L IFESTYLE /C ULTURE
‘Breaking Bread’: A Cholent of Identity, Culture
FI L M
DAVID RULLO | JE FEATURE
BETH ELISE HAWK’S
new documentary “Breaking
Bread” takes an intimate look
at the A-Sham Food Festival in
Haifa, Israel.

The festival, launched
in 2015 by microbiolo-
gist Nof Atamna-Ismaeel,
the fi rst Muslim to win the
Israeli cooking competition
MasterChef, pairs Jewish and
Arab chefs. Ismaeel said the
festival aimed to move beyond
the confl icts of the region
because there is no room for
politics in the kitchen.

Hawk opens the fi lm with
Ismaeel describing her identity.

“I am a Muslim. I am an
Arab. I am an Israeli. I am a
Palestinian. I am a woman. I
am a scientist. I am the fi rst
Arab to win Israel MasterChef.

It caused a lot of happiness in
society,” she says.

Filmed during the 2017 and
2018 festivals, Hawk spotlights
several chefs, highlighting
their backgrounds and diff er-
ences, while showing the
synergy food can create.

Haifa chef Shlomi, who
operates the restaurant started by
his grandfather aft er the family
patriarch came to Israel at the
end of World War II, is paired
with Arab-Israeli chef Ali.

Ali’s family immigrated to
Israel from Syria and lives in
Ghajar Village, on the border
between Lebanon and Israel.

Th e Arab chef is quick to note
that, despite his Syrian roots, he
views himself as Israeli.

“I am part of the nation,”
he says, aft er pointing out that
the Israeli military protects his
village. Ali’s food honors his Syrian
roots; Shlomi’s that of his
Eastern European grandfather.

Despite the diff erences in
backgrounds, food, it appears,
is a common denominator.

“I’m going to work with
Ali Khattib on the dish for
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Chef Nof Atamna-Ismaeel
the festival,” Shlomi says. “It’s
not my style of cooking at all,
but that’s what’s nice — it’s
my mother’s style because her
roots are Egyptian.”
Th e fi lm succeeds as an
exploration of identity. Each
of the chefs discusses how they
see themself and what they
bring to their dishes from their
background and heritage.

Each chef also acknowl-
edges that despite their various
backgrounds — Jewish, Syrian,
half Christian/half Jewish,
Arab, Moroccan — they are
all Israeli.

“In our neighborhood,”
Jaff a-based chef Salah says,
“we spoke Arabic. We laughed
in Hebrew. We cursed in
Romanian. We got upset in
Moroccan. And it was all
‘sababa’ (OK).”
Removed from
the constraints of the confl icts
that might have weighed
heavier if the festival were
held in another city, Haifa is
presented as touched by its past
and infl uenced by its ethnici-
ties but, most importantly, as
a foodie’s paradise — eclectic
and cosmopolitan.

Despite making occasional
references to the confl icts
that have scarred the country
and region, the documentary
mostly achieves Ismaeel’s goal
of a politics-free festival.

Instead of discussing the
tensions that exist in the
country, the fi lm highlights
the inclusive nature of Israel
— Osama, a chef from Akko
talks of the synagogue, two
churches and two mosques
in his neighborhood. Former
Haifa mayor Yona Yahav
points to the peace in the
city between Jews and Arabs
which celebrates Ramadan,
Christmas and Chanukah.

Th e fi lm doesn’t take a deep
dive into the various confl icts
that exist between cultures,
instead celebrating the food
and eateries of those cultures.

Ingredients are presented in
raw and prepared states, and
the chefs profi led are shown
cooking in their restaurants.

Chickpeas and fi sh markets
share the screen with outdoor
cafes and high-end restaurants.

While “Breaking Bread”
advances Ismaeel’s mission, it
doesn’t take a deep dive into
the festival, nor does it present
a completely inclusive point of
view, as most of those featured
in the fi lm are male chefs.

Hawk’s documentary opens
with a quote from Anthony
Bourdain: “Food might not be
the answer to world peace ...

but it’s a start.”
Th e same might be said for
documentaries about food.

“Breaking Bread” opens
Feb. 18 at the Bryn Mawr Film
Institute and Landmark Ritz 5
Movies - Philadelphia. ●
David Rullo is a staff writer for the
Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, an
affi liated publication of the Jewish
Exponent. JEWISH EXPONENT
“Breaking Bread” title sequence
Courtesy of Cohen Media Group
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