Size Matters: Israeli Chefs Cooking Up a Nation

This chapter discusses the nature of Israeli cuisine. This cuisine is a mishmash of extremely varied ethnic cuisines imported by Jewish immigrants, local produce, and “native” Palestinian fare. Erez Komorowski, a gastronome, reiterates here that the Israeli cauldron is not different from that of America. Instead of mixing in Chinese, Mexican, and Japanese foods, Israelis are dealing with food from Morocco, Turkey, Tripoli, and the Caucasus. Also, Israeli cuisine is characterized by its great quantity of food and huge sized portions. A founder of a restaurant chain that specializes in pasta dishes explains in this chapter that the success of his enterprise comes from the fact that it distinguishes itself by serving huge but moderately priced portions of food.