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, I guess I don’t need to point out that I am not a typical girl-
I mean, I love shoes, and don’t mind a nice session of vicious gossip with my friends (99% of whom are a bunch of cooks- Men cooks I might add)
but that’s about the end of the similarities between me and a normal girl.

Itamar Davidov, Bishara Hinnawi, Mena Strum, Nitzan Raz

For one thing, I don’t own any jewelry, I drool over high-performance sportscars, I adore really aggressive sports and go out of my way to involve myself in truly nasty debates and discussions- and the more hostile they get, the better I like it.

The Gang

Bishara the "Meat Man"

But I guess the thing that really makes me doubt whether my chromosomes are in order, is my obsessive passion for KNIVES!!!!

Me and my Knives!!!

Now to be fair, I have been in the kitchen for 27 years, so it’s only natural that I should have accumulated a few knives over the years. But this goes way beyond a normal set of professional knives that every chef should own.

My knives are truly my most valuable possessions, and every chance I have to add to my collection- I do!
Alon has caught this disease as well now, and he is just as likely as me to be the one busting out the “beaucoup d’argent” for a really special one..

Alon cuts up a $700 fish with a Spanish fish knife!!!

When we are in Europe or elsewhere we always make sure to go to a few really top- end knife shops, and we usually discover a few hidden gems of our own, too!

Like the handmade, teflon-coated filleting knife from Finland we bought at
“Cotelleria Galli”, Via Spada 36R, in Firenze, Italia!

Now, I could really waste endless time on this subject, but bragging aside, I think it’s a damn shame that so many home cooks, even ones who are quite accomplished, and quite a few professional chefs too, NEGLECT their knives, or worse yet, don’t even bother to own a really varied set and don’t appreciate just how much better their experience in the kitchen will be when you are using the EXACT knife meant for the EXACT job!! 

This Maguro Tuna was swiming 12 hours ago, Thanks for airplanes!

Nothing gets on my nerves more that seeing someone sawing away at a tomato with a dull kitchen knife! Or trying in vain to thinly slice a piece of raw fish using a damn boning knife or worse yet a Chef’s knife, instead of a razor-sharp, Japanese slicer!!! Sacrilege!!!

Now, I can hear what you guys are saying right now: “What’s the @#$! big deal?! a Knife is a knife! as long as it’s sharp, there just isn’t that much difference!”

Moshe might look like a mass murderer here, but I assure you he is a nice guy!!!

NONSENSE!!!
Just as you wouldn’t wear a pair of 6” Christian Louboutin stiletto heels on the tennis court, using a knife for a purpose other than what it was intended for ruins both the ingredient you are working with, and your pleasure in the kitchen as well.

I will describe here a few general and specific types of knives, and why I think they are worth owning- and I sincerely hope you will take my advice and stop being cheap and lazy when it comes to knives! You will thank me!!

First of all- everyone needs a Chef’s knife.
This is the most versatile and necessary knife in the kitchen, and even though it’s true as with anything else ‘You Get What You Pay For”, in this case, you can actually buy a very effective and high-quality Chef’s knife which won’t make you have to take out a second mortgage, (unlike the really esoteric Japanese sushi and sashimi knives)

My Shun sashimi knife

For example, “Wusthof” (Germany) makes exceptional knives, and their new series “Culinar” is not only beautiful, but great fun to use, too.
http://wusthof.com//desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-74/52_view-99/categories-99 
I just bough a fish slicer in Prague a few months ago, and ever since then, all my cooks try to stael it every chance they get!!
Wusthof’s “Classic Ikon” series is also stellar and I tell everyone, if you can afford just one top-end knife, get this series’ Chef knife to start.
OVERALL GRADE:A

Wusthof "Culinar" series fish filleting knife I love it!!!

Zwilling J.A. Henckels makes many series of knives, and in fact I’ve been using Henckels knives for over 20 years, they are probably my overall favourite knife company.
http://www.zwilling.com/en-WW/Product-Range–sortiment/Knives–knives/Series-overview–serien.html
And up until recently, their “FiveStar” series was my top choice. That is, until they premiered their new “Cermax” series.
Made for Henckels, in Japan, by a centuries- old Japanese knifemaking firm, this is the god damn Ferrari Scuderia 16M Spider of knives!

The Cermax of cars!!!

 
It’s the wet-dream generator for all knife freaks!!! In short, it ABSOLUTELY SETS THE WORLD STANDARD for quality and performance. It blows any other knife I have ever used out of the water!!!! Made from high-tech Japanese MicroCarbide Powder Steel. It’s as sharp as a scalpel!!
However- it’s frighteningly expensive, extremely high-maintenance, and unless you are someone like me who needs a knife that won’t give me blisters after using it for 9 or 10 hours straight- this probably isn’t the right knife for everyone.

Cermax : The best knife I own

I don’t use mine that often, as I use it mainly as a tool to dominate and lord over other cooks, once in a while letting them test it to slice a green onion or something, after which they leave my kitchen, stifling sobs of jealousy and rage, and go home to throw all their knives in the trash in disgust!!!!!
However, their “Miyabi” series is similar in feel and precision, and at less than half the price, it is also an EXCEPTIONAL knife.
I own one, and it sure won’t be the last!

I used it for the very first time on camera shooting an episode of “Duet” with Chef Zdenek Pohlreich in Prague, and it cut through a huge chunk of meat like it was butter!
The director made us do the shot again because I said “Fuck!! This is GREAT!!”
OVERALL GRADE:A+

“Global” Knives: No doubt you have heard of this brand, because it has been overhyped and aggressively marketed to the point that every amateur cook, housewife, and many chefs seem to think this is supposed to be the world’s best knife.
To this i say, HAH!!
They are no better than a “Trophy Wife”- that is to say, it looks beautiful, but their annoying and superficial characteristics do not justify the investment in owning one.

I myself own a few, and if I make the mistake of using them to cut anything tougher than a bunch of parsley and the job takes longer than 10 mins, I have a nasty blister and a bad attitude.

I use them for NOTHING except chiffonading herbs, and I keep them razor-sharp, which helps. 
They are made from Molybdenum-Vanadium, which is a metal I  love, but not in these knives.. I must admit I find them beautiful, but …
OVERALL GRADE: C-

JAPANESE KNIVES:
Obviously, this is a category which could go on for hundreds of pages.
In general, Japanese knives for professionals are made from Damascus, or layered, high-carbon steel, and are fully or partially handmade.
They are precision tools for top professionals and are horribly easy to damage, very high-maintenance, and useless to anyone other than a specialized chef who really needs these tools.

This being said- I cannot live without my Shun yanagiba, my Masamoto sashimi knife, my “Takobiki”, and my Saiku vegetable knife.

however- I have decided life is not worth living until I get my hands on THIS:
A handmade, Suminagashi Deba ( called“ink on water”- because of the beautiful patterns of the dozens of layers of folded and pounded steel)

Suminagashi Deba : My next big life goal-to own this!!!

Now, as you probably have figured out.. I could beat this subject like a proverbial Dead Horse.
So before Alon beats me, for staying up all night writing about knives…I will leave you with the hope that I have at least given you a desire to go out and improve your knife collection.. And consider yourself warned!!! Once you start down this path of knife obsession.. There’s no going back!!!!!

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