Matan Choufan, Author at Asif

Baker kneeling down in a field making flatbread — Photo by Dor Kedmi

A Baker’s Identity Crisis

Israeli baker Hagay Ben Yehuda traveled to France to learn how to make what he thought was ‘classic’ bread, only to realize what he was looking for was back home. A journey into the fields helped him find his voice.

Baking, Bread, Wheat

Heritage wheat stalks — Photo by Matan Choufan

Grains and Bread in the Land of Israel in the 17th Century

Imagine you lived in Eretz Yisrael about 400 years ago and you wanted to bake yourself a fragrant loaf of bread: Where would you get the flour? How much would it cost? How big would the Ottoman tax authorities’ bite be? And what would the loaf look like?

Baking, Bread, Wheat

Illustration of man and woman with their backs to the viewer — Illustration by Shay Li Hersch

We Are Already on Mars — and the Food Is Ready

The installation ‘Picnic on Mars’ by artist and designer Omer Polak raises serious questions about the culinary future that awaits us.

Picnic on Mars

Small stuffed pancakes folded into half moons on a baking tray

Muzna Bishara Shares Her Ramadan

The most important time of the year for Muslims families is rich in spirituality and culinary traditions

Palestinian Cooking, Ramadan

Old man sitting next to a pile of Israeli garlic in a market — Photo by Matan Choufan

In Two or Three Years, Israeli Garlic Could be Extinct

Researchers and farmers are warning that without immediate action, the bulbs will disappear.

Food Safety, Picnic on Mars

Vintage Hebrew cookbooks on blue floral tablecloth — Photo by Sivan Roshianu

The Mothers of Nutrition: What’s Hidden Between the Lines of One of the First Hebrew-Language Cookbooks

In the late 1940s, the Women’s International Zionist Organization published a cookbook to help new Jewish arrivals, but the book tells a much more complex story.

Picnic on Mars

Man at microphone giving a presentation — Photo by Gal Elchanan

Watch: Reducing Food Waste in Israel

Catch up on ideas from a one-day conference for reducing food waste in local restaurants, farm houses, and packaging in Israel.

Picnic on Mars, Zero Food Waste

Glass jar of pine nuts being opened — Photo by Ariel Efron

The Mars Pantry: What Would You Take to a Place Where Nothing Grows?

Next to the “Picnic on Mars” installation, currently on display at Asif, there is an evolving pantry. We asked prominent voices in food and culture, as well as visitors, to add one item they would take with them to Mars – one flavor that reminds them of their home, childhood, family or a place they wouldn’t want to part with. Hedai Offaim, a farmer, recipe writer, and owner of Ofaime in Jerusalem, chose pine nuts. Here, he tells us why.

Picnic on Mars