This Thursday and Friday in Haifa is going to be delicious
For the first time for any culinary festival in Israel, A-Sham, the food festival in downtown Haifa, will host two guest chefs from Turkey - the highly acclaimed former champion windsurfer turned self-taught chef Kemal Demirasal and chef Maksut Aşkar from the celebrated Istanbul restaurant Neolokal. This year’s festival will tackle diverse and rich recipes from Turkish and Ottoman cuisine rooted in an empire that dominated the region from South-East Europe, through North Africa and into the Arabian Peninsula for 600 years.
Demirasal and Aşkar will join dozens of leading chefs and restaurateurs from the Arab (Muslim, Christian and Druze) and Jewish sectors, all working together to give their personal, contemporary interpretations of Ottoman- and Turkish-inspired dishes. The guest chefs will be hosted by dozens of downtown city restaurants, hummus joints, bars and cafes, serving specially-created festival dishes, priced at NIS 40, as well as gourmet menus. The festival will also celebrate with street food, pop-up stores, Turkish music, dance and parties, cooking workshops and lectures, family activities and more. The area around the Palmer Gate will transform into little Turkey for the two days of the festival, a place for festival-goers to explore and discover the tastes and feel of the Ottoman Empire come to life.
© Assaf Ambram
Kahara Einin, a leading producer of the Arabic music scene, created the soundtrack that accompanies the festival, with performances by musicians from Israel and Turkey and parties with leading DJs. Performances include Turkish singer Bahar Turkan (Thursday 6/12 at 22:00, Bar Code); Mahmat Dash, the Turkish wonder boy (Friday 7/12 at 16:00, Back to Black); Karadnis, a trio playing wonderful music from the Black Sea (Thursday, 6/12 at 21:00. Talpiot) and Arkadash, a young Turkish-style ensemble (Friday 7/12 at 14:00. Ma’ayan HaBira). DJs will hold the stage at parties on Thursday from 22:00 at Hamam El Pasha and De Vries.
Chef Kemal Demirasal will prepare a gourmet festival meal in a private dining room at HaNamal 24, in collaboration with Jewish Israeli celebrity chef Haim Cohen, (Yaffo-Tel Aviv) whose cuisine is influenced by his own Turkish roots, and A-Sham festival founder, Arab Israeli Nof Atamna Ismaeel who is renowned for her own interpretations of Levantine cuisine. Enjoy such intricate dishes as the seafood orzo with Turkish peppers puree, Dolma leek stuffed with rice, dried apricots and mint in Sumac water and a slow-roasted leg of lamb with quince and a refreshing vegetable salad. Demirasal is the founder of the award-winning Alancha restaurant, which specializes in Anatolian cuisine with a contemporary twist and is ranked among the world’s top fifty best restaurants.
© Assaf Ambram
Among the participating chefs: Amos Sion, Elias Matar, Ali Khatib, Dohul Safdie, Johhny Guric, Omar Alwan, Yahaloma Levi, Neifa Mula, Israel Aharoni, Naal Zarkawi, Haim Cohen, Gil Hovav, Michal Buton, Barak Aharoni, Nashat Abbas, Shadi Bashara, Orel Kimchi, Ran Shmueli, Hila Alpert