I have many loves in life, too many to count; however, two that come near the top of the list are films and cooking. It may come as a surprise to some people, but as a child I was a bad eater, and when I say bad, I mean terrible, the worst possible. I didn’t eat any food that didn’t have a clear geometric shape. My worldview was based on segregation; each ingredient had to have his own domain. Onion? Herbs? On my plate??? No way! For me, chicken soup was a clear drained broth. Fish? I ate it for the first time at the age of 26. I could live on schnitzel and mashed potato. And then, I got over it. When I was 25, I went to Paris for the first time in my life; I only planned to go for a week and stayed for a year. Yes, Paris is one of my loves, and there I learned to eat everything! And I mean Everything! Well, almost everything; I still don't eat beet, and eggplants I discovered only a couple of years ago.

I started to cook after returning to Israel from Paris, and since then I have never stopped. Most of my career has been in the film and television industry, my other love. I produced and directed dozens of titles, from TV commercials and sales videos to live TV shows and documentaries. Cooking was more of an events and holidays habit: every now and then I stepped into the kitchen and cooked a festive meal, mostly for friends. As time went by, I found myself spending more time in the kitchen, out of choice. For some people, a mindless activity is washing the dishes; I cook. What am I cooking? Anything and everything. The dictionary might define this as eclectic; I call it “whatever there is in the refrigerator.”

The foundation of my cooking is my childhood home. Growing up in a mixed-ethnicity home exposed me to a wide and rich culinary variety. Most of the spices that I use are those that I grew up with. Cumin, turmeric, and paprika can be found in almost every dish I make. With time and exposure to other tastes and flavors, the variety of the dishes that I learned to love and prepare expanded and developed. What fascinates me is the combination of the traditional flavors I grew up with and those I discovered and fell in love with as an adult. Perhaps in an unconscious effort to make up for all the flavors I missed out on as a child, my love for food crosses many borders. From east to west, from north to south, at almost any point on the globe I can find a spice, an ingredient, or a dish that excites my taste buds. In my home kitchen, I try to combine them all.