Modern Jerusalem Cuisine Blends History & Lore

Middle Eastern cookbooks are a shekel a dozen, but this one has heft.

“The Eucalyptus Cookbook,” by Moshe Basson, is 241 pages of glossy photos of “eat off the page” recipes based on his decades of running a restaurant in the Artists Colony at the foot of the Old City walls in Jerusalem, so named because of the eucalyptus tree growing right through it.

With Jewish Iraqi roots, Basson strives for harmony where he employs Muslims, Christians and Jews to cook and serve. A jolly looking fellow with a tightly woven hair braid, Basson blends dishes from the Jewish diaspora with his spices and earthy ideas like cooking eggs on embers interwoven with his childhood memories and Biblical texts.

Some recipes are recognizable like tabbouleh, fried cauliflower, grilled wild mushrooms, white bean soup, hummus and focaccia, that are fine-tuned by the chef who does not taste food while cooking to discern flavors; instead, he leans on the brain, by relaying, “Odor molecules … have pathways to the emotional ground control of the brain … modern life has deprived society of the need, and subsequent trust, of using our senses.”

Most importantly, prepare the senses for an epicurean ride though dishes like: fatayer, Hamin macaroni, Asados Gyris, Tokyo Jerusalem gyoza, and Ingria – sweet and sour beef and eggplant stew, fish felafel, tanned quince, Oriental ceviche and a lotta lamb. Basson’s aunt’s recipe for baklava includes orange blossom water, cardamom, and lemon juice. But macarons with liver pate?

After deriguer chapters on vegetables, soups (favorite tomato mint), grains and beans, meat and chicken, fish, sweets, and cocktails — ever heard of eucalyptus moonshine? He concludes with condiments and basics, explaining the Babylonian Talmud’s debate over what blessing should be used for specific oil blends … mishcha tchina, mishcha kvisaha … dating back to the third to sixth centuries. He stated, “We use our oil blends to enhance experience like “the bright green parsley oil intensifying the experience.”

Chef Basson will appear at the Book Festival of the MJCCA at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 7, in a dessert reception featuring recipes from the cookbook. Admission is $22 for community members and $18 for MJCCA members.