‘Savour our heritage’ says TV chef
HE MOVE T O Israel isn’t just a physical relocation. It can facilitate a complete life change. British-born Israeli chef Josh Steele, a former pupil of City of London School for Boys and a graduate of King’s College, London, appeared on Israeli MasterChef last year. Before that, he had been studying for the rabbinate at the Mir Yeshiva. After ordination, he was unsure about his plans to stay in Israel.
“I was 29, still single and thought to go back to England,” says Steele. “My cousin did not want me leave Israel and, because she thought I was the best cook she knew, she enrolled me as a contestant in the show.” Soon after, Steele met his future wife and decided to officially apply for aliyah.
While on a flight to America to visit his then-fiancé, Steele met a director at Nefesh B’Nefesh who offered to help with his aliyah paperwork. “When I got back and was filling out my forms, I called him with some questions and he told me to come meet him in his office in Jerusalem. One hour later, I had made aliyah.” It was that easy.
Today, Steele lives in Jerusalem with his wife and works as the executive chef at Soyo, a gourmet kosher dairy health food restaurant in the popular Emek Refaim neighbourhood.
He is reinventing kosher cuisine by melding different cooking styles. “Today, we don’t have any old-school Jewish cooks and we don’t have anyone who is trying to push the boundaries,” he says. “I am showing people the creative element of cooking and [how it can be] fun.”
He also uses his cooking to help people connect to Judaism. “For many people, the biggest block to becoming religious is keeping kosher,” he says. “I want to show people that kosher can be exquisite.” He aims “to create dishes that will allow us to connect to our heritage” and believes “each finished meal is a life experience.”
At A Taste of Israel, Steele will prepare a roasted rack of lamb in a mint hollandaise sauce with poached pears stuffed with pea and freekah (an Arabian grain) risotto — a fusion of modern and Middle Eastern cuisines. Josh Steele’s From Israel to Michelin workshops are at 2.15pm and 4pm