The Making of ‘Falafel Nation’
Image by Courtesy Yael Raviv
By Alix Wall March 7, 2016
Yael Raviv (above) is author of “Falafel Nation: Cuisine and the Making of National Identity in Israel (Studies of Jews in Society).”
by Yael Raviv, is a work of culinary anthropology that looks at the founding of the state of Israel through the prism of food. The book (University of Nebraska Press) is the outgrowth of Raviv’s PhD dissertation in performance studies at NYU. Raviv is also the director of the Umami Festival, which takes place every other year in New York City. Alix Wall spoke to Raviv recently about the book.
‘Falafel Nation’ evolved out of your PhD thesis. How is it different?
I was working on and off on it over the years, and did a lot of of additional research. My dissertation was more historical focused, on the time between the First Zionist Congress and 1967, while the book is more up to the present. I had gone to culinary school when I first came to the U.S., but never saw it as a career. When I first came up with the idea in the mid ’90s, I wasn’t planning on doing a PhD — I was thinking I’d go back to theater — but I started a family and was looking for something more conducive to that. Knowing a dissertation would take many years, I thought about ‘What do I know most about, and care about?’ When I told my advisor I wanted to study food in Israel, I expected her to laugh me out of her office, but she was very positive. I found so much wonderful material. The study of food wasn’t as common then as it is now, so it was really exciting. I talked to a lot of wonderful people who have passed on since then. This topic pulled in all these different things I did. Performance studies is a great discipline through which to see food, as it’s such a sensory and participatory experience.
You have said that the title is actually a bit misleading. How?
The original title was ‘Recipe for a Nation,’ but the editors really wanted falafel in the title. They wanted “Falafel Wars,” which might have been good for marketing purposes. I thought it made for a great story, and offered another level of thinking about falafel and what it means, so I went with that. If people don’t read any further than the introduction, there’s a smaller case study that you can look through and understand the broader story of the relationship between Jewish nationalism and food.
How were oranges, olives and other native fruits and vegetables integral to forging a new Israeli identity for the newcomers from Eastern Europe?
For many years, cooking and consumption of food were really not important, but agriculture was really important in the early decades of Zionism, so a lot of these products became hallmarks and were used as markers of identity because they illustrated so well this connection to the land. They became emblematic of this new Jewish persona of the halutz (pioneer) that’s vital and strong and rooted in the land. The fact that olives and grapes are mentioned in the Bible illustrated an unbroken connection, linking current pioneers to their ancestors in Biblical times.
For years, many tourists thought of the huge hotel buffet breakfasts as emblematic of Israeli food. How did this tradition begin?
Food was just not that important in the early years, so breakfast featured many basic products that don’t require cooking. The hotel breakfast became dairy products and fresh fruits and vegetables, because you don’t have to do too much to them to have fabulous meals. The more sophisticated cooking only evolved in the last decades to be on par with any other tourist destination.
Just as the kibbutz movement had a huge influence on the country in its formative years, the communal dining experience did as well. How?
The reason that the kibbutz movement in Israel was so successful and still goes on is because it was so much a part of the country in general and was able to change and adapt with the times. People could be flexible and keep the ideology and values but be willing to adapt when things weren’t working. The kibbutz members were part of that emblem of the Israeli ideal that I mentioned earlier; they were young and strong and rooted in the land and self-sufficient, which made them take on this greater significance. It’s changed a lot in the last few decades. The hallowed image of an Israeli hero now may be a tech start up.
What is luf?
We had substitutions for all kinds of non-kosher products that exist in other parts of the world. Luf is a kind of kosher SPAM that was invented as something soldiers could carry in their backpacks and take to the field. It would last forever in a can, and they could heat it up and have a satisfying meal. I know about it so intimately even though I never ate it myself (because most women are not in combat). There were so many jokes about what can be done to it to make it more edible, and because almost all of Israel goes through the army, it became a household name. There are many people who developed a liking to it, much like any kind of strange product, but like with so many strange products, it has nothing to do with the flavor of it.
How do you think living outside of Israel shaped your book?
If I had stayed in Israel I’m sure I never would have written it. When you go through the Israeli public school system, at least when I did, in the last three years you do nothing but Jewish history, Bible and Hebrew literature, and I couldn’t wait to get away from that, from dealing with Israel only and always. I wanted to study the French Revolution or discuss anything but Israeli history. But after taking a pause, I wanted to look at all of these Israeli cultural products, and that wouldn’t have happened if I were still there. Distance is always a good idea when you’re studying something. You want to be an insider, but to critique it, it’s also helpful to have distance and step back from it a bit.
When you began studying Israeli cuisine, it was a topic not much discussed outside of Israel. Now Israeli cuisine seems to be having its moment, thanks to chefs like Yotam Ottolenghi, Alon Shaya, Michael Solomonov and Einat Admony. Why do you think this is, and did you plan such good timing for your book?
It probably was easier to publish my book now that there’s such an interest in Israeli cuisine. When I worked on Israeli cuisine in the ’90s people would ask if there is such a thing. Now it’s understood that there is, like French or Italian cuisine. People accept that now, when a couple of decades ago, they wouldn’t have. It did grow up and mature, and all of these chefs have contributed to its maturity and articulation. They’re all mining their heritage and their family recipes, whether it’s a mother or grandmother, and their experiences growing up, but also bringing their culinary training and travels around the world to it, whether it’s French techniques or Asian ingredients or influences from wherever they live now. When you try and define it, one of the traits that characterizes it is this openness. The results are really exciting, as you have these really talented chefs thinking about Israeli cuisine and what it is and playing around with ingredients and bringing together different traditional recipes with new influences, to create something really exciting and fun.
You are the director and founder of the Umami Festival. Can you explain what that is?
It’s a non-profit festival that brings together artists and food professionals, using food as a medium. It started in 2008, and takes place every other year. We have art events in food spaces and food events in arts spaces; the idea is two-sided: to think of food as a creative medium, and the flip side is a way of making art more accessible. Art events can sometimes seem elitist but food as a medium is very accessible, and kids can work with food, too. More places are doing this now so we’re at kind of a crossroads.
This article first appeared on J.Weekly.
Alix Wall is a freelance writer and personal chef in Oakland, California, and the author of the blog TheOrganicEpicure.com
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