The Big Kitchen hosts culinary stage shows in Tel Aviv

The Ort Dan Gourmet Culinary Studies Center in Tel Aviv is offering the best of what it calls Israel’s culinary stage – The Big Kitchen – in a series of master classes by Israel’s top chefs that include appetizing demonstrations of their unique techniques and tasting their mouth-watering cuisine.

The Big Kitchen is a warm, welcoming venue on Nes Lagoyim 53 in south Tel Aviv. Its auditorium has more than 300 seats, centered around a fully equipped modern kitchen with four giant screens providing close-ups of the demonstrations, alongside live recording and broadcasting systems and a high-quality sound system.

In the third session lasting about 90 minutes on the evening of November 26, top chef Yaron Kestenbaum (M25 and Meat Market restaurants) and baker Oren Hajaj (Adon Shifon) dazzled a few dozen guests as they presented “a joint show that arouses the appetite for bread and meat.”

After being introduced by moderator and content curator Shir Halpern, they explained their choices on the menu – hot bread and focaccia with a variety of delicious dips, including a Jerusalem artichoke spread and olive oil, together with juicy meatballs, marrow bones, pulled beef, and rare entrecôte.

Chatting constantly with each other and audience members, Kestenbaum and Hajaj were both entertaining and enlightening as they shared their culinary wisdom, cooking secrets, and tips (e.g.,“Don’t open the door of a hot oven for too long; it lowers the temperature!”) 

Kosher meat

Explaining the challenges of cooking with kosher meat, Kestenbaum argued that Israel has some of the world’s tastiest beef and chicken as well as the tastiest lavrak (sea bass).

The content of the workshops is created by chef Avi Steinitz, the professional director of Ort Dan Gourmet, together with Halpern, who is a culinary entrepreneur, Cordon Bleu graduate, and owner of the Tel Aviv Port Farmers’ Market. 

Halpern says the topics chosen are close to her heart, including a focus on local cuisine and local producers.

“The content in The Big Kitchen is connected to the state of the food world in the past year and gives expression to producers and chefs from the north of the country through demonstrations and on-site sales,” she says.

Jeanne Gore, editor and founder of On the Table magazine and author of books on Israeli and Jewish food, hosts Israel’s leading chefs for a seminar on “Israeli Cuisine.” The list of those appearing includes chefs Yossi Shitrit, Erez Komarovsky, and Ezra Kedem; pastry chefs David Laor, Michal Bouton, and Anna Shapira; and bloggers Liza Panelim and Rotem Liberzon.

In the “Culinary Jam Sessions,” chef Avivit Friel (Ouzeria) discusses local olive oil production, chef Shirel Berger (OPA) cooks seasonal food in dialogue with Amir Feldman (Aruganit), Yoni Avraham (Fresca Pizzeria) offers a master class on Neapolitan pizza, and Adam Ziv (Buza, Ganeden) gives a master class on ice cream.

More information is available on The Big Kitchen’s website: www.dangourmet.co.il/