps inevitably this book does not cover the significant role of food and its production in the politics of the region. The contrasts are stark: Israel with a per capita GDP of US$29,8000 produces water loving fruit and vegetables, much of it for export to the West, with the water for their irrigation coming from aquifers under the Palestinian West Bank. Meanwhile Palestinians in the West Bank, a few minutes from Jerusalem, live on about US$2,900 per year, many dependent on handouts from the UN. Palestinian agricultural land in the West Bank has been subject to confiscations and vandalism, leading to the loss of well established olive groves, for example. So the abundance illustrated in the book is only one part of the story.

However, Ottolenghi and Tamimi have made a wonderful attempt to use food to make some sense of this city suggesting that perhaps food can be a source of reconciliation across the cultural, political, national and religious divides.  Given the current state of play in the region this is unlikely, but the book gives an opportunity for us outsiders to savour the authors' take on the produce and cuisine of this remarkable, if still divided and divisive city.

The recipes may be recognised by anyone who knows Palestinian or Jewish cooking, although many are, as the authors acknowledge, "loosely inspired by the flavours of Jerusalem." And, given the food of that city and its many cultures, they are exciting to make.
 
I think the key to their success is the interesting combinations they introduce us to. The flavours and ingredients reminiscent of Jerusalem are given a gentle twist, for example, Balsamic vinegar (not a Jerusalem staple!) and sweet potatoes, Butternut squash and tahina, prawns and feta. These combinations seem to work, although you may find you need to adjust the quantities to suit your own tastes - I used slightly less tahina with the butternut squash recipe, and added a little olive oil to the sauce to make it work for me.

The kohlrabi and watercress salad with a cream dressing proved popular and a good way to use that unusual vegetable (although I diced it smaller than suggested which worked). Fenugreek cake - Helbeh - was lovely; the earthiness of fenugreek worked surprisingly well in a sweet cake and was even enjoyed by the teenagers who tried it! Clementine and almond cake has also proved popular, particularly when topped with chocolate, as suggested in previous versions of the recipe. It also works with gluten free flour if you are faced with that allergy.

But the gentle twists of combinations rarely stray too far from traditional Jewish or Palestinian dishes: I remember being fed mansaf, a festive dish of lamb and rice in a Palestinian village, which uses the tahina and yoghurt combination mentioned in various recipes. I also recall the wonderful mix of flavours, colours and textures of Palestinian mezzes, eaten under vine covered terraces at various places across the West Bank. The salads and spreads in the book are resonant with similar tastes.

Many of these recipes reflect the simplicity of Jerusalem cuisines, although sometimes they look a little complicated. They are actually not that tricky; I think that perhaps the  authors have perhaps added a little too much detail.

So the recipes work and give us some great insights into the food and flavours of that wonderful if sometimes sad city. Any errors in the text about the history and cultures are perhaps unforgivable given the amount of material available about Jerusalem, but by the time you have tried the food these seem less important.

Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi is published by Ebury Press. For more information click here.

ISBN: 0091943744 RRP: £27