Creating a Stir: Cookies and spice

Miki Shemo might be a household name, but at family events, his mom still does the cooking.

By MIRIAM KRESH
Miki Shemo chef 521 (photo credit: Daniel Layla)
Miki Shemo chef 521
(photo credit: Daniel Layla)
In Haifa of the 1970s, there was a small bakery run by a couple by the name of Shemo. They hoped to expand into different products besides ordinary breads and Shabbat cakes, but the public wanted nothing but the same goods week after week. The mother would return home in the afternoons and express her creativity in the kitchen by whipping up all kinds of delicious baked goods, while the children – especially her son Miki – watched and learned.
“My mother’s cooking was, and is, the heart of the house,” says Miki Shemo. “I’ve known since I was little that my real place in life was in her kitchen, with its sweet aromas of walnut cookies and traditional rice dishes.”
Shemo left his mother’s kitchen to become one of Israel’s master pastry chefs, but, he says with love, “Mom still rules in the kitchen. At our family reunions, she’s the chief cook and baker, even though all of us are professionally involved in food one way or another.”
Shemo, 42, has happy childhood memories that include a lot of home hospitality.
“We loved receiving guests; that was a very important value in our family. Actually,” he adds, “it was an excuse to roll up our sleeves and start another great baking session.”
Like most young Israelis, Shemo entered the army after high school.
“I attained the rank of major in the Golani Brigade,” he says. “But all that time, I felt something essential was missing in my life. The unforgettable aromas of my mother’s food never left my mind. I knew that my real calling was food. I left the army to pursue my culinary dream.”
Shemo began learning his craft at his parents’ Haifa bakery. He went on to take a 15-session course at the Bishulim culinary school in Tel Aviv. From there, his studies gained momentum as he began traveling to study with the pastry masters of France, Italy and Germany. He developed his own ideas, adapting European recipes to the taste and style of the Israeli consumer.
Today, Shemo travels at least once a year to the great European baking exhibitions and is a member of the Cercle des Chefs of the Valrhona program for professional pastry chefs, based in France. He is a graduate of Israel’s Master Chef program and has studied food technology.
Shemo is the author of three cookbooks, the latest of which is Otzar Ha’ugiyot Shel Miki Shemo (Miki Shemo’s Cookie Treasures) and is the star of a popular TV cooking program whose eighth season on Channel 10 will begin soon.
Engaging and down to earth, Shemo makes no secret of his attachment to his Haifa roots and family. He is married and has three children.
“We’re home folks,” he says, “Traditional. We bring our kids up with the same values our parents taught us, and they go to the same school that my siblings and I attended. Two of my brothers studied cooking and business management, with the idea that we’d join forces and work together, and we do. We all live close to one another. And those walnut cookies that my mother baked – we still sell them in our bakeries.”
So Shemo is not a lonely celebrity; he’s the face of the business, with a supportive family network behind him. Together, they own five bakeries in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Ramat Hasharon.
Shemo’s love for his chosen profession is evident in everything he does. Watching his TV videos, you can see his smile of satisfaction as he sets down a bowl of perfectly whipped egg whites or places an oven-hot tray of cookies to cool on a wooden board. And his cookbook recipes are carefully designed and tested.
“My latest book has 100 cookie recipes, and each was tested at least twice in one of my bakeries. I get inspiration from European workshops, but not every recipe is suitable for Israel,” he notes.
“When my parents first opened their bakery, customers wouldn’t try anything different or new. People wanted cheap and didn’t care about quality. Those were hard years. Israelis are more educated these days. They demand delicious taste and comfort, but with less fat and sugar than years ago. Texture is very important: a crisp cookie with a crunchy nut filling, for example. I foresee that pastry will continue to develop in Israel as it does in Europe, but with characteristically Israeli ingredients,” he says.
“In baking, patience is key. There are no shortcuts in baking. You bake from your heart, taking failures as learning experiences – just like your grandmother, who had far fewer resources, used to do.”
Iraqi Date-Filled Cookies (Baba Be’tamar)
This exotic recipe calls for rolling out the dough when it is already filled. Shemo adds, “Buy packaged, date paste for the filling, but put it in the food processor for a few minutes to get a smoother texture, and incorporate the spices at the same time. I like cinnamon and cloves.”
Makes 25 cookies
Dough 3 1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp. sifted flour
100 gr. softened butter 2 Tbsp. canola oil 25 gr. fresh yeast (half a cube) 1 Tbsp. sugar 1 cup water Pinch of salt Filling One 500-gr. package of date paste
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon Pinch of ground cloves
Glaze 1 beaten egg 1/2 cup white sesame seeds
In a mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. Add all remaining dough ingredients except salt and mix on low speed 5 minutes or until dough is a uniform mass. Add salt and mix another 3 minutes to obtain a soft dough.
On a floured surface, roll dough into a ball. (This step is important, as it strengthens the gluten and helps make the dough more manageable to handle.) Put the dough into a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and allow to rise for 1 hour or until it is 50% larger.
Pulse date paste and spices in food processor until soft. Remove from processor and form 25 balls of 1-1/2 inches (4 cm.).
Heat oven to 180 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Separate dough to form 25 balls of dough of about 1-1/2 inches (4 cm.), each weighing 35 gr. Roll each out into a circle. Place a date ball in the middle. Pull the dough up around the filling to form a closed ball. Roll the balls out lightly on a floured surface to make cookies about 6 cm. wide.
Place the cookies about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Prick each one lightly with a fork to prevent filling from popping out. Glaze with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake 20 minutes until golden.
The cookies can be stored in a tightly closed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.