To celebrate “27 years of the official diplomatic ties between Israel and India”, the Consulate General of Israel to South India hosted a series of traditional Israeli baking workshops.
Helmed by Keren Agam, an Israeli baker from Jaffa, the workshops were held at The Den Hotel, Whitefield, and Christ University. Keren shared “stories of Israeli innovation through its cuisine.”
She baked plenty of Israeli breads, including challa, a bread baked to mark the beginning of Shabbat.
“Israel is a young country and has people from across the world. We have people from Europe, India, Africa, Poland, Bulgaria and so on, and each has brought his own special baking trends and food culture to Israel. We eat a lot of hummus, but that is originally from Egypt,” explains Keren, who specialises in Israeli baking.
It is her passion to innovate that led her to the world of baking, she says. “I like to bake at home, take bread, stuff it with shakshuka and shape it into something of my own. We try to blend many cultures into our food,” she adds.
Keren says she wants “help people taste Israeli baking. There were Jerusalem bagels, stuffed leek, Feta cheese which we love to use, and xhaka, a middle eastern spice.”
Though Keren is a celebrated baker, she took to baking just six years ago. “It was accidental. I was supposed to take something for an event and at the last minute decided to bake it myself. The end result was that everyone praised my bakes and that is what got me into the world of baking,” she recalls.
Keren did not want to study at a baking school as “most of them teach you French cuisine. I stayed at home, got on to the net and studied on my own as I wanted to specialise in Israeli baking. I wanted to bake something different that would represent Israel, its flavours and culture,” says Keren.
Keren also hosts regular workshops in her home in Israel. Does she ever tire of the baking aroma in her kitchen? She jokes, “No, in fact, the rent for homes around my place have gone up thanks to the amazing baking smells that captivates my neighbourhood.”
