Interview with Ruth Nieman
Interview with Ruth Nieman
A Grain of Thought with Culinary Author Ruth Nieman.
“Influencing the future of the region through culinary education to a global audience, the impact will be maximized through expert teaching of the historical and biblical background, cultural experiences and tradition, and hands-on cooking with the food of our ancestors. “
From London to Israel, Culinary Author Ruth Nieman digs deep into her love for the Galilee and her food inspiration. Ruth’s studies in food journalism were a stepping stone into the world of food writing, where she shares her love for Freekah, the ancient grain that is taking the kitchens by storm. Her books, “Freekeh, Wild Wheat & Ancient Grains, and The Galilean Kitchen have been educating the world about culinary gems that are less mainstream. In this interview, learn about her inspiration and how living on a Kibbutz changed the way she viewed Israeli food.
You’ve said in the past you have a love affair with the food of the Galilee – Take us back to the start. How did it begin?
Following Shnat Hachshara on Kibbutz Amiad with Habonim/Dror (1981-1982), I decided to return to the kibbutz for a further couple of years and that is where my “love affair” with the food of the Galilee began. I worked in the kitchens of this large community, where the ethos of sharing food was at the heart of the kibbutz. Three meals a day were prepared and cooked for 400-500 people, and it was then that I grew to know and love the indigenous ingredients and traditional dishes of the region and the diversity of Israeli cuisine.
How do you see the GCI impacting the region for good?
Food is a cultural experience and a neutral platform for all. The Galilee, a lush, abundant region, is steeped in culinary history and tradition and is at the heart of the GCI. Influencing the future of the region through culinary education to a global audience, the impact will be maximized through expert teaching of the historical and biblical background, cultural experiences and tradition, and hands-on cooking with the food of our ancestors. This is endorsed by using the indigenous ingredients of this ancient land to ensure Galilean food is the future of modern, healthy, and sustainable eating.
Where and when did you have a life-changing culinary experience?
I worked in the kitchens of Amiad back in the early 1980s and that was life-changing. Preparing the food for the kibbutz involved not only cleaning and jointing the chickens but also plucking them of their feathers, which led me to the decision to become a vegetarian and embrace a diet rich in vegetables and protein-filled legumes, which I did for a number of years. Many years on and having returned to a diet predominantly eating fish, I am of the belief that a plant-based diet can be as nutritious as a meat-based one, particularly in the Galilee, where the wild edibles and staple grains are abundant and naturally sustainable.
In one of your books The Galilean Kitchen you explore the ingredients, dishes, recipes, and stories of local traditions in the Galilee. Can we get a taste of one of the stories of this exquisite region?
The stories of the Galilee’s rich traditions are based on the seasons, which celebrate the culinary arts of this cuisine. The spring harvest of freekeh is still an ancient agricultural tradition that is practiced annually in the fields of Sakhnin. The unripe wheat is cut at an exact position, before being smoked on an open fire, and then there is the removing of the blackened, chaffed husks to reveal the green smoky kernel. The olive season is another beautiful tradition as the plump, ripe fruits are manually picked in the groves and transported by tractors to the old stone houses where the ancient olive presses are still in use to produce the amber nectar.
What's a fun culinary fact about you?
My love of baking started when I was about 8 or 9 years old when my parents went out and left me and my younger sister in the capable hands of a wonderful babysitter, who, rather than send us to bed, let us bake scones and biscuits with her. When my parents returned to a house full of baking aromas and their daughters were still up, their annoyance turned into delight when they offered a delicious sweet treat before bed!