A brief introduction to the cultural background of Israeli food
The Embassy of Israel recently hosted a cooking workshop under the theme “Israel’s diversity: Stories behind the dishes”, introducing the many Israeli communities through their unique culinary traditions. The event took place at the newly opened Helena Restaurant in Sukhumvit Soi 51.
The Jewish nation has a long history of thousands of years, though the State of Israel was established only in 1948. At the establishment, the population of the young country was about 800,000 people, 650,000 of them were Jewish, and the rest were Muslims, Christians and other minorities.
Since the establishment of the State, waves of Jewish migrations have arrived from all over the world, the biggest waves being from Iran, Iraq, Yemen, the former USSR, Turkey, Syria, Ethiopia, Morocco, Tunisia and Europe. By 2022 the population of Israel reached 9.5 million people, about 74% of them are Jewish. The migration throughout the years has created, not only a very diverse population, but a blend of many of these cultures. That diversity is reflected very well in the Israeli cuisine, which is a mixture of various dishes from different origins, as well as new fusion dishes.
In the workshop, participants learned how to make several dishes which originated from other countries and are part of the Israeli cuisine, such as Challah, Shakshuka and Falafel. The workshop was followed by lunch comprising more than 25 Israeli dishes, showcasing the various flavours and colours of Israeli cuisine.
Ambassador Orna Sagiv explained to the audience, “The diversity of Israel’s population is quite unique, compared to most countries which tends to be more homogeneous. This diversity presents many opportunities and plays a major role in the development of the young country. The various flavours of the Israeli cuisine, as well as the new fusion food, combining the different ingredients, is a manifest of the “melting pot” Israel became for these various cultural groups. In today’s workshop we tried to share this aspect of our culture with the Thai media, in a fun and delicious way.
Hopefully, through a better understanding of the Israeli culture this will be another bridge for stronger Thai-Israeli relations.”
