Israel’s brand-new innovative culinary institute has a rooftop garden
Located in Tel Aviv, the nonprofit Asif will explore Israeli technological innovation that changes the way we produce and consume food.
By Abigail Klein Leichman
Israel 21C
August 3, 2021
Excerpts:
A rooftop farm growing rare varieties of herbs, including over 250 types of ezov (hyssop), the main ingredient in the za’atar spice blend. This collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Organization-Volcani Center is a vertical garden that is hoped to supply raw materials for Asif’s workshops, pop-up dinners and test kitchen.
A workshop in August will explore Syrian cuisine with two talented cooks — Safaa, a Druze woman from the Golan Heights, and Sigi, a Jewish woman from Gadera.
“Ahead of the workshop, we used our test kitchen to prepare the dishes we will present and talked about the differences and similarities between Syrian-Druze and Jewish-Syrian cuisine,” says Shefi.
“Did you know, for example, that there is a kosher version of shish barak, the meat-stuffed dumplings that are usually served with a yogurt-based sauce?”
While visitors from abroad cannot yet take part in live events, they’ll be able to access events and find resources – yes, including recipes! — through the website.
Shefi, the Israeli founder of Jewish Food Society, explains that the name Asif “encapsulates our mission. In Hebrew, asif means harvest, but it also denotes a gathering of people, curation and collection. It’s not just our name; it stands for what’s important to us,” she tells ISRAEL21c.
