10/08/2023

Superstar Chef Erez Komarovsky cooks for Nomadic Dinners

Last July we had the pleasure of hosting Israeli superstar chef Erez Komarovsky for an immersive multi-sensory feast in our woodland.

Inspired not just by our surroundings but by Erez’s extensive travel throughout the world, guests were treated to a selection of meze dishes – Egyptian Do’a, homegrown tomatoes drenched in lemon juice, olive oil and herbs, with creamy ricotta, Moroccan bread and Lebanese hummus amongst other delights. Trout on a board followed billowing marjoram-scented smoke from a single ember, tightly wrapped in a fluffy pita with delicious tahini. Then came a dish of Persian rice studded with raisins, dried fruits and lamb shoulder piled on a giant pan that had been slowly cooking over the coals (vegans and vegetarians savoured pumpkin and okra which was every bit as delicious). Dessert was no less spectacular – a Middle Eastern kunafe dish was covered in rose syrup and a selection of summer berries chefs and foragers had gathered.

But it wasn’t just the mouthwatering food that brought a smile to guests’ faces. Erez’s warmth and gentle eccentricity were abundant throughout the day. He gathered mushrooms and herbs, spoke in length to guests and filled drinks glasses with miniature forests of fennel and mint.

In a region polarised by politics, where something as universal as food becomes a political symbol, Erez remains steadfastly unencumbered by conventional political and geographical boundaries. Instead his food is, as he puts it, an idiosyncratic mixture everything he sees around him.

Food has the power to bring disparate people together and Erez has during his incredible career has played no small part in this. An openly gay man in a conservative corner of the world, his partner Miki told us that during the intifada (Arab uprising) when tensions between communities were heightened and there was a call from those on the far right for a boycott of Arab restaurants, Erez instead chose to partner with an Arab chef to create food together. To bring communities together. He chose love over division and in doing so played no small part in deescalating tensions and ending the boycott. He never mentioned this to us. This is his character. As humble as he is brilliant.