After Nazareth, we drove to Ein Kamonim agricultural farm in the Lower Galilee - which was my life's first visit to a goat farm!!! Imagine my excitement, okay - now multiply it by 100x! :)
Foodprinted on 3 September 2012, Monday
OMGGGGG...Look at how much milk the goats are carrying! That must hurt! Thankfully they are milked twice a day :)
Ein Kamonim has the largest herd of Alpine goats in Israel (1000 of them!) after a discovering a breed of Alpine goats that produce 1000 liters of milk as opposed to the 140 liters produced by goats native to Israel. 600 were kept in the farm, while 400 were allowed to roam freely in the mountains as apparently the latter produces a better quality of milk.
Did you know that the quantity of milk produced was as such? : Cow milk > Goat milk > Sheep milk.
Ein Kamonim is also one of the first dairies in Israel to produce boutique cheeses onsite. Hard cheeses take 3 years to mature, whereas fresh cheeses can be enjoyed all year round. Cheeses (especially white cheeses) are very popular in Israel, especially at breakfast and this is partly because Kosher law states that meat has to be eaten separately from dairy. So cheese becomes a convenient substitute source for (meat) protein at breakfast.
Goat cheese tasting (feta, spanish, paprika, herbs - bay leaves, hagalil flagship cheese, old cheese - very strong and spicy, mustard -grey mould, lactid cheese - dripping with water, very fresh!) , and Goat milk Yogurt! (pretty nice actually, I was expecting a much stronger taste)
For desserts (and to clean our palette), we were served an assortment of divine homemade icecream - passionfruit, raspberry, strawberry, grapefruit and coconut.
They actually have a restaurant there where they've been serving the same delights (homemade goat cheeses and olive oils) for 30 years! For 88NIS, you could get a full meal complete with cheese tasting and wine, and for 57NIS, you could get a full breakfast. Don't miss it! :)
After a super long day (being only Day 2 of Taste of Israel!), I got the biggest surprise ever! We were brought to the Sea of Galilee (which felt more like a serene lake) where under the bright moonlight, an absolutely divine Poyke dinner awaited us. Poyke is essentially a stew prepared outdoors in a big cast iron pot that is of South African origin. Anything could go in there, and in the past, new bones replaced old ones and fresh meat replaced meat eaten on a daily basis.
When asked why the Poyke was chosen, Boaz (the organizer) said, "It really symbolized Israeli culture more than anything else on the tour. Not only is it an Israeli tradition, but it represents the melting pot of Israeli society. It is made with so many random ingredients that no one would ever expect it to blend together, but it always ends with something very tasty." That, I 100% AGREE!
Click here to read Part 1 & Part 2 of the trip.
After a super long day (being only Day 2 of Taste of Israel!), I got the biggest surprise ever! We were brought to the Sea of Galilee (which felt more like a serene lake) where under the bright moonlight, an absolutely divine Poyke dinner awaited us. Poyke is essentially a stew prepared outdoors in a big cast iron pot that is of South African origin. Anything could go in there, and in the past, new bones replaced old ones and fresh meat replaced meat eaten on a daily basis.
It was a beautiful, dreamy evening with fellowship, food and fun. (oh, and shisha/ hookah too!)
When asked why the Poyke was chosen, Boaz (the organizer) said, "It really symbolized Israeli culture more than anything else on the tour. Not only is it an Israeli tradition, but it represents the melting pot of Israeli society. It is made with so many random ingredients that no one would ever expect it to blend together, but it always ends with something very tasty." That, I 100% AGREE!
Click here to read Part 1 & Part 2 of the trip.
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