I can hear it already- a deafening roar of outrage and offense, at the very mention of the dreaded word- “Anise” !!
Well, sorry guys, but I am compelled to try to clear the wrongly slandered name of the sublime Anise!!

First of all, you might not be aware of this, but “All Anise Is Not Created Equal”- what I mean is, people have a tendency to say,  ‘I despise anise!” across the board, as if fennel, liquorice, star anise, aniseed, etc are all the same thing…

Well- they are not.
Most of you have heard of, if not taken a drink of, the legendary French liqueur Pernod, or Pastis- which admittedly, to a novice, or a hater, is, well, let’s just say “hardcore!!”.

Not everyone feels the same desire as I do to sit in a market in Provence at 6am, with the, ahem, “Rustic” companionship of the men of the woods and farms who have come to the market to sell their exquisite treasures, and after unpacking, sit in the market cafe, smoking non-stop, arguing over the day’s upcoming sporting matches, and of course drinking Pastis-

And you know what?
I don’t blame you!! However- I do blame anyone who refuses even to try Anise in food, or as an accent, in certain preparations.
You are really going to miss one of the more ethereal  sensory delights on the planet!!

Pastis is a subject which afficionados can spend hours discussing..
Suffice it to say, I do not have all day to spend on this topic-
Because, if I did, I would be late for cocktails, and my evening “Arak” (a Middle-Eastern anise liqueur of varying degrees of sophistication- from the highly refined and elegant arak of Lebanon and Syria, to the somewhat more proletariat versions produced in Israel.. “elite” (as pictured here, is cheap as chips (aprox. 5 dollars per bottle, and although blue-collar, delicious nonetheless!!!)

All of them potent, intense, and absolutely delicious mixed either with ice-cold water, or fresh squeezed red grapefruit juice- or  superb as a sherbert on a hot day! (or, at my beloved “Gabe’s”-mixed with cheap, artificial, grapefruit soda!! Yikes!!!)

Here is how to make a arak or pastis sherbert to die for!!
-take 1 cup half- and –half (1/2 cup each, heavy cream, half milk)
Scald in a pan with 1/3 cup sugar. (note: i do not think this sherbert should be too sweet. in fact i prefer it on the sour side. If you disagree, add more sugar, but remember not to add to much or your sherbert will not freeze completely)
Let cool to room temp.
Mix with 2 cups fresh-squeezed fresh pink grapefruit juice, and 2 shots of Arak, Ouzo, Raki, or Sambuca  (do not use Pastis or Pernod for this as it is too strong!!)
Chill thoroughly, then freeze in an ice-cream machine. Either serve immediately, or put in freezer til later, then scoop out and serve in highball glass with additional shot of Pastis poured over plus pink grapefruit segments and chopped fresh mint… Anyway, as usual, I digress:
Pastis (which by the way, is distilled from the Asian herb “Star Anise”) first appeared in France in the 1930’s,

following the ban on Absinthe, which was made from the totally different tasting European herb “Green Anise”- distilled to a dangerous 74% alcohol content, and made even more lethal by the addition of Wormwood,( “Artemisia Absinthia”which is a powerful soporific and hallucinogenic compound, with addictive qualities as well! However, in it’s defense, it was used in the middle ages as a water purifier and antibacterial!! 
Now that’s some Good Medicine!! Hardcore!!

Some of the paintings of Van Gogh, Manet, and Picasso, were done under the influence of Absinthe, and their increasingly erratic behavior now can be attributed to the brain-altering effects of Absinthe- otherwise known as “Le Fee Verte”- or “the Green Fairy”-

 
In any case, things got so out of control in the late 1800’s, that a total ban on the drink was ordered, and it took a while, 17 years to be exact, for  Paul Ricard, to formulate a drink which tasted similar, without using wormwood, and without the sky-high alcohol content of the forbidden, and sorely missed, Absinthe..

Today, 130 milllion liters of Pastis are sold in France alone- and this is not mentioning the enormous popularity of other Mediterranean anise liqueurs such as Greek Ouzo, Turkish Raki, Italian Sambuca, and my beloved Middle-Eastern Arak! 

By the way, everyone has their own favorite brands-  In France, the most popular being “51”, Ricard, or Pernod- and always served with a carafe of
ice-cold water to mix it with (usually 4-5 parts water to 1 part pastis-) The effect of it turning from clear yellow or clear, to milky white is the result of the decreasing alcohol level, due to diluting with water, and some of the components becoming insoluble- This is known as the Ouzo Effect..and it is beautiful..Like looking at a liquid Opal glowing with it’s own internal light…

Here are some excellent drinks to make with Pastis:

Mauresque: (“Moorish”) 2 shots Pastis, 1 shot Orgeat Almond Syrup, 1 drop Orange Flower Water, mix, pour over ice cubes in tall glass, top with soda water

Marie la Sanguine: replace vodka with Pernod or Pastis in a Bloody Mary

“Tomate”: Pastis with a splash of grenadine, with an orange twist and soda

One of the more delicious examples of anise I can remember was last year when we were shooting “Duet” in Istanbul.. 
Alon and I went after I finished for the day to an amazing small fish restaurant in the Taksim (the main promenade through the center of Istanbul) where there was not a tourist to be seen, only dozens of Turks, dressed to the nines, eating huge, outlandish platters of all kinds of fresh fish and seafood, and washing it down with bottles of ice-cold “Tekirdag Gold” Raki!!

