He is considered the genius of Israeli cuisine, a self-taught philosopher of gastronomy and one of the most influential chefs on the international culinary scene. He is now developing his ‘Ha Salon’ concept at the Six Senses Ibiza hotel.
Were you familiar with the island before?
The owner of the Six Senses Hotel showed me the project and wanted me to get enthusiastic about it because he thrives on enthusiasm. I loved the island, it was a surprise. It reminds me a lot of Israel from my childhood. The whole of Jerusalem was a field full of trees. It touched me emotionally, here I feel part of nature and at home.
What do you find special in culinary terms?
The availability of fish and seafood. There are many oceans and seas in the world, a lot of fish, not so much anymore, and throughout my life I have learned that the best fish in the world is in the Mediterranean, in a way it is very sweet as it is not very big but it has a mild taste. It’s the bedrock of civilization, the cornerstone of the Mediterranean is fish and vegetables. You can plant a seed and after a few weeks you can eat a cucumber, a courgette or a tomato. However, if you plant a tree it takes years to bear fruit. The development is very fast. In most of the world you can’t eat fresh fish and the secret to fish is eating it straight from the sea. If it’s fresh it’s wonderful.
Why do you like tomatoes so much?
I didn’t like them before. In Israel they had no taste. In my first restaurant in Jerusalem there was no storage space because it was too small and I had to keep the tomatoes outside on the window and people would look out to watch me cook. The customers convinced me to like tomatoes in the end because what I could see when I was cooking were the customers and the tomatoes. One day I was going to do a commercial and the day of the shoot I didn’t feel well, they told me to talk to the tomato, I did it and it went very well, the commercial was a success. Then I started to love them. They have many textures and dimensions, offering thousands of possibilities. A good tomato has higher acidity than a lemon and more sweetness than a grape, it combines flavours with an incomparable balance, there is only one thing comparable and that is mother’s milk, which has the same balance.
“Making a dish is not following a recipe, but understanding the foods that make it up”
What is your goal as executive chef of the Ha Salon restaurant at the Six Senses Hotel?
I want to offer something unique. My idea is to translate the essence of the island into the food, the people, the views, nature and reflect all that in the food, that’s what I do. Ibiza is part of Spain, but the cuisine is very different, it’s very authentic and it hasn’t changed or transformed much and that’s very positive. I want to do the same using the bread, salt and vegetables from the island. A hotel is a restaurant’s worst enemy.
What’s the basis for that statement?
A hotel has a protocol and food is all about flexibility, feeling and imagination so they are two opposing systems. What I have done has been to change the mentality, to understand that making a dish is not following a recipe but understanding the foods that make it up, it is not something that is done in four days but in years. The Six Senses Hotel has given me the space and freedom to do what I feel with devotion.
Is your cuisine vegetarian, vegan, organic or…?
Vegan, vegetarian, fish, but little meat and it always has to be certified meat, it has to come from good quality cows and sheep that have been fed in the wild. Everything is local. We have our own vegetable garden which provides us with local produce.
The Mediterranean diet is colourful, tasty and energetic. It connects with sensitivity, quality and healthy living”
You have restaurants all over the world. What philosophy do you follow?
They are of Mediterranean origin. I work in a very pure way which doesn’t mean simple, simplicity implies that there are things that you need and things that you don’t need. Purity is to crystallise my cooking, using as few ingredients as possible. I tend to use few ingredients, I don’t try to change the dimensions of the food, I just want the customers who taste my food to appreciate the pure flavour, if they are eating a cucumber that is what they taste, there is a hint of variation but nothing more. Simplicity is purity. I’ve gone round in circles to come to this conclusion. You can appreciate the little things because the big things are a lot of trouble and difficult to understand. You can make people happy with little things, with the essence, but for that you have to be flexible and not be afraid of what people say, you have to be down to earth and free.
I know Haim Cohen, who also works here. Is it a coincidence that two famous Israeli chefs meet up on the island?
Haim is a very talented, very human and a great chef.
What is your experience as a Master Chef judge in Israel like?
There are all kinds of moment, boredom and paradise, when a contestant is standing there waiting for you to taste their dish, you see their whole creation and it’s something special. Those moments are difficult because I really feel for them.
Has the pandemic affected your tastes and cooking?
There’s been a change in the last few years, people want healthier cooking. During the pandemic people started to cook and that was lucky for cooks because if you create something you need your audience, now they know how to cook and the effort involved. The conversation has expanded, they appreciate you more and they appreciate that if you want to cook well it’s very expensive, so it’s cheaper to eat in a restaurant.
Why are Israeli chefs and their cuisine so popular now?
The French, Italians and Spanish are also very popular, what unites us is that the food is simple and there is not much variation. The Mediterranean diet is very colourful and tasty with a lot of energy. People associate it with feeling and a healthy quality of life. There are very talented chefs. Haim Cohen and I are the godfathers of Israeli food, we have shown how to be very flexible, to dance with food and to be free, it’s not about following protocols. The style of cooking is a lifestyle and philosophy that is based on following instincts, not established ideas, and if you don’t understand that it’s a problem. It’s about freedom of movement.
What do you think of the new Israeli government?
Our democratic dictatorship is over, there is hope for the future. There is a lot of difference between Israelis and the people in power, we are very open minded and human people and the government thinks otherwise.
Is peace a dream for Israelis?
In Tel Aviv peace is a big dream. In other parts of Israel people want peace but at the same time they are afraid of our neighbours and vice versa. This is a big problem that is difficult to solve.