Hagit Bilia, known as Liza Panelim, the well-known and esteemed culinary figure, chose to write under that pen name so that she could have complete freedom in writing stories and anecdotes about her life.Bilia did not learn to cook but has been cooking for as long as she can remember. At the age of 18, cooking became her daily bread after her parents left the country. To feel at home, she cooked, and the smells gave her confidence. As the daughter of a Moroccan-born father and a German-born mother, she does not cook ethnic dishes but rather cooks Israeli, with plenty of herbs and seasonal vegetables, and the lightness and joy of the kitchen on the plate is always important to her. She cooks without unusual ingredients, as the name of her third book implies, ‘Kal, Kal, Kal’ (Easy, Easy, Easy)
Photos by Guy Behar
