To my right, Chef Yaniv Cohen, also known as The Spice Detective. I love that name. How did it come about?

You know, I love cooking with spices but for me spices are not just flavors. There's more to them. You know, I want to tell people the story about spices, how you can cook with them, taste them, use them for your health, use them for cosmetics, use them for, you know, you name it.

Show me how to use the spices. Let's go.

Okay, let's do a few things.

Okay, let's do it.

Okay, come on. We're going to make pita chips. Now, what's nice about my pita chips is the spices I put onto them.

Oh, of course. Oh, it's so easy. People can make it at home, no problem. You say easy.

It is. It is. Let me show you. Okay. Here's some this is an old pita. I just sliced it into um strips. Okay, so all we need to do is put them into the fryer.

Okay. How hot is that oil?

About 300 degrees. And again, you can get them really crispy. You can get them like, you know, a little chewy, a little crispy. It depends on you.

I like crispy. Crispy, crispy.

Okay, we'll do that. So we need to make sure it's perfect for your flavoring. Done. Done. Okay, dish number two.

Dish number two.

Turmeric roasted cauliflower. So, the secret for this cauliflower is the turmeric and the salt in the water. This is like a crowd-pleaser. People come all the way to St. Roch just for my cauliflower. Listen, it's healthy, it's delicious. Just again, that's what I want to do. I want to teach people how to use those spices that are delicious and healthy. Anti-inflammatory right there. This is your natural Advil. So, here's the turmeric. Okay.

Ooh. That's the essence. It's pretty. Okay, so we took this baby out of the bath. Now what?

Now we're just going to drizzle some olive oil. And we're going to roast it. It's pretty much cooked. We just want to give it some color. Okay. It's going to get nice and brown and then we take it out. Easy-breezy, lemon-squeezy.

No. No good? No. Oh, well. High five for trying. Yeah. Okay, Chef. So, I'm going to show you how to take baba ghanoush from ordinary to extraordinary. It's very simple. Okay. We need to roast the eggplant. What's really important is to make slits in the eggplant. If you don't create a escape routes for the air, it's going to explode. Step two, oven. Okay. You want it nice and roasted and soft inside. That's the secret. When the baba ghanoush is soft, it's easy to scrape it off its shell. With the tahini, with the pita bread, with the za'atar, you name it.

I'm hungry.

And then we're just going to put it in for about 30 minutes. Okay. And that's it. Then it gets ready.

So, we're now behind the counter, Chef. We're going to prepare all the food we just cooked in the kitchen.

Yes, we are. Well, let's start with the pita chips. Okay. They're done. They're nice, they're crispy, but they're missing the spices. Right. First thing, salt and pepper. Okay. Okay, za'atar.

Za'atar. Please sprinkle some za'atar on the pita chips.

So za'atar is very aromatic. It's very like family of oregano and thyme. And then I'm going to add a little bit of sumac. Okay. Sumac is a berry from the Middle East. And it has a very citrusy, tarty flavor and it also is very rich with antioxidants. Look at this color. Smell, taste and sprinkle. You can do this.

Nice, huh? Pretty.

Once we've done with that, toss it a little bit. Shimmy shimmy.

Shimmy shimmy.

People love this. So I just create a cone

Ah.

of pita chips.

Adorable.

Okay, you put it right there. And what do we serve with it? Tahini. Okay. And again, vegan and delicious. And there you have it. Now you ready?

Oh, you're ready. I I I'm just going to go

Yeah, yeah. Let's do it. Dip it.

Mmm. What do you think? Chef. That is spicy.

It's all about the spices.

It's the spices and the crunch. And the tahini. Delicious.

We have the roasted cauliflower. Nice and fresh. People love it because they get it the whole thing. They can share it, it's family-style. What we're going to do is we're going to use a little bit of tahini right on top. A little bit. Mhm. This is a cilantro sauce that we make with a little bit of cardamom. We're just going to sprinkle some za'atar. Okay. And then you're going to murder the cauliflower.

Oh no. Perfect. Now just slice it. Oh, this is ready to go.

Ready to go. That's it. You murdered the cauliflower. Let me help you.

I'm back in Tel Aviv, Chef. Wow. Mmm. It's tender. It's soft. But not mushy. Mmm. Oh, wow. Remember I told you I would share this with you? Yeah. Well, I don't think so now. I lied. It's okay. Nobody's perfect.

Here is our beautiful eggplant. Simple. Again, you can do it at home. You slice it. Look at that. Wow. Super important. Never forget salt and pepper. Food without salt, that's a no-no. Okay. I use tahini here because we try to avoid dairy. So we are more vegan-friendly, more kosher-friendly. Secret ingredient. This is chickpeas with a little bit of sumac, salt, pepper and lemon.

Yum.

A little bit of olive oil. Shine and glory. Sumac.

My my job?

Your job.

Little or a lot?

A lot. Make everything gets that beautiful citrusy flavor. We can garnish with pomegranate seeds. Okay. And then we're just going to sprinkle a few fresh parsley leaves. And that's it. Now you serve this with fresh pita and people can go to town.

Okay, rip a piece. Rip a piece. I don't need a fork, right? Not really. Oh. Just going to like go like that. Oh, you like just massage it?

Massage it, get the eggplant out. Mmm. And that's it.

Thank you so much. Okay, bye. Bye.