Eyerlekh Mit Tzvible (Eggs With Onion)
Ingredients
- 3 medium russet potatoes
- 3 large yellow onions
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 large eggs
- 3 scallions, white and light green parts only, cut into ½-inch pieces
- Smoked fish like white anchovies, for serving
Tomato and Citrus Salad
Ingredients
- 4 large ripe Roma tomatoes (about 1½ pounds), or a mixture of heirloom varieties
- 2 large oranges
- 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 12 pitted Kalamata olives, halved
- ¼ cup good quality olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Warm crusty bread, for serving
White Shakshuka With Labneh
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons coarsely chopped hyssop leaves (or you can substitute a mix of coarsely chopped fresh mint, oregano, sage, and/or thyme)
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pound labneh cheese
- 8 large eggs yolks
- Warm pita, for serving
Eggplant in Paprika and Eggplant in Vinegar
Ingredients
- 4 large, firm Italian eggplants, sliced lengthwise into ⅓-inch thick slices
- ¼ cup fine sea salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus more as needed
For the eggplant in paprika:
- 1½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1½ teaspoon hot paprika
- 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
For the eggplant in vinegar:
- 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
- 3 large bay leaves
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup good quality vegetable or sunflower oil
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Steak and Blackberry Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups coarsely chopped parsley (1 bunch)
- 1½ cups coarsely chopped mint (leaves from approximately 12 large sprigs)
- 8 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- 1 medium red onion, finely diced
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 thick slices of high-quality sourdough bread (about 1-inch thick)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 aged boneless New York strip steaks, about 1-inch thick (1 pound total)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 1½ cup chilled fresh blackberries (or raspberries)
Corn Latkes
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup whole milk
- 4 cups corn kernels (about 4 medium ears), cut from the cobs of fresh sweet corn
- 1½ cups dried bread crumbs
- 1 cup (about 3 ounces) grated kashkaval cheese or aged provolone
- 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus more as needed
- Tzatziki with fresh mint, for serving
- Sliced radishes, for serving
Msayer (Pickled Vegetables)
Ingredients
- ½ small head of cauliflower, trimmed and cut into bite-sized florets
- 1 small bulb of fennel, trimmed and cored, cut into 2-inch-long by ¼-inch-wide petals
- 1 small turnip, peeled, halved, and cut into ½-inch-thick wedges
- 1 bunch medium radishes, trimmed and halved
- 4 stalks of celery, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 8 to 10 large cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled
- ¼ cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
Fish Panzanella
Ingredients
For the fish:
- 2 pounds whole trout (2 to 3 small trout), or other flaky fleshed fish such as salmon or char, cleaned
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the salad:
- 6 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and coarsely chopped
- 8 scallions, white and light green parts only, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 12 large green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup heavy cream or whole milk
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 thick slices of country bread (about 1-inch thick)
- ½ lemon
- Chilled vodka, for serving
- Bulgarian feta, for serving
Cherkessian Cheese (Homemade Goat Cheese)
Ingredients
- 1 gallon whole goat milk, not ultra-pasteurized
- 2 cups plain goat yogurt
- ½ cup white vinegar
- Kosher salt, to taste
Special equipment:
- A candy or instant-read thermometer
- 2 yards cheesecloth, folded into an 18-inch square 4 layers thick
- 2-cup wicker basket or plastic mold
Eyerlekh Mit Tzvible (Eggs With Onion)
Ingredients
- 3 medium russet potatoes
- 3 large yellow onions
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 large eggs
- 3 scallions, white and light green parts only, cut into ½-inch pieces
- Smoked fish like white anchovies, for serving
Tomato and Citrus Salad
Ingredients
- 4 large ripe Roma tomatoes (about 1½ pounds), or a mixture of heirloom varieties
- 2 large oranges
- 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 12 pitted Kalamata olives, halved
- ¼ cup good quality olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Warm crusty bread, for serving
White Shakshuka With Labneh
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons coarsely chopped hyssop leaves (or you can substitute a mix of coarsely chopped fresh mint, oregano, sage, and/or thyme)
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pound labneh cheese
- 8 large eggs yolks
- Warm pita, for serving
Eggplant in Paprika and Eggplant in Vinegar
Ingredients
- 4 large, firm Italian eggplants, sliced lengthwise into ⅓-inch thick slices
- ¼ cup fine sea salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus more as needed
For the eggplant in paprika:
- 1½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1½ teaspoon hot paprika
- 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
For the eggplant in vinegar:
