Recipes for Understanding

took my restaurant management team to my birth country of Israel so they could have their, we ate incredible hummus with eggplant and [pickled mango sauce] from a fourth-generation hummus shop owner. Just outside Jersualem in the village of Ein Rafa, we ate shrimp fritters and duck leg with saffron aioli on the outdoor patio at a restaurant called . Connecting with home cooks was also a highlight. One day we went to the home of a Druze woman named Zaferat. The Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethno-religious minority. Before we began cooking, we sat in the living room with her family. They told us about their culture’s beliefs, including a moving story about the reincarnation of a little boy in their village. Listening deepened our experience. We felt welcomed, like we were part of the family. Afterward, we stuffed grape leaves, made dumplings, and talked together. Those are the special moments of travel.