In the beginning, my late mother taught me what good food is through the Iraqi dishes she used to cook for us. To this day, I cook Iraqi food through the memories (the cooking article in The Marker), trying and not always successfully, to reach the flavors and aromas I remember.

Paul Boukoz, the well-known French chef made me enlightened about what a three-Michelin-starred elite cuisine is. Since then, my wife Iris and I have done dozens of food and wine tours around the world, but Paul, or Paul! Will always be remembered first …

I became acquainted with the wine field through a modest wine tasting course I took in Carmel Mizrahi. Meanwhile, the wine industry in Israel has undergone a huge revolution, the chief winemaker in Carmel, who delivered the course has retired and his children have established the well-known Flam Winery. I have since tasted hundreds of wine tastings at wineries in Israel and abroad and tasted some of the greatest wines in the world, but one of the best wines I drank was when my wife and I visited one of the Burgundy villages. What was that wine and what was its uniqueness? I have never been able to recreate, but this wonderful day will remain etched in our memories.

Cheeses have always been one of the most wonderful foods in the world for me, from the delicate and fresh goat cheeses of Rocamadour to the spicy mold cheeses Munster and Roquefort. I started to curb intriguing cheeses, and stayed because of the challenge. Cheese preparation is one of the most complex areas of cooking, as it involves complex biological and chemical processes that last for months. Hundreds of gallons of fresh milk were required over several years of trials so that I could reach the production of proper blue mold cheese. Today I make different types of cheese (for a cheese article), all of which are snatched and eaten by family and friends ….

How do you combine work with a love of food? (For the article “On one side”) The work takes me to different places in the world. From here, the road to a beloved winery or a well-known restaurant is very short … (For the article “On Cheese and Risks” Part 1 / Part 2)

My love for karate, where I practice for many years, also leads me to distant and fascinating places (for the article “A visit to the Sensei”). However, to do things you love, you do not always have to go far from home. An evening of making beer (for the article “Making beer at home”) or a morning of filling sausages, can fill a person with happiness …