- 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
- 3 large bay leaves
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup good quality vegetable or sunflower oil
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Steak and Blackberry Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups coarsely chopped parsley (1 bunch)
- 1½ cups coarsely chopped mint (leaves from approximately 12 large sprigs)
- 8 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- 1 medium red onion, finely diced
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 thick slices of high-quality sourdough bread (about 1-inch thick)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 aged boneless New York strip steaks, about 1-inch thick (1 pound total)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 1½ cup chilled fresh blackberries (or raspberries)
Corn Latkes
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup whole milk
- 4 cups corn kernels (about 4 medium ears), cut from the cobs of fresh sweet corn
- 1½ cups dried bread crumbs
- 1 cup (about 3 ounces) grated kashkaval cheese or aged provolone
- 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus more as needed
- Tzatziki with fresh mint, for serving
- Sliced radishes, for serving
Msayer (Pickled Vegetables)
Ingredients
- ½ small head of cauliflower, trimmed and cut into bite-sized florets
- 1 small bulb of fennel, trimmed and cored, cut into 2-inch-long by ¼-inch-wide petals
- 1 small turnip, peeled, halved, and cut into ½-inch-thick wedges
- 1 bunch medium radishes, trimmed and halved
- 4 stalks of celery, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 8 to 10 large cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled
- ¼ cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
Fish Panzanella
Ingredients
For the fish:
- 2 pounds whole trout (2 to 3 small trout), or other flaky fleshed fish such as salmon or char, cleaned
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the salad:
- 6 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and coarsely chopped
- 8 scallions, white and light green parts only, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 12 large green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup heavy cream or whole milk
- Fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 thick slices of country bread (about 1-inch thick)
- ½ lemon
- Chilled vodka, for serving
- Bulgarian feta, for serving
Cherkessian Cheese (Homemade Goat Cheese)
Ingredients
- 1 gallon whole goat milk, not ultra-pasteurized
- 2 cups plain goat yogurt
- ½ cup white vinegar
- Kosher salt, to taste
Special equipment:
- A candy or instant-read thermometer
- 2 yards cheesecloth, folded into an 18-inch square 4 layers thick
- 2-cup wicker basket or plastic mold
Read more about Hedai Offaim in “Hedai Offaim’s Table Is Always Open — And Covered with the Bounty of Israel” and try his recipes for white shakshuka with labneh, eggplant in paprika and eggplant in vinegar, and steak and blackberry salad.
For chef and farmer Hedai Offaim, his late grandmother Rivka’s recipes are a calling. “I make her food when I feel that’s what I need…. When I get nostalgic bursts, I make everything I remember how to make from her kitchen”, he says. That includes dishes of poverty and tradition from the small shtetl called Piszczac in the east of Poland where she lived. Dishes like kreplach and fricasse, a dish of chicken organs and caramelized onions, and eyerlekh mit tzvible, or eggs with onion, a recipe from Rivka’s mother Toibe-Mahe.
Rivka carried it with her during World War II when she fled with her husband while pregnant from Poland east towards Russia, ultimately making it to Makhachkala on the Caspian Sea. When they reached Russia, Hedai’s grandfather was drafted and ultimately killed by the Nazis. “My father never met his father,” he explains. “They waited for him for many years.” But he never returned from the war. In 1948, Rivka and her son Yankele, Hedai’s father, who was just 8-years-old made Aliyah, building a home for themselves in Haifa.
Despite moving to Israel at the time of the founding of the country, Rivka chose not to assimilate. “She kept her diaspora characteristics. She was a Yiddishe mama,” Hedai explains. “She cooked food from home and she didn’t feel sorry or a need to apologize for not assimilating. She was the real thing.” And so was her cooking.
Hedai has visited Poland more than 40 times and taken several trips to Ukraine. “I’ve been learning and studying the Jewry of those areas for a long time,” he says. “I’ve created and eaten feasts in Poland.” His grandmother’s cooking still stands out. “This is the first taste that I remember,” he adds. He would sit in the kitchen with Rivka as she cooked, keeping her company and learning her recipes and stories as she folded delicate kreplach.
While Hedai’s preserved almost all of Rivka’s recipes exactly as she made them, he has updated the eyerlekh mit tzvible over the years. It was traditionally made with eggs still inside a just slaughtered hen, which are hard to find in Israel (and the U.S.) today. In their place, Hedai uses deeply golden yolks. And while he saves the fricasse and kreplach for dinners dedicated just to Rivka, the eyerlekh mit tzvible is the one crossover to his deep and wide repertoire of cooking that takes inspiration from the land of Israel. He serves it at brunch alongside white shakshuka, corn latkes, and salads, those meals embodying both his family’s past and present.