Of course, we followed suit- and finished a whole bottle with our 2-kilo “Kalkan”- the mighty and aristocratic Bosporus Turbot!!

I still have half a bottle of that stuff which I carried home with me, and I treat it like gold!! Smooth as silk! Powerful as a upper left hook punch encased in a velvet glove!! Divine!!!!

by the way- the best way to enjoy  Raki is with chilled green melons, green or red plums, and Turkish Feta cheese -“”Yufka”- the very best Feta in the world.  Heaven!!!!!
 

Another thing I really love about anise liqueurs, besides the decadent buzz, and overall euphoria- and never with the aggression or melancholy that may strike you as when you are drinking gin, or vodka, I might add- is it’s absolute irreplaceable benefit to cooking- especially in dishes involving fish or seafood.

My mom, (who as all of you know, is world-famous for being one of the most exquisitely horrible cooks on the planet-)  hates and despises anise, fennel, and all it’s cousins with an almost religious intensity bordering on fanaticism..
Just the insinuation that anise may be lurking in a dish she is about to eat is enough to drive her into a rage, or tears!!
Nonetheless, this does not prevent me from slipping liberal splashes of Pernod into a Bouillabaisse,  or on top of a grilled lobster, and if she eats it, she proclaims it delicious!  If she only knew what she had just eaten, she would disown me!!

Just this week I made a strange, bizarre, and completely delicious confiture of forest mushrooms, in a star-anise gelee, which I served with a lamb “Pastilla”, for Omnivore….. Which was duly devoured by one of my best friends,
pronounced “delectable”, and then when confronted with a written menu mentioning the star-anise- he turned a ghastly shade of green and asked me, voice quivering with horror -“But you didn’t actually use star anise in that dish, did you?!”

The same folks who claim to despise garlic, yet when confronted with a bowl of perfectly made, delicate, melting garlic Confit, will eat it all and ask for more, are usually the same ones who will love a creamy, nutty, delicate, and gentle soup, made with nothing more than fresh fennel bulbs braised in olive oil, pureed, mixed with fish stock, some tangerine zest, a splash of cream, and some fresh mussels, and toped with a slice of Pan Levain fried in olive oil..  and chances are, they won’t even notice it is fennel unless you tell them!
Fennel, like garlic, loses all of it’s harshness and aggression when made into confit, or braised, grilled, or roasted..

Me and my old Hippy Dad used to collect wild fennel and use it to grill fresh chanterelles and porcinis from the woods, and to make tea from it’s flowers- which by the way, is extremely healthy and cleans the blood and liver and removes toxins from the body..

In short-  What I am trying to say here, is- “Give Anise a Chance”!!”
It may indeed be a stretch to think that everyone should be downing tall glasses of Pastis or Pernod..  And I’m not recommending that you do! or, maybe I am!!

What I am recommending is that those of you who hate and fear the stuff, try to be a little open minded, and use it in a way that you would use, say, saffron, or vanilla, or bay leaves.. All delicious, unique, and amazing flavours when used carefully and with restraint- which will bring out all the delicacy and potential of the dish it is in…. and yet, if overused, will overpower, and destroy it.

Here, to prove my good intentions, are directions for how to make a sublime Lebanese style Tabbouleh Beef Tartare..
And please! Trust me and add the arak/raki/pastis… you won’t feel it, but the complexity it adds to the dish is incredible..

First- soak 1/2 cup Bulghur Wheat in cold water til al-dente, drain, set aside.

Hand chop about 400 grams (about 1 lb)  fresh beef filet, finely.

brunoise 1/3 red onion

chiffonade 1/2 cup (packed- about 1 bunch) fresh mint leaves

chiffonade 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves

finely grate 1 clove garlic

juice plus zest from 1-2 big lemons

1 hot green chile (or to taste- can leave out if you want, but i think it’s better with..) minced

Mix all of these ingredients, kneading well with your hands, add sea salt/atlantic salt and plenty of fresh ground pepper to taste, plenty of extra-virgin olive oil, plus a big handful toasted pine nuts..

Form into a “patty” shape on a platter, score with a diamond pattern, then pour 1 shot  Arak, Raki, Ouzo, or Pastis over top, garnish with whole mint leaves, more pine-nuts, generous drizzle of olive oil and some edible flowers plus grilled Pita or toasts….

So til next time…I hope you will have taken the plunge and overcome your Anise Fears.. and don’t forget to thank me next time you are sitting around eating a huge plate of grilled fennel with orange and fennel seed vinaigrette, and Crottin goats’s cheese!!!

