Kosher Services World Wide

Hi, I said I would post every Sunday, so here it is.

We have finalized our dates for our Mystical Ireland tour 2012.

The 7^th – 16^th August 2012. We hope this will be our biggest and our best so far!

Our oppressing heat continues here in Israel. I think that’s the reason I started KSW, so that I could travel abroad in the height of the summer heat. Unfortunately when I do travel it’s always to even hotter climes. Doesn’t anyone fancy a wedding in Iceland?

When I posted my first blog I asked you if you had any questions to the Chef. I am still waiting; please ask me some questions so that I can get my little grey cells working.

When Diane and I travel to different parts of world for our discerning clientele, we try and pick up culinary delights from that particular country. I add them to the menus and see if anyone will bite (sorry). They very rarely do. I believe most hosts are conservative when planning menus for the guests. When I started catering in the U.K. again I found that people were amazed that we offered the choice of at least two starters and two main courses. This was on the day without any pre-ordering by guests by way of the wedding invitation. After catering In Israel for so many years it is unnatural not to offer the choices. But getting back to the actual main course choices, many hosts still stick with roast chicken etc.

So I am giving you one of my favorite starter recipes. It’s really easy and is a change from chopped liver. Chicken livers can be a bit gritty but as this liver is being blitzed it will (hopefully) get rid of the grittiness. Nest week we will talk about a favorite soup of mine.

Liver Pate

1 lb Chicken Livers

1 Onion

1/4 pint chicken stock

1 tbsp. flour

1 egg

Salt & Pepper

Bay leaves

1 tbsp. Brandy (or to taste)

2 tbsp. Oil

¼ lb margarine

Sauté the onions in half the margarine. Add the liver; cook gently for 5 minutes. Make roux with remainder margarine & flour, add hot stock. Whisk until smooth. Blend liver, onion, sauce and seasonings, except bay leaves. Turn into greased loaf tin. Smooth level, and then place the bay leaves on top. Cover tightly with Clingfilm. Stand in baking dish 1” deep with hot water and cook in medium oven for 1 hour. Allow it to cool and then chill quickly before serving.

Hi. Once again my apologies for not posting for so long.

Since the last post we have had a very successful trip to Ireland. This time we used two centers, Ballinsaloe as last year and their sister hotel in Dublin. Considering it was summer the weather was fair. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The trips were very good; Rabbi Weiss led the trips and looked after the religious side of the trip in his usual very professional and friendly way. Modestly prevents me from saying how good the food was.

We had a terrible shock when we arrived in Ballinsaloe, the young executive chef of the hotel, who we had become very friendly with last year, had been found dead in his flat at just 34 years of age. This happened only 7 weeks before we arrived so everyone at the hotel was still badly affected by it.

Once again the nearness of the large Tesco store in Ballinsaloe was a boon. We took all the kosher meat from the U.K. as it is difficult obtaining kosher meat in Ireland.

Over Shabbat (Saturday) members of the Dublin Jewish community joined us for the whole weekend as they did for the final meal at the hotel in Dublin.

It is always a pleasure when there is good co-operation from the hotels where we tour. This year was no exception. We already had a good relationship from last year but the hotel in Dublin was just as helpful and made it easy for us to cater in the hotel.

We had the “Clouds” suite, with a self-contained kitchen and a very nice dining area. The hotel abuts the airport so I made sure that all of guest rooms were not on the runway side of the hotel. We are hoping to have our next “Mystical Ireland” tour in August 2012.

I am also planning a Hanukkah residential holiday in Brighton from the 23^rd – 28^th December, yes it does clash this year with another religious festival.

Diane and I drove (apart from the ferry) back from Ireland to Brighton on Thursday 7^th July arriving back at my sister in laws at 2.00 in the morning. Rushing around like mad on Friday as we had a wedding for 200 at the Hove Town Hall on Sunday 10^th July.

T.G. all went well and we flew back to Israel last Wednesday. Back from fair weather to our oppressive heat.

Anyway we are now up to date and as usual (sort of) I will post every

Hi everyone.
Sorry I haven’t posted for a while. A complete update on Tuesday 19th.
Best to all
Malcolm

TRAVEL AND STORY.

Well, I have been sitting with Diane these last few days trying to sort out which story to tell about our catering adventures. Most of them I am still unable to report unless a Member of Parliament relates the story before I do!

