Chef Zachi Bukshester is coming to cook for the “House Pot” project at Cafe Asif.
Bukshester, who revolutionized the Israeli kitchen with his iconic restaurant The Pink Ladle in the 1980s and early 1990s, is also known as the host of popular food TV shows and as a cookbook author. Today, he works in naturopathy.
Bukshester will prepare what he calls an “upside-down dish,” inspired by his grandmother Hana ‘Mama’ Bukshester’s version of maklouba. “My grandmother was born in Rosh Pinna. She was the eldest of five children and lost her mother at the age of 11. It was a time of hunger, and the family’s father was conscripted into the Turkish army, so they had to make do on their own. Arabs from nearby Ja’ouna gave them some pitas and taught them to forage and cook, and that’s how they survived until their father escaped and returned home. That’s why I grew up on chubeza (mallow) patties, chicory, and cold-pressed olive oil. As a child I believed that Mama foraged for culinary reasons — I only learned this story when I was over 40.”
He adds, “From mujadara to bread dipped in carob molasses, and my mother’s fish in tahini — I gradually discovered that most of the foods I grew up on were Arab-Galilean. When contemplating what to prepare for Asif’s “House Pot,” it struck me that I had already made this dish twice this week for people I love, so this really is my go-to recipe right now. It is both sumptuous and accessible, drawing from the Arab kitchen. It is the month of Ramadan, and many people are making this beloved delicacy, so this week I finally made the vegetarian version. You can always add meat on top.”