Conference turris::cooks

3612.0. "Nectarine mousse and Date roll" by TAVIS::JUAN (Juan-Carlos Kiel @ISO) Tue Aug 25 1992 12:24

    During my vacations we did a short tour through the Galilee. Our
    main dish was to have lunch at Daliah's Restaurant, in Amirim.

    Amirim (~Treetops) is a small community of about 200 families, living
    in what they call the first naturist town (in the world?). The town
    proposes - and imposes a naturist way of living.

    Amirim sits on the hills facing the ancient city of Safed.

    Enough with geography and vacations, and to the menu!

    Daliah's has a single menu every day, with a fixed price. For 45 shekels
    per capita (aprox 18us$) we had:

    Vegetables soup, with "al dente" vegetables and fresh mushrooms. We 
    added someteaspoons of a cereals mix including sesame seeds, sunflower,
    etc.

    Salads: several salads in oriental fashion, including hummous, pickled
    eggplant - with a rosy colour that made me think of fish, tabouleh,
    cauliflower, roasted and marinated peppers.

    Hot side dishes: Blintzes (i.e.: thin pancakes), filled with a vegetable
    mix, close to that of egrolls. The filling was boiled, not fried. 
    Moussaka, made with egplants, cheese and a mixture of hummous and tahine, 
    replacing any dough. Filled cabbage and vegetable quiches.

    The main dish were patties of nuts and almonds, which looked like gefilte
    fish or stewed hamburgers. (I wish I could get a recipe for this)

    After the above meal, of which my son - a carnivorous 15 year hunk - did
    not taste even a bit, Mrs. Daliah asked us to pass to the veranda 
    overlooking Safed, and there we had a herbal tea, accompanying a "Nectarine
    mousse" and a "dates roll". Ms. Daliah Cohen shared with us the recipes
    for these delicacies.

    Nectarine mousse:

    Nectarines is the name we give in Israel to the blend of peaches and prunes
    which gives a yellow-orange fruit, looking as a peach, but with a skin as a
    prune.

    Take four nectarines (one per capita), put them in a large pot, cover with
    water and bring to a boil. Take out of the boiling water, peel, cut in 
    cubes, put in blender and puree - enough to make a cream, but still with 
    some small solid particles with a little texture. Beat some whipping cream
    into a Chantilly, add some sugar, blend the nectarine puree. Serve in 
    sherbet glasses, with some roasted (unsalted) almonds and/or peanuts. This
    was just with a hint of sweetness, very delicate.

    Dates roll:

    Ms. Daliah says this seems the simplest but is the trickyest to do:

    Just take some date marmelade, i.e.: dates, with no bones, mashed into
    a thick puree. Mix in roasted almonds and peanuts, mixing about half the
    volume of nuts to one volume of dates. Shape into a roll, 5 cm = 2 inches
    in diameter. Roll over grated coconut. Put in freezer. When frozen - hard
    enough to be handled cut in 0.5 cm (1/4") thick slices. The slices are
    semitranlucent brown-orange, where the dates are, with almonds and peanuts
    included and a white coconut aura surrounding each slice.

    Try those recipes, I hope you'll enjoy as much as we did. I can send you
    the recipe, to enjoy the view, the afternoon, the perfume of the pine trees
    the evening in old Safed, you'll have to come here...

    Regards,

    Juan-Carlos

Juan-Carlos, you're an extraordinary romantic! I would seriously 
recommend that your description of the surroundings be a MANDATORY 
part of serving these delicacies!

I look forward to trying the recipes too.

Cheers,
Sheridan
:^)

    I am very anxious to try the Nectarine Mousse and the Date Rolls as
    well.
    
    One question though - you wrote, "Beat some whipping cream into a
    Chantilly".............
    
    What is a Chantilly?
    
    Thank you for the receipes - they sound delicious!!!
    
    Regards,
    
       Susan
    
    
    

    In the US, people who frequent nudist colonies use a polite euphemism,
    "naturist".
    
    I somehow really doubt that this is the sort of place Juan Carlos
    visited.  But IF it is, it's now wonder his teenage son didn't eat a
    bite - he must have had a feast for the eyes. :-)  He must have left
    feeling full, in a different way. :-)
    
    So, what DOES naturist mean in Israel?  All vegetarians?
    
    By the way, in the US a nectarine is a cross between a peach and a
    plum.  It looks like a small peach with smooth skin and no fuzz.  A
    naturist peach, one might say. :-)
    
    L
    

It just means whipped cream. I don't know where the word comes from - 
it's the name of a town in France, and I do know they make lace there 
- pretty, frothy lace - so that would make sense.

Just cream whipped stiff.

Sheridan
:^)

    Naturist?  Naturalist?  Date Roll.... Hmmmmmmmmmm ;')

    Re: Previous ones

    Friends, you got me in trouble! I begun reading the comments on my use of
    the word "naturist", begun to lough and draw everybody's attention.

    Yes, what I meant with "Naturist" was vegetarian. The people in Amirim
    call themselves TIV'ONIM, derived from the word TEVA == Nature, therefore
    I translated it into naturist. 

    Even though this is the Holly Land, I would be funny having this Date'S 
    roll, dressed like our fathers Adam and Eve...

    And my son had later on a hamburger, in a less "naturist" village.

    Regards,

    Juan-Carlos