Tonight we are attending a wedding; my daughter’s brother-in-law is marrying a very nice doctor from Peru. It’s nice to relax and not have the problem of actual catering on your shoulders.

We have had a large upsurge in bookings for our Mystical Ireland tour staring on the 28^th June this year. I recommend it to anyone who wants an enchanting experience. Remember Her Majesty the Queen and President Obama have both been on parts of the tour over the last couple of weeks. If it’s good enough for them………..

I have been speaking to colleagues in the tour business and it seems that most of the participants in kosher programmes are leaving it till the last minute to book. We are not sure why but think it is to do with the ability of many businessmen to be able to do their work anywhere in the world and therefore do not have to book a holiday months in advance to make sure they have cover at home. I know with my own work, all of our phone lines are transferred to my Iphone and on the same hand held I get all of my emails. Once whilst walking along the canals in Venice I received seven business calls (that is more than the average whilst home in Israel).

Last time we catered in Ireland we were returning to our room after breakfast when we saw our chambermaid, a sweet Irish girl who was born and raised in the town where we were based, Balinsaloe. She inquired after our health, asked if we having a wonderful holiday and went on to relate some stories about the locale and herself. On finishing she hoped once again we were having a wonderful time. As we walked away we wondered why she hadn’t noticed that we were both wearing chefs whites and hats! Oh well.

In our travels we have met some wonderful people and some not so wonderful. However, on the catering side we have found a camaraderie amongst the catering fraternity that is second to none. We all know that all that is important in our industry is to get the meal out on time and make sure it is tasty. It’s nice to know that wherever we have catered, from castles in Scotland to a forest in Israel and from a 5* star hotel in Italy to a lovely function hall with a grotty kitchen in London, we have only met with kindness and professionalism at all times.

I had meant to post this yesterday but was unable to do so. We went to the wedding yesterday and I have to say my granddaughter, bless her, was a beautiful bridesmaid.

But can that child eat. She went through the reception and then stayed up for the main course, served, believe it or not at 11.20 p.m.!!! I was ready for bed and she continued to tuck in. Enjoy then whilst you can.

I was discussing with Diane which story to feature this week and she said “Toulouse” I looked at her in amazement and replied “Toulouse, we have never visited Toulouse”
“Not Toulouse but, two loos” then the thoughts came flooding back and brought a flush to my cheeks (sorry).
We were with the ship and had stopped off in Cannes; this was when the franc was still French currency. We had wondered around enjoying the sights when Adam (then 16) Shula (then 14) and I (ahem) decided we needed a loo. Could we find one? Not on your nelly. Then some helpful soul told us there was a superloo at the railway station. So off we trotted (sorry) to be met by a sign saying it was a franc a pee. I looked in my pocket and all I had left was one franc for the three of us. What to do you may ask. Well did you ask?? O.K. Just as I was pondering this question a lady walked out of said loo. My prayers were answered I grabbed hold of the door and entered theatrically, with a look that said father has saved the day. In I go ready to my business (sorry). All of sudden all the lights went off and a round- the- wall, knee high, sprinkler system started soaking my trousers. Not to be distracted I did what I had to do and then had to, ignominiously, bang on the door for Diane to put in a franc TO LET ME OUT!
The kids and Diane have dined on this story ever since. B****Y French.

The second loo story starts in Varna, and ends in Barcelona.
Once again we were catering on a kosher cruise when the ship stopped in the delightful city of Varna in Bulgaria. We were wondering around when I bumped into some waiters from our group. “Hi Chef, we just bumped into the Rabbi in McDonalds” My heart stopped until I realized what had happened. Faced with the call of nature everyone knows that McDonalds has clean toilets, wherever you are. I later saw the Rabbi and explained what misunderstanding had taken place and said I would rather burst that be subject to false accusations.
So there we were checking out the Gaudi church in Barcelona when nature wanted to call. As luck would have it every ubiquitous superloo was out of order. So where did I go?
Yes, you can finish the story for me. So, chastised, I knew I would never take the moral high ground again. Because, “when you gotta go, you gotta go”.

