culinary support in challenging times

rallying bakers and cooks...

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this post instead of the zingy, joyous post about the citron and Feast of Tabernacles, one of the three Pilgrimage farming holidays celebrated over the past week in so many Jewish communities around the world, giving thanks for the bounty of Israel’s ancient land.

No one anticipated that on the last day of the agricultural festival in this new year, Israeli’s getting up to celebrate with family and friends would instead be getting ready for war. There are no words to describe the level of fear, anxiety and shock that has hit the country, as everyone has someone related or known to them, fighting amidst the bloodshed.

I feel impotent and useless in a situation that one cannot begin to comprehend, and yet I feel there must be something I can do to help. There is a need to busy oneself as watching news reports and listening out for the sirens becomes part of the daily routine. Support for one another is mandatory in this country and so too is the culinary support to sustain and nourish the soldiers and reservists on the battlefield and those displaced, injured and grief stricken.

The culinary culture across this country has always extended to sharing food with all who is in need, and in these dark troubled times, food becomes the focus to ensure everyone within the armed forces, hospitals and unable to fend for themselves is fed and watered, with nourishing, home cooked meals. Stations are set up in schools, dining rooms, kitchens and homes with trestle tables stretching the length and breadth of rooms and volunteers working tirelessly to fill hundreds of takeaway cartons with food. Pieces of chicken, potatoes or rice and vegetables are prepared and cooked by the many other volunteers who have offered their services to ensure that every soldier has a filling, nutritious meal whilst on active service and anyone rendered homeless, comforted by a hot meal. Kitchen cupboards are raided for biscuits, crisps and snacks and when in the supermarkets, extra bread and drinks are bought to give to the bases and homes left without food.

And so I can help… I began baking cakes that can be easily sliced and eaten on the hoof, using store cupboard ingredients and seasonal fruits for added flavour. My lemon and apple cakes are ready to take to the local kibbutz in the morning, where they will be apportioned, packed and delivered with the meals to the army bases and displaced families. As this will be the daily run for as long as it takes, I will continue to bake, cook and volunteer at the stations, and help in any way I can.

Culinary support is a way of life here in Israel, as it has been since its inception and particularly when faced with unprecedented challenges. It is effortlessly given without a second thought and always with heaps of love.

Stay safe everyone…