Feast fit for a king
This year, the holy city of Jerusalem is celebrating its 3,000th birthday, with all manner of events taking place. For gastronomes, the most amazing happening must surely have been the King David's Feast, which took place in Israel earlier this year.
Twelve distinguished chefs (predominantly French) were invited to contribute a dish for this once-in-a-lifetime banquet for 350 people.
Donating their services meant that together with the $600 charge per person, a substantial sum went to a museum which encourages understanding between Jewish, Arab and Christian children.
Such an elaborate meal of 12 courses plus appetizers required a year's planning. Shalom Kadosh, executive chef of the Sheraton Plaza in Jerusalem, masterminded the event. He took on 150 waiting staff to present the dinner at the Teddy Hall Jerusalem Convention Center (the largest venue in Israel).
As the meal had to be cooked in accordance with the dietary laws of kashrut (there are a number of prohibitions regarding the eating of shellfish, fish and pork), an Israeli chef visited each overseas chef to observe how they worked and to iron out any problems they might have in cooking kosher food.
The visiting chefs did not bring teams with them, but were each assigned an Israeli sous chef. A number of stagiäres were available, bringing the total number in the brigade to 85.
A $250,000, 600sq m kitchen containing state-of-the-art equipment was installed just for the event (removed the following day to be sold off piecemeal). Among the more unusual pieces of equipment was a huge "kettle", which acted as a pressure cooker, steamer and fryer. It was fitted with hydraulic controls to tilt, lift, lower and close, and could heat up to 600ºC for sealing meat.
The kitchen was supplied by KZB Agencies representing Cidelcem Industries, France's largest industrial kitchen manufacturer.
The wines were selected earlier in the year by British Masters of Wine Serena Sutcliffe and David Peppercorn, and France's Premier Sommelier Philippe Bourguignon, of restaurant Laurent, Paris. They chose four wines from Israel's most renowned winery, Golan Heights - Brut Yarden; 1994 Yarden Chardonnay; 1990 Yarden Merlot; and 1992 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon. Two wines came from the older Carmel Mizrachi winery - 1995 Sauvignon Blanc Rothschild and White Muscat Rothschild.