Well it’s been a few weeks since my last blog.
So now is the time to bring it up to date.. We had, as I hope you did, a great Pesach (Passover)
Last Sunday I catered, in the U.K. a wedding and a bar mitzvah. T.G. both of them were successful.
Now, I have mentioned in previous blog entries stories about weddings, Key West and the infamous sponge wedding cake. So now for another wedding story.
This is the wedding where yours truly officiated. That’s right I “married” the young couple!!
It started out as a regular destination wedding; it was booked for early in the year in Granada, Spain. An English boy was due to marry a Spanish convert to Judaism. Unfortunately the bridegroom’s father was taken ill on a visit to L.A. and the young couple rushed to be married at his deathbed.
Obviously the party was postponed by 6 months. The bride, her family and friends wanted to witness a Jewish wedding under the traditional Chupah (wedding canopy). The party was re-arranged to take place 3 days before the Jewish New Year in September.
A few weeks before the date I received a phone call from the distressed groom “Malcolm (not Huston) we have a problem!!” I forgot to tell our Rabbi the new date for our wedding and he has another wedding on that day….can you help…?”
So I asked our Rabbi what to do, he said our Mashgiach (religious supervisor) could perform the “ceremony” as it was not the real thing and a Rabbi had already married them. So I phoned the Mashgiach, who is a really lovely man, if he were willing to participate. Unfortunately, he has a mild speech impediment and felt that he would be embarrassed to perform the ceremony, especially as due to the closeness of the Jewish New Year, the vast majority of guests were gentiles.
So, dear reader, it fell to me to perform the ceremony.
A small digression to explain how we physically arrived in Granada.
Diane and I set off from Brighton in a transit (thank you “Add-a-Van” ) loaded with china, cutlery, linen, glassware, ovens, dry food and booze. I also had the clothes of my staff who were flying in on the weekend with the food. We crossed the channel and then drove across the lovely motorways of France & then across the never ending Pyrenees down to Calahonda on the coast ,where we stayed the weekend in the apartment of my best friends Angela and Steven. On the Sunday we drove in convoy up to Granada. All the usual preparations took place and everything was on time.
Then the appointed time arrives, off comes my Chef’s whites and on goes my suit and prayer shawl.. I welcomed the groom and the beautiful bride under the Chupah in song (multi-talented or what).
The ceremony was lovely & as the “officiant” I felt it my duty to address the bride & groom.
“M & G, come from entirely different backgrounds, G, from a religious Jewish family and M from a devout Catholic one. However, they have a lot in common. Both G & M were raised in large loving families which each raised a fine person to be proud of. M has now joined the Jewish faith and has married under the wedding canopy. How fitting it is that this Jewish marriage should be taking place in what was the centre of Jewish learning until in 1492 Ferdinand & Isabella instituted the inquisition……”
At which stage G’s elder brother shouted at the top of his voice…”You tell ‘em Mr. Green, you tell ‘em”
So that was that, everyone enjoyed the meal, and dancing and drinking continued till 3.00 in the morning.
We left Granada at 3.30 a.m. I dropped Diane off in Madrid so that she could return to Israel before the New Year to be with our children. I drove on and arrived in Brighton 6 hours before the New Year and spent the festival with Diane’s mother and sisters.
A truly eventful wedding.

Well, just waiting for the cab to pick us up to take us to the airport for our flight to the U.K. We are going to France for one day to buy some kosher wine for the upcoming functions.

Just to advise you all that during Pesach (Passover) I will not be writing the blog. As soon as the holiday is over I hope to have some great news for 2012 for all you kosher travelers.

May I wish all my Jewish readers a kosheren Pesach and a Happy Easter to one and all.

STORIES

Just a quick one. When we came back from Antarctica (how about that for a throwaway line), we disembarked in Ushuaia, the most southerly city in the world. Because it was on a Friday nobody, passenger or kosher crew, could get home before Shabbat. Therefore the travel agent, Michael Kong of Lotus Tours, New York, put everybody up in a beautiful hotel in the centre of Buenos Aires. So we arrive at the airport, collect our myriad of bags and meet our ground agent at arrivals. There was a sign for all Lotus passengers and also a sign for Mr. & Mrs. Green. A coach had been laid on for our 40 or so kosher passengers but, wait for it, a limousine was arranged for Diane and myself. I remonstrated with the agent saying it wasn’t seemly for the chefs to go by luxurious transport and the paying guests to go in a coach. “No”, he replied, “you must go in the limousine or the driver will not be paid” So off we went. That weekend we had a wonderful time walking around a magnificent city, seeing the grave of Evita Peron and eating traditional but kosher Argentinean fayre.

