Maccabiah chefs turn up heat for culinary contest
The 20th round of the World Games opened with a little cuisine competition
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
It isn’t just about sports in the 20th Maccabiah World Games, which officially began Thursday night, July 6 in Jerusalem. This year, there’s a cuisine competition as well.
The games included an inaugural International Maccabi Culinary Competition, which took place July 4 in Tel Aviv, showcasing food — in addition to sports — as a universal language.
Co-chaired by James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Solomonov, Maccabi World Union honorary president Bob Spivak and chef Ido Zarmi, the competition consisted of six teams of professional chefs from Australia, Gibraltar, Israel, Italy, Spain, and the US.
The Israeli team was a mix of Arab and Jewish chefs, while the judges’ panel was comprised of professional and amateur chefs, hospitality professionals and food journalists.
The gold medal went to the Australians, followed by a silver for Team USA and the bronze for the Israeli team.
Of course, said Zarmi, the importance of the program is the ability to network and collaborate outside of the competition.
“Food is the new diplomacy,” said Solomonov, who focuses on Israeli cuisine in his Philadelphia and New York restaurants.
Each team prepared a five-course meal, showcasing the flavors of their country and utilizing the freshest locally-grown Israeli produce, meat, and fish. Chefs were judged on creativity, originality, flavor and presentation.
And here is some of the competition that took place on July 4!
Posted by International Maccabi Culinary Competition on Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Maccabi USA is also leading a culinary mission throughout Israel during the first week of July, offering the group of 20 the opportunity to see Israel through a culinary lens, visiting farms, distilleries and wineries.
The 20th Maccabiah launched in Jerusalem on Thursday with most of the competitions taking place at 14 sites around the country over the next two weeks. There are 10,000 athletes from 80 countries participating in the games.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWNGprxFXQ_/?taken-by=maccabi_culinary
For schedules and games, see the Maccabiah website.
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