The unseasonably warm weather has taken its toll; Lake Kinneret’s water level is low, and the trees are not as green as they are in years with more rain.Despite this, the sixth annual Taste of the Kinneret festival is set to open on Hanukka, with a special focus on local produce.Each restaurant, café, bakery and dairy farm participating in the festival, sponsored by the Jordan Valley Regional Council, has prepared a special dish using locally grown produce or fish from the Kinneret.Galilee-grown products seem to have fared well, even without rain. Visitors of all ages can taste food from a variety of styles and enjoy food-related activities in the kibbutzim and towns with a view of the Kinneret and the hills surrounding it.Golan goats One great place to enjoy this view is the As Is Farm in Menahemya. Visitors to this goat farm and restaurant can see the Golan Heights, Jordan and Syria from their table. As Is which, when pronounced with an Israeli accent, is a play on the Hebrew word for “goat,” serves freshly made goat cheese, milk and yogurt with no preservatives. The farm’s founders believe that goat products are healthier than cow’s milk and cheese because they are digested more easily.In honor of the festival, they are serving an Israeli breakfast with a goat cheese twist. In addition to a goat cheese platter, there’s couscous with labane made from goat’s milk and baked goods filled with goat cheese. Even the coffee is served with goat’s milk! For dessert, As Is serves yogurt topped with locally made granola and date honey.The festival meal will be served throughout the week of the festival, and is served on weekends year round.Throughout Hanukka, As Is will also have cooking workshops and tours of the farm for families. On December 4, the farm’s founder, Rinat Assaf, will host a storytelling night, where she will talk about working on a dairy farm in Italy and serve wine and cheeses.As Is Farm, Moshav Menahemya, 057-729-2996. Dairy products are certified kosher. The restaurant is open on Shabbat. Cooking class If you’re more in the mood for meat, Roberg in Livnim is the place to go. The restaurant, located on a hill overlooking the Kinneret, has prepared five different festival dishes, each served with an excellent hot chocolate liqueur and a glass of Carmel wine. Chef Ilan Roberg has prepared appetizers using fish from the Kinneret and meat and poultry entrees with locally grown date honey, mushrooms and avocado. The chicken breast stuffed with dried fruit is highly recommended for diners with a sweet tooth. Roberg is a familyrun restaurant, and the chef’s daughter, pastry chef Tammy Flenner, makes a dessert flavored with fruits of the region: ice cream covered in date honey and tehina, with baked bananas in banana liqueur syrup. A plasma screen in the restaurant shows a live feed from the kitchen, where diners can watch their food being prepared. During the festival, visitors can learn to prepare food in a Hanukka cooking class, and there will be candle lighting for families. Roberg, Livnim, (04) 671-5656, www.roberg.co.il. Kosher. Miracle of the fish If you need proof of how local the fish served at the festival is, visit Kibbutz Ein Gev, where on Monday, December 6, you can take a ride on a fishing boat. This may be the last chance to see fishing in the Kinneret because the Knesset recently announced a two-year ban starting on January 1. In the meantime, the kibbutz offers a ride on a real fishing boat, with an explanation of how tilapia, sardines and other fish are caught in giant nets. Make sure to dress appropriately for the boat ride. You’ll get wet and you will smell like fish, but the trip is fun and refreshing, especially in the warm weather. Kibbutz Ein Gev has a 70-year-old fish restaurant offering fish and chips with felafel and tehina in honor of the festival, along with locally grown dates for dessert, and a South American-style bistro serving a festival dish of date soup and veal in wine sauce. Combined tickets for the boat ride and a meal are available. Kibbutz Ein Gev boat rides, December 6, 1:30 to 3 p.m. (04) 665-8036, 054-565-8006. Fish Restaurant, Kibbutz Ein Gev, (04) 665-8008. Kosher. Bistro at the Port, Kibbutz Ein Gev, (04) 665-8037. Not kosher. www.eingev.com Ugata try this If you didn’t give in to temptation and sample desserts at the festival’s many restaurants, stop by Ugata, a bakery in Kibbutz Kinneret that offers mouth-watering treats. Just in time for Hanukka, pastry chef Dudi Barzilai is offering delicious doughnuts. Yes, you read that right, doughnuts with a hole in the middle, not sufganiot. Ugata has prepared the hard-to-find (in Israel, at least) dessert gourmet-style, filling them with mascarpone cream, date honey, chocolate-banana cream or crème patisserie, and covered in white, milk or dark chocolate ganache with sprinkles or nuts. Ugata is offering a doughnut-making workshop for those who want to try to recreate the dish at home. If you’d like to have a meal before dessert, Ugata also has a café to go with the bakery and is serving a festival dish of sea bream with freshly made fettuccini in cream sauce. Doughnut-making workshop, December 5-8 at 3 and 5 p.m. Advance reservations necessary. Ugata, Kibbutz Kinneret, (04) 675-9687, www.ugatabakery.com For more information on the Taste of the Kinneret festival, as well as additional festival venues, visit: http://www.kinneret.info/.
