A search for producers of traditional sweets in Israel turns up 12 names, all of women from throughout the country. Together they're staging a unique festival at the Tel Aviv Port Market March 13 and 14, including candied fruit dipped in chocolate, nougats, fondant and fudge, colorful marmalade, and much more. A cornucopia of sweets made by hand, using traditional techniques, with stunning colors and the sweetness will be available - in limited quantities with an emphasis on natural ingredients.
Hila Ochman © Ella Faust
Hila Hochman is Israel's most veteran sweet maker, crafting marmalades from nettles and hubeiza plants. In a course on herbal medicines, Hochman became acquainted with nettles, a wild plant that blends into marmalades with the fruit of the bitter orange tree (hushhash in Arabic) growing in her back yard. "Making sweets that are connected to the land excites me," she says. Because minerals from the plant are preserved during the production process, the nettle marmalade is effectively a super food that's healthy and not just sweet. The marmalades certainly have their place, but the focus is inevitably drawn to the nostalgic roosters. Hochman obtained the original molds from a factory that had closed, and created a collection in flavors of mint, anise, rosewater and other flavors of bygone days, in addition to the original.
Candy Festival
At the festival, Hochman is sharing a stand with Ronit Tsin-Krastini’s Tsinka brand, which will offer marmalades, candy, marzipan and calissons, nougat and rahat lokum. The stand is decorated with caramelized popcorn, toffee carmel and sugar sculptures, adding an artistic element to the delicate taste of the offerings.
In their preparations for the festival, participants moved out of their comfort zones to find inspiration from the surroundings and the season. The result is an array of sweet things from different worlds and cultures. Persian-style sweets, straight out of Purim's Megillat Esther, including rose water-scented marzipan, golden caramel candies studded with almonds filled with roasted coconut and dried banana, raspberry crunch, pistachio and powdered beet, Japanese mochi, coated pretzels and sweets combined with familiar extras including speculoos, peanut butter, Kinder, marshmallow and more. The festival adorns the marketplace in brilliant colors and will put Israel's boutique sweets sector in the spotlight it surely deserves.
Rotem Liberzon © Anatoly Michaello
The Candy Festival at Tel Aviv Port: March 13-14, noon-10 p.m.,Tel Aviv Port Market, Hangar 11, shukhanamal.co.il