The taste of Israel

 

A TV documentary takes Germans on a culinary journey round Israel.

 

Tom Franz dips a piece of bread that he broke with his hands, into the bubbling hot sauce of a dish well-beloved in many Israeli homes: shakshuka. Served in and eaten from a large rustic pan, this tomato-based dish of spicy steaming vegetables topped with a poached egg, is just one of many culinary delights presented in a three-part documentary called “The taste of Israel”, broadcast in Germany in December 2015 and January 2016. Franz, a charming native German who lives in Israel, is the perfect host for the film. Two years ago, he won over Israeli hearts by cooking on the Israeli primetime TV show “Master-Chef”. At first, Franz was simply ‘The German participant’, but he quickly became just ‘Tom’ and, even more familiarly, ‘bro’. In the end, he won. That season of the show enjoyed one of its highest ratings ever.

In the new documentary “The taste of Israel”, filmmakers Mica Stobwasser and Louis Saul paint a portrait of the people in Israel and their daily lives. They do so by filming Tom Franz on a culinary journey round Israel, accompanied by different people along the way, for instance the owner of a renowned restaurant or an organic farmer. The episodes take the audience on a fascinating trip from a kibbutz in the Negev Desert, via kosher kitchens in Jerusalem, to Tel Aviv’s gourmet chef hot-spots and up north to the boutique wineries in Galilee.

 

Behind the scenes

 

It took a year and a half to complete the documentary. “After extensive research we met about 100 potential protagonists,” says Stobwasser, detailing the effort that went into the film. Having visited Israel for the first time in 2013, Stobwasser explains that with the film she “decided to approach the country through the kitchen door.” And for good reason: “Through the kitchen we step into the lives of fascinating individuals, who are living their daily lives in a complex and inspiring country. That is different to the images of political conflict that viewers already know from the news and associate with Israel.”

 

To be sure, the conflicts are present in the documentary, but in a way that shows a complexity not many viewers know. Take the fact of Muslims and Jews living alongside each other, or actually together. One of many examples in the documentary is a love story between a Muslim and a Jew who together created a variation of that Middle Eastern staple made of deep-fried chickpea balls, and called it “shrimp falafel”. Another example is the Jewish food market in the Arab village of Abu Gosh. There Tom Franz tasted the produce of organic farmers from the region, and learnt that the Arab Israelis have maintained culinary relationships with their Jewish neighbours, for example in the market, for years now.

 

Culinary ambassador

 

For the filmmakers, Tom Franz was the perfect presenter. “People love Tom, he’s a bridge builder,” says Stobwasser, emphasising that to her mind Franz is much more than a host. Rather, she says, he symbolises a new chapter in German-Israeli friendship. Indeed Franz’s story is compelling. He came to Israel in the mid 1990s through the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace in lieu of military service. Subsequently he converted to Judaism and today is married to an Israeli who comes from a family of Holocaust survivors.

Franz’s love affair with food actually began in Israel while reminiscing about his mother’s cooking. Slowly broadening his sources of inspiration, he started to introduce Israeli flavours into his dishes. Finally, he honed his skills during the 4-months long “Master Chef” TV show, which “was as hard as completing law school,” the trained lawyer asserts. The show made him a celebrity in Israel, but he also became known in the German culinary scene, thanks to his cook book about Israeli cuisine called “So schmeckt Israel”.

He explains that in Israel he is perceived as a culinary ambassador of Germany, and in Germany as an ambassador of Israel. “This was not something I planned on doing, but I am happily taking this role upon myself. It is a privilege,” he says. For him this seems to be an ideal role as he moves effortlessly between the two countries and cultures. Middle Eastern cuisine and especially kosher food are not well known in Germany, and Tom Franz has set out to change all that.

      

Produced by Megaherz GmbH in cooperation with ARTE, BR and SWR.

On TV:

BR 28/29/30 December 2015,at 7 p.m.

SWR 9/16/23 January 2016, at 4:45 p.m.