The 21st Judean Hills/Mateh Yehudah Food Festival.
The 21st annual Judean Hills Food Festival starts on Wednesday, June 9 and runs until Saturday, July 3. The festival features a variety of culinary events and home hospitality in the beautiful Judean Hills region. Hosts include people serving Moroccan, Turkish, Kurdish, Indian and Arabic food. Events take place in fields, vineyards, breweries and more.
Information on all the events taking place during the festival can be found in Hebrew on the Judean Hills Food Festival website or in the festival brochure. Unfortunately, the website does not have separate pages for each event but where possible, I have included a link to the hosts to contact for more information.
Here is a selection of the events taking place during the festival.
Culinary Workshops
- Bread-making workshops by Breadly in Moshav Srigim Lion. Workshops include:
- Pizza, calzone and other taboon pastries
- Flavored and decorated focaccia
- Bread rolls
- Chocolate-making workshop by Caja Chocolaterie (Kosher) held at Saba’s Gallery in Moshav Zaffirim.
- Foraging workshop with Yael Shemesh Bloom on Thursday, June 17, call 050 716 2404 to book.
- Sourdough baking workshop with Adi Shemesh Bloom on the evenings of Wednesday, June 9 and 23, on Kibbutz Harel. Call 052 475 3341 to book.
Events at Local Restaurants and Event Venues
- A special dinner by Meshek Ofaime at the House of Wheels in Moshav Ibn Sapir, an organization that helps youth and adults with physical disabilities. The dinner will feature wine from Flam Winery with a live jazz performance and the food is under the supervision of Tzohar.
- An Arabic feast at Salwa’s House in Ein Naqquba.
- BeHatzer Shel Ofer in Moshav Matta hosts smoked meat events on Thursday and Saturday evenings.
- A Greek Tavern evening with the Perach Adom band.
- A kosher biblical tasting meal at the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Hartuv Industrial area, which includes a tour of the museum and a lecture by Dr. Tova Dickstein.
- A culinary tour of Yarookale greenhouse including a lecture on the leaves and edible flowers. Drinks and light refreshments will be served.
Home Hospitality
The home hospitality events are not supervised as kosher but the website indicates if the hosts are Shomrei Shabbat.
- Turkish Treats at the home of Livnat and Avi Ohayon, Thursday evening or Friday daytime.
- Provence in the Moshav – fine French cooking by Leah Krieff in Moshav Tarum.
- Vegan meals accompanied by wines of the region.
- A 6-course smoked meat tasting meal at Meat Time in Moshav Ibn Sapir.
- Moroccan meat brunch hosted by Chef Uzi Firo and his wife Hannah on the patio of their home.
- Life in the Levant – featuring a mezze of Arabic salads in an English garden.
- An 8-course wine pairing tasting menu hosted by Nora in Moshav Matta on June 10, order via WhatsApp 052 833 3844.
- An authentic Cochini Indian meal at the home of Tova. Kosher not supervised.
Winery Events
- Kadma Winery (Not Kosher) hosts winery tours and wine tastings, accompanied by cheese platters, fresh salads and desserts. Find out more here.
- Kerem Barak Winery hosts a smoked meat feast with unlimited wine and Greek music in Moshav Bekoa on the Wednesday nights of the festival (June 9, 16, 23 & 30).
- Mettler Winery (Not Kosher) offers brunch along with tastings of their wine, beer and cider on Shabbat from 10 – 18. Booking recommended.
- Nevo Winery (Kosher) hosts Chef Almog Michal with a tour of the vineyards, wine tasting and meat dinner on June 24, call 052 607 1780 to book.
- Peer Winery (Kosher) hosts dinner on Thursday nights and lunch on Fridays during the festival.
- Raviv Winery (Kosher) hosts a series of events featuring smoked meat and wine in Moshav Nes Harim.
This year’s festival will also include “Culinary Tours at Sunset” which take place on Wednesdays and Thursday evenings and include visits to various locations from the festival. Each tour includes three different locations and costs NIS 180 per person, details about all the tours can be found here.
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Categories: Event