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great due to El Ninio. On Sunday for the return to the airport the same thing happened, coach & limo. No use arguing, so off we went. Three hours later the coach arrived at the airport. A storm had delayed them at every turn in the road. How do you commiserate when you had been sitting comfortably in the airport lounge for two & half hours, as we sailed (pardon the pun) straight through to the airport.

Not a great deal of travel this week, just some driver side swiping my car. Fortunately no injuries, just a sad looking car. His insurance company is undertaking the repairs, but it will take 4 days for a little body work!

We are travelling in two weeks time to the U.K. with my daughter, her 2 year old, Maya and the little one, Yael, who will be 2 months old by then P.G. I always look askance at babies on flights, so it’s down to Papa Malcolm to work his butt off keeping Maya occupied and the rest of the passengers happy. We are flying EasyJet to London which presents a few more problems but we are having a brain storming session to ensure that until Maya falls asleep she will be constantly entertained.

STORIES

You will remember my story about my visit to Durban. At the end of that cruise we spent one night in Cape Town at the holiday Inn near the Waterfront. On arrival the clerk asked our names. “Mr. & Mrs. Green” I replied. “Ah, Mr. & Mrs. Green” said the clerk. “Indeed” said I. The clerk raised his eyebrows and his voice and queried “Mr. & Mrs. Indeed??”

The following day (Friday) we flew to Johannesburg. Our flight back to Israel was straight after Shabbat (the Sabbath) finished. Therefore staying in Johannesburg was our only option. We had, of course, heard horror stories about the violence in that city so we stayed just in our hotel and the adjacent Sandton City shopping mall (this wasn’t a hardship for Diane).

So Friday night arrives and it’s time to light the two candles to welcome in Shabbat; it was also 8^th night Hanukah. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah). So I light all nine candles for Hanukah and Diane lights the two for Shabbat. All of a sudden there is a knock at the door.

Mr. Indeed? No seriously, “Mr. Green?” “Yes” I replied through the closed door. “Is everything alright, our fire protection system is showing a fire in your room?” “No everything is fine thank you” I turned round to Diane & we gave each other the relieved look. Let me tell you that look didn’t last long. Up came the Manager, “Mr. Green” “Yeees” We are still seeing that your room is still on fire”. I assured him all was well. He didn’t seem re-assured.

We immediately started imagining the Johannesburg fire brigade breaking down the door and using fire hoses against us. Instead of just putting out the candles (and breaking Shabbat) I opened the window to let out the smoke and heat. Of course being eight stories up the resulting wind did the job for us. Nothing more was heard from the hotel’s management, but Diane and I are now always very, very careful where we light Shabbat candles when we are traveling. As a sidebar, on-board the ship when our ladies light the candles for the Sabbath a member of crew sits there with a fire extinguisher, just in case the need arises!

TRAVEL.

Still in Israel and may I wish one and all Chag Purim Sameach. I must say my granddaughter Maya looked beautiful (I am her grandfather after all) dressed as a Chinese lady. All the children go to school or kindergarten and some adults go to work here in fancy dress for the Purim holiday. I have a function on Purim eve so I will have to read the Megillah (Book of Esther to myself instead of hearing it in the Synagogue.

I am now getting ready to visit the U.K for Pesach and to cater two functions in Brighton. One is a wedding for a young man whose Barmitzvah was the very first function that I booked after leaving the King’s Hotel. It was 1975 and I had just set up the business called, as it was at the time, Malcolm Green Functions. The other simcha is a Barmitzvah, the second we are catering for this family.

Plans are proceeding very nicely for our Mystical Ireland tour, which promises to be larger than our first tour in 2010. We are looking for interesting tours for 2012 and would be pleased to hear from you if you have any ideas.

