Israeli Culinary Journalist Hila Alpert Looks Back on Shavuot on the Kibbutz

Shared by Hila Alpert
Recipe Roots: Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha > Tel Aviv

In some lives, it is the exception to the rules, not the rules themselves that leave the most indelible mark. This was true for Hila Alpert, one of Israel’s most celebrated culinary specialists, a journalist, chef, and tv personality. 

When Hila was little, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, she lived in a communal children’s home on Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha in the Judean Hills outside of Jerusalem. Barely a generation after the founding of the state of Israel, life on kibbutz at the time put the collective above all. She recalls getting new clothes and there being just two options. “In wintertime, we used to come to the place where they would give us clothes and we would choose between white or brown shirts,” she says. “You took what they gave you.” Decisions were made for efficiency and a communal good.

Members of Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha celebrating Shavuot.

The springtime holiday of Shavuot, which celebrates the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the season’s harvest, was different from the rest of the year. It was “one of the most important holidays in the kibbutzim,” Hila explains. Drawing inspiration from an ancient tradition of Jews bringing sacrifices to the temple in Jerusalem for Shavuot, members of kibbutzs across the country organized large parades. Tractors were decorated, babies were carried out on display, new animals joined as well, and farmers brought new spring fruits, wheat, and cotton that they grew. Members of the kibbutz would gather on the grass for the parade and each group “wanted to be the best,” Hila says. Shavuot was “the holiday that you would show yourself and your creativity,” Hila adds.  

For the rest of the year, creativity and individuality were tucked away, even shunned. “Developing your own taste was something people wouldn’t encourage, not with food and not with clothes,” Hila explains. “Food was something you eat to be strong. In the children’s house you [had] to take a piece of schnitzel or whatever they give you and you had to finish it… you could never get up from the table until you finish your food — never.” 

Teatime snacks enjoyed at her parents’ home, where she would spend time after school each day, were a treat. Hila would mix Hashachar, a chocolate spread popular in Israel, with gvina levana, a soft cheese similar to quark or creamy yogurt, and eat it slowly with a spoon. Combined, it’s a flavor she continues to harken back to today (see her truffle recipe below). 

And, it was through visits to her grandmother Sultana’s home in Jerusalem and her cooking that she came to understand and embrace individuality. A mother of 12 children who immigrated to Israel from Morocco in 1949, Sultana was a gifted cook adapting dishes from Morocco to the spices she could find in Israel. She made meatballs with lemon zest, standing in for saffron and nutmeg, and matbucha, a dip or cooked salad of tomatoes and spicy peppers. In her home, leftovers were never served. Instead, fresh food was made daily with care.  

On a visit to her grandmother’s home, Hila recalls her saying: “If you don’t like it, don’t eat it, your body isn’t the garbage.” The idea was revolutionary to Hila. “[It] was contrary to where I came from and for me it was something full of meaning,” she says. It introduced her to the idea of listening to herself. “It was like colors in the middle of black and white film,” she says. Had Sultana made a similar comment about clothes, Hila might work in fashion today, she says. But it was about food, not fashion. 

It was her grandmother’s influence and that of a well to do uncle who introduced Hila to ingredients like caviar and shrimp that helped set her trajectory as a restaurant critic, food television host, and author. It was also, she says, “[a] need for a place to express myself, my own flavor, my own taste. I think this is what created me.”    

Join Hila and Jewish Food Society founder Naama Shefi on May 22 for a conversation about Shavuot on kibbutz and watch Hila make two Shavuot recipes she’s shared below: phyllo dough wrapped around feta with honey and black pepper, and truffles made with chocolate, cheese, and prunes. 

Cheese and Chocolate Truffles

Inspired by her favorite childhood snack, Hila created these complexly flavored, though simple to make, truffles for Shavuot.

Makes: 10 truffles
Total Time: 35 minutes active + 2 hours and 25 minutes inactive

Ingredients
10 prunes, pitted
½ cup brandy
¼ cup water
11 ⅓ ounces goat cheese, room temperature
4 ounces roquefort or any other blue cheese, room temperature
7 ½ ounces 90% dark chocolate or at least 70% dark chocolate

Preparation
1. Place the water and brandy in a small bowl. Add the prunes and soak for 1 hour. Drain well.

2. Mix the goat cheese and roquefort cheese well in a bowl, until combined and a dough-like consistency is reached.

3. Take about 1 ½ teaspoons of the cheese mixture. Make a well in the cheese mixture, place 1 prune in the center, seal the cheese around the prune and form it into a ball. Place the ball onto a parchment lined tray and repeat with the remaining cheese mixture and prunes until you have formed a total of 10 cheese balls stuffed with prunes. Refrigerate the cheese balls for 15 minutes. 

4. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in a microwave until it is completely melted and smooth. 

5. Transfer the cheese truffles from the refrigerator. 

6. Decorate the cheeseballs with chocolate: Dip the cheese balls completely in chocolate or dip half of the cheeseballs into the chocolate or drizzle the chocolate over the cheese balls. 

7. Refrigerate the cheeseballs for at least one hour.

8. Serve cold.

Lali Salad (Cherry, Chile and Cilantro Salad)

In Israel, this salad is a culinary icon, made popular by Habasta, a restaurant tucked into Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market. Nicknamed “Lali salad” the recipe originated with Hila, whose kibbutz, Ma'ale HaHamisha, was the first in Israel to grow sweet cherries. While harvesting them, she remembers hiding between the leaves so no one would see her as she devoured the cherries straight from the branch.

Makes: 2 to 4 servings
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and halved
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Preparation
1. Place the cherries, cilantro, chili, garli, salt and olive oil into a mixing bowl. Stir well until all the ingredients are coated and dispersed evenly. 

2. Serve cold. 

Phyllo Bundles with Feta, Honey and Black Pepper

While one is not required to consume dairy on Shavuot, it is a popular custom. Here, it’s wrapped inside phyllo dough and sweetened with honey. Black pepper keeps the sweetness in check.

Makes: 4 bundles
Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients
3 sheets of fresh or frozen phyllo, defrosted in the refrigerator
1 block of full fat feta cheese, cut into 4 sheets horizontally
3 ounces salted butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey 
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation
1. Cut each phyllo sheet into 3 equal sheets horizontally.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

3. Fill and shape the phyllo bundles. Take one sheet of phyllo dough and brush it well with melted butter. Place it horizontally onto a flat surface. Take another sheet of phyllo and brush it with melted butter. Place this sheet vertically and in the center over the first sheet of phyllo. Place 1 piece of cheese onto the center of the two layered phyllo sheets. Fold the right side of the phyllo dough over and onto the cheese. Fold the bottom piece of phyllo over and onto the center, fold the left piece of phyllo over and onto the center and fold the top piece of phyllo over and onto the center of the phyllo bundle. Repeat until the phyllo bundle is folded with no loose pieces hanging. The phyllo should be formed into a tight rectangular bundle at this point. Repeat with the remaining 6 cut sheets of phyllo to form 3 more phyllo bundles. Use the remaining 1 extra piece of phyllo for another dish. Transfer the phyllo bundles to a baking sheet with the seam side down. 

4. Brush all the phyllo bundles well with melted butter. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the phyllo bundles are golden brown.

5. Immediately drizzle the honey over the phyllo bundles and sprinkle generously with black pepper. 

6. Serve immediatly.