A’Sante!!!

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Well, first of all, I guess I should point out that the actual name of “Gabe’s”
is in fact, “Taverna shel Gavriel”

Not that this has stopped me from calling both the place, and Gabi, “Gabe” for many years now.

Gabe with his signature drink- an “arctic” in a glass of arak!!!

In any case, what ever you may call it, in my opinion, it is one of the few remaining things here in TLV that keep me, for lack of a better word, SANE.

Gabe’s is in the middle of the Flea Market in Old Jaffa, which used to be my favourite place in Tel-Aviv/Jaffa.

the old Jaffa flea market

Sadly it has recently become plagued with yuppie clothes designers, posh “retro” furniture shops (read: the same junk I used to buy from guys selling stuff from the side of the street for a few shekels but now put in a fancy looking shop and slapped with prices high enough to make Phillip Starck’s blood run cold) and swanky little bars and cafes infested with the very same breed of TLV Poseurs I used to come here to escape from.

None of this, however, has changed Gabe’s.
A tiny kitchen a few steps below floor level,

Johnnie is seriously one of the coolest guys in town!

a small bar with a rare and ancient contraption designed to chill draft beer to an almost freezing temperature,

Nathan behind the bar!

tons of rickety tables outside with broken plastic chairs, Greek music blasting at full-volume from an old boom-box, Gabe and his beautiful twin sisters running around delivering food, beer, huge glasses of arak, and witty commentary- all with a backdrop of characters straight out of an Emir Kusturica film.. In short- a piece of heaven on earth!!

Now, let me tell you a few things about Gabe’s:
For one, Gabe, his dad Eli,  his mom, his two beautiful sisters,Kinneret and Mayan,

and from time to time his kid brother, all work there.
Which to me is a miracle in itself.
I mean, can you imagine working with your entire family and not being arrested for murder, or at the very least thrown into the funny-farm? Well, not me!

Second of all, Gabe’s is The Great Equalizer.
Every conceivable type of person imaginable, from every possible socio-economic background, comes here-

one of my best pals- after a couple of those damn “arctic-n-arak’s” of Gabe’s!!!

From old sabras who probably remember Jaffa when it was still under Ottoman rule, to chain-smoking young hipsters covered in tattoos and piercings, to retired IDF elite pilots and generals, complete with their bodyguards, to famous writers, journalists, bums, crazies, “arsim”, cooks after work, artists, firemen, Jaffa black-market bosses, and poets!!

All sitting side by side, shouting over the music, arguing, singing, debating everything from politics to sexual proclivities! 
Shovelling up plates of shakshuka, hummus, and ikra! and of course DRINKING!

Now I’ll be honest: This place isn’t for everyone.
Not everyone has the “cajones”” to sit in the hot sun, drinking endless glasses of arak and beer, listening to increasingly booze-addled rants for hours on end- and usually at some point ending up on your butt as the chair you are sitting in finally breaks and throws you to the ground, amidst howls of laughter from all sides.
Not everyone finds it hilarious when the resident alley-cat, “Nokia”, who lives on the awning above Gabe’s and never touches his paws to the ground- instead preferring to live on the numerous scraps tossed up to him by the patrons below- suddenly decides to assert his territorial rights, and push another cat off his domain, onto the back of an unsuspecting drinker below, resulting in ear-piercing shrieks of shock, table being overturned, and beer splashing everyone within a 5-meter radius!

“Nokia”- the King of the flea market!

And I know a few people who I have brought to Gabe’s who object to getting their drink in a dirty glass, or the garbage-truck stopping in the middle of the street right in front and the driver coming in and ordering a beer- “To go”!!

And to all of these people, I say: Good Riddance!! 
I find Gabe’s to be one of the most relaxing, unpretentious, and genuinely MAGICAL places I have ever been to- and honestly- for the last 3 years, unless I am out of the country, Alon and I sit at Gabe’s EVERY FRIDAY! (and I like to come in the middle of the week when it is quiet- either by myself or with a pal- just to chill with Gabe, talk S***, and knock back a few araks!)
Rain or shine! In times of peace or war! We won’t miss it!

Gabe, Rima, Alon

And I’m not going to lie, there has been many a drunken bike-ride home in the late afternoon!!

Some of the characters there, like the walking encyclopedia Oded- who brings me 10 books a week to read, and can spout poetry, history, philosophy, and dumb jokes in several languages including Latin,

Texas-style sabra- Oded!

Eli (Gabe’s Dad) at our wedding!

and of course Gabe and his dad Eli have become great friends.
The cast of characters here have seen me in times of plenty, and tough times, when they have offered me sympathy and advice, and times of success, when they have congratulated me with truly sincere happiness-
And I have been there to do the same for them!

I hope you will forgive this post having very little to do with food this time- 
But remember, everyone also needs Food for the Soul, and this is exactly what “Gabe’s” is for me..So I hope to see you there on Friday afternoon!!!

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