STORIES

Following on from my cruise stories last week, I will return to the cruise from Jamaica that I mentioned two weeks ago. This was our first cruise around the Caribbean and was over the Xmas/New Year holiday period. Diane and I were really looking forward to it as most of our cruises are based in the Mediterranean and it is always nice to open new vistas. On this cruise we had a Rav/Mashgiach (a Rabbi who supervises that everything we cook is kosher) who had supervervised mainly in hotels in the Catskills. He was a very religious man who was meticulous in his duties but didn’t like being waited on. He would always stay in the galley until the main meal had been served to our passengers and then would ask me to prepare him a plate so he could carry it into the restaurant. Every day I had to remonstrate with him that the waiters would look after him, but he didn’t want to bother them, so off he went entering the restaurant with his meal to the horror of all our waiting staff.

So it’s New Years eve, he wanders out of the galley for a break, when up pops a gorgeous young woman who was slightly inebriated (not one of my passengers) throws her arms around him and wishes him Happy New Year and gives him a kiss. He staggers into the galley and relates what happens then, with a twinkle in his eye he said “You know if I thought something serious would come of it I might go back for more……”

On a previous cruise, which this time was to Antarctica, it also coincided with the New Year. I had arranged that as the regular passengers were getting champagne at midnight so would the kosher passengers. Twenty bottles of the kosher Piper Heidsieck were chilled. Kosher nosh was heated. There was only one problem……..every single passenger in the kosher group had retired to their cabins before the witching hour. Oh well the best laid schemes of mice and kosher caterers!

RECIPE FOR PESACH

AUBERGINE MOUSSAKA

Aubergines (eggplant) sliced 5

10 Medium onions sliced

2kg Minced (ground) Meat

10 tomatoes sliced

600 ml Beef stock

200ml Tomato paste

16 eggs

Mixed herbs

Salt the aubergines and leave for 30mins. Wipe dry and deep fry until a nice golden colour. Sauté the onions until they are soft. Sauté the meat until brown, just before it’s ready add the mixed herbs. Layer all three in the dish then place the tomatoes on top. Mix the stock, tomato paste and seasoning and add to dish. Bake for 30 mins. Strain off some of the stock and add the beaten seasoned egg. Back in the oven until the sauce is set. There is usually some residual oil from the aubergines,so at each stage drain off as much of this as you can

Stories

Tales from the cruises. I have been very fortunate to have been able to cater on cruise ships since 1997, In fact the first cruise started on the day after Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister of the U.K. for the first time. That day we sailed from Haifa & our first port of call was in Egypt. What a memorable start. Since then, mostly with Diane by my side, I have visited and catered near, if not actually in, 6 of the 7 continents. Anybody want a trip to Australia, we already have 6 people waiting?

We started one cruise in the Seychelles that ended in South Africa. Now that is one beautiful country and leads to one of my most embarrassing and funny stories. We docked in Durban where the ship had arranged shuttle buses to run those passengers not taking organized tours, into town. Unfortunately the local taxi threatened to strike if this happened, so the ship had to cancel this service. I was waiting on the gangway for my Pilipino assistant Greg to accompany me into town for a coffee. A lady then stands next to me bemoaning the fact that the coach had been canceled and how bad it was. Always a company man, I offered the lady a lift in my taxi. Celia, for that was her name, then proceeded to tell how sad she was as her dance partner had died recently and she had taken the cruise to recover. As we dropped her off in town she asked what time I would pick her up for the return journey. We agreed a time and off we went on our separate ways. Later we met up and returned to the ship. That evening one of my passengers told me what a gentleman I had been assisting that lady, for that lady was now going around the ship telling everyone that the kosher chef had escorted her into town.

The next morning the hotel manger called me into his office to tell me I had been “Celiaered”. He then told me that she was in fact a regular cruiser who latched onto people. So far no “bunny boiler”and I felt safe but chastised. Then came the dénouement; Celia was in fact a “madam” who ran a high class bordello in the British Midlands. For the rest of the cruise I stayed cowering in the galley….

Since I started writing the blog the huge and terrible destruction in Japan has brought home to us how life for so many can change from minute to minute. Having just returned from Hawaii my fears were for colleagues and friends living on the islands. T.G. the Tsunami spared Hawaii. But the destruction in Japan defies belief. I emailed a friend in Tokyo and received the following

“Thanks for your thoughts. I have been through so many quakes in my 20 years here, but nothing like this. Giant quake. We have aftershocks every 10 minutes since and big shocks every 30 minutes or so. My family is okay. Tokyo is built for quakes so no major damage center city. Not as good outside of Tokyo.”

All of our thoughts and prayers are with the survivors of this catastrophe.