Part 2 of Day 6…
As I explained in my last post, Day 6 was packed full of experiences and tours within tours. A definite highlight of our week was meeting up with Chefs for Peace, a non-profit, non-political organization founded in Jerusalem in 2001 by a group of Jewish, Christian and Muslim chefs committed to exploring cultural identity, diversity and peaceful coexistence through food. Chefs for Peace realizes food— its preparation, sharing, and enjoyment— is a powerful means of creating a bond with others and revealing that which is valued by all three faiths: food, family and friends.
We met the chefs at the Damascus Gate along with the founder of Chefs for Peace, the Armenian, Jerusalem-born chef Kevork Alemian. They then took us on a tour of the old city to buy the ingredients they would be using to prepare our lunch! And the real treat was that they would be inviting us to learn how to cook with them!
Here’s the group as we first met…
After shopping for some fresh Tahini in the Muslim Quarter, the chefs took us for an appetizer at a restaurant known for their falafel and hummus. They explained to us the different styles of making hummus and how to eat the various appetizers served…
We then took a slight detour to meet the owner of a famous photography print dealer, Eli Kahvedjian, The pictures he sells are part of a collection of about 3,000 photographs taken by his late father Elia Kahvedjian, a refugee of the Armenian genocide and one of the greatest photographers in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 20th century. The pictures, which had been hidden away since 1947, were rediscovered by the family 28 years ago and serve to help researchers and aficionados of Jerusalem probe its past. For a fascinating article on the importance of the photographs, you can read this article.
Several of us bought his book, Jerusalem Through My Father’s Eyes, which is a rare collector’s item. He was kind enough to inscribe the books for us. I felt honored to take his portrait.
We then continued our culinary tour of the Old City. This time we were treated to some crepe-like sweets of which I am embarrassed to admit I do not remember the name. I was so busy just keeping up with the many stops of their very diverse tour!
The chefs then took us to a spice vendor and to the vegetable and fruit market where they selected more ingredients for our lunch…
We then arrived at Bulghourji, an Armenian restaurant in the Old City where we would prepare our lunch alongside the chefs and enjoy an unforgettable meal.
Founder of Chefs for Peace, Kevork Alemian was kind enough to offer me a beer…
And here’s what we came up with! Easily among the top 10 meals I’ve ever enjoyed… I’m not a culinary photographer, but I tried my best…
Next, our tour with Breaking Bread Journeys took us through the tunnels revealing archaeological finds deep underneath the Old City. The Tunnel Tour is in such high demand that you must book it two months in advance. We learned that the much of the city was raised from a small valley centuries ago by arched supports, and it is under these arches that many of the tunnels were excavated. We saw the ancient gates to Solomon’s Temple, and learned that one stone of the temple’s western retaining wall weighs an estimated 570 tons.
My next photo reveals the 570 ton stone… the heaviest stone in the region. There is only one stone heavier in all of Egypt (think of the Pyramids, etc.) …
Jewish women praying at the point deemed to be closest the the ancient ‘holy of holies’ part of the temple …
The approximately 1700 foot (518 meter) tunnel starts at the Western Wall Plaza in the south of the Old City and ends near the Lion’s Gate in the north of the Old City.
We ended the night with a visit from Palestinian Christian Wassim Razzouk, whose family has been in the tattoo business in the Old City for over 700 years. It has been a longstanding practice for Christian pilgrims visiting Jerusalem to get the Jerusalem Cross tattooed as a commemoration of their pilgrimage. Several of the members in our group did just that. To read more about the fascinating history of the Razzouk family business, you can read an article here.
