{"id":30155,"date":"2025-09-22T01:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T01:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/30155\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T01:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T01:47:10","slug":"chef-moshe-bassons-rosh-hashanah-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/30155\/","title":{"rendered":"Chef Moshe Basson\u2019s Rosh Hashanah secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The aromas of cinnamon, cardamom and slow-roasted lamb drift through Jerusalem this time of year\u2014and Chef Moshe Basson swears they taste different here. The legendary founder of The Eucalyptus<\/a> and author of The Eucalyptus Cookbook<\/a> says the city itself seasons the food.\u201cThere is something in Jerusalem,\u201d Basson said on a recent ILTV Podcast<\/a>. \u201cWhen you cook the food in Jerusalem, I really believe that it is making it better. There is something in the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says the smells, colors and food are special in Jerusalem \u2014\u201cyou touch it, you feel it. People say they are walking in the steps of the prophets and kings. Well, you also taste it in your belly. It\u2019s inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch these previous ILTV Podcasts:<\/p>\n

Basson founded The Eucalyptus nearly 40 years ago, originally around a eucalyptus tree he planted as a teenager. Since then, he has developed creative \u201cbiblical recipes\u201d that rooted his cuisine\u2014and his storytelling\u2014in the land. Cooking in Jerusalem, he says, is his therapy. When the country\u2019s situation weighs on him and threatens the restaurant and its legacy, his son sends him back to the kitchen because \u201cbeing there will pick me up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once, he hosted a group of psychologists visiting Israel to learn about trauma and treatments. One well-known therapist later wrote that time at Eucalyptus felt like a \u201cprescription for depression,\u201d Basson said.<\/p>\n

Born in Iraq, Basson moved to Israel at nine months old after his family was expelled from their home. He grew up among other refugees, learning the flavors of his mother, grandmother and neighbors. He learned to cook from them and revels in authentic, flavorful, spice-rich foods. Arab neighbors also came to cook and eat with the family, further blending traditions.<\/p>\n

For Rosh Hashanah, the menu is always special, with quinces a traditional feature. Basson points to a centerpiece lamb baked with quinces and his \u201cSong of Songs\u201d apple cake\u2014a cookbook<\/a> favorite that brings together warm spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and cardamom.<\/p>\n

So many years later, some recipes have modernized. But they still taste of tradition\u2014and love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The aromas of cinnamon, cardamom and slow-roasted lamb drift through Jerusalem this time of year\u2014and Chef Moshe Basson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,85,46,543],"class_list":{"0":"post-30155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}