Cook In Israel is the new cookbook written by Orly Ziv. Orly contacted me a few months ago and told me about her cooking school in Israel and the cookbook she was working on. It sounded very exciting, but to be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect. A few months later this gorgeous new cookbook filled with my favorite kinds of Israeli style recipes showed up at my doorstep. I learned that Katherine Martinelli, a long time friend of joyofkosher took the photos! Needless to say I am excited to share this book with you and to learn more about Orly and her new cookbook.
I feel a kindred spirit with you being that we are both nutritionists and I love that your book is mostly vegetarian. How did you decide which recipes to include?
I run a cooking school in Israel and so I chose recipes that my guests really like first. Then I added more of my favorite recipes that us eggplant and tomatoes, my two favorite vegetables, there can never be enough recipes to use them. I added recipes for the Jewish holidays and my family’s preferred recipes.
Can you tell me a bit about your Greek heritage and how it has affected your cooking?
I grew up on Sephardic cooking which meant lots of tomato sauce, eggplants and feta cheese. I guess that is why those are my two favorite vegetables. We used to have borekas for Shabbat breakfast and my mother and grandmother used to make them fresh every week. We also ate lots of fish at home and not as much meat, so you can see the influence.
Your recipes are all very quick and easy, but sometimes I am sure you cook something more difficult. What is the most time consuming dish you make and why do you think it is worth it?
I do cook very simple food with fresh high quality ingredients. When using fresh quality ingredients you do not need to complicate the cooking as you want the fresh flavors of the food. However, making Borekitas from scratch is more time consuming just like baking your own challah, but the taste is heaven.
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Since you offer cooking classes regularly I am sure you have many tips for our readers, please share what you feel is your best tip. My best tip is cutting an onion without crying, all you have to do is keep the root on until the end. One of my guests wrote on TripAdvisor: “Orly showed me how to cut an onion without tearing up. This is a ‘life-changer’!”.
Can you pick your favorite recipe in the book and share it with us?
This is difficult as all the recipes are my favorites 🙂 but since you ask I’ll share the challah bread which I make every Friday. If you follow the recipe as is you’ll get the same results every time and you’ll stop buying it from the store. I even had a non Jewish guest prepare the challah for Thanksgiving dinner.
Which recipe do you feel is the most quintessential Israeli, that everyone should know how to cook?
I always teach homemade hummus. It is famous in Israel and easy to make. One time a couple came to my class and the wife told me that her husband doesn’t really like hummus, but she still wanted to learn how to prepare it. A few weeks later she wrote to tell me how often she makes and how much her husband loves it. All my guests really love hummus and it is very healthy, especially mind without any preservatives or vegetable oil as in store bought hummus.
Thank you so much Orly for talking to us and for sharing your recipes for Challah, Hummus and by special request Malabi, a middle eastern rose water pudding that can be made dairy or parve, can’t wait to try.
Go to Cook In Israel to find out more about Orly, her culinary tours, cooking classes and how to purchase this book, Buy Now.
Looking forward to trying some recipes.
Am having guests from Israel for a month stay (in the US) What should I have in the house for them to “nibble on”?
Simple but new and interesting – exactly what I like. And who doesn’t love eggplant and tomatoes?!
I love Israeli food and especially the newer versions of staples of Israeli food. I can’t wait to get a copy of this cookbook!
I have always loved Israeli cuisine and can’t wait to read your book. I love salads and fish- hope I win.
I have always wanted to make malabi. Now I can
We love to cook international cuisine. Why not cook something delicious from country of Hashem’s heart?!
I would love to try this cookbook sounds wonderful!!
Always looking for something different!
Thank you Tamar for this beautiful article !!
Thnak you for sharing!
Hope you’ll find these kind of recipes in the book
Thank you Bernadette for sharing
Susan, thank you for sharing. All recipes are easy to follow
Looking forward to cooking with you Katharina
Thank you Ilana
I love all kinds of eggplants you’ll find a whole section for eggplants recipes.
Be happy to hear the comments! Thank you for sharing
you should try it. It’s one of the best!!
follow the recipe and enjoy the best challah!!!
My hummus do not have any bicarbonate, preservatives or vegetable oil. I use olive oil just on top with some paprika and parsley
You should try it you’ll love it!!
The borekitas, leek patties and sfongato are from very early stage food memories from home!
Yes all recipes have conversions to american measurments
Thank you appreciate your comment!
wish you Good luck in winning this one !
The tabouleh salad has za’atar in the seasoning
Wish you Good Luck!
try the combination of tahini and silan as seasoning in the cauliflower recipe in the book. There is also a mix of spices called Baharat from the iraqi kitchen to use for meat balls and stuffed vegetables.
Thank you, sounds great! I will give them a try.
Thank you Lisa !!!
hummus and pita breads are in almost every home in Israel.
Thank you Shainy for your feedback
yes I do have recipes for dips
especially fresh herbs, za’atar , hummus and pita breads.
Yes I do have dip recipes
Yes I do have recipes for dips
I do have dip recipes
I would love to get this cookbook for my mother-in-law, she loves experimenting with recipes from different countries!
My son and daughter in law would love this book. They have guests every Shabbat for dinner and over the weekend also. Their meals are many courses and everyone really loves then diversity of the menu. This would be an added compilation of wonderful dishes to serve and enjoy. Thank you for the opportunity.
My father’s family is Israeli and I have such fond memories of spending time with his aunts and uncles while I was in israel. My only regret is that I never got to ask any of them for their recipes! I would love to bring back some of the taste of their food into my home!
yes they do
Thank you Shainy for your feedback!
Wow, I’d love to win this book. I’m also excited that it’s mostly vegetarian!
Looks amazing.
Looks like a great collection of recipes and tips for cooking in Israel!
Always looking for easy recipes like chicken etc.
looks like a good asset to my cookery book collection
looks like this could be a great asset to my collection of books
will everything be as yummy as it should be if we have to use (yuck) american tomatoes and cucumbers? Well, I have a good imagination…..it all looks terrific!
i love your recipes it realy helps me as i am not kosher however i do kosher cooking so therefore need all the help i canget thank you you inspire me