Episode 63 - Candies from Heaven: Tales of a Jerusalem Boy

Jews have been longing for Jerusalem for two thousand years. But in the 19th century only a few were courageous enough, some might say crazy enough, to take everything and leave their homes to the Holy Land. And that's exactly what several poor Yemenite families did. They walked by foot from Sanaa to Jerusalem, only to find out that the Holy city is actually a dump. Gil Hovav’s ancestors were one of these families, and when a few generations later, Yemenite jew Moshe Hovav Married the granddaughter of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, reviver of the Hebrew language - Gil Hovav was the result. Gil grew up amidst a clash of cultures, which took place in a city torn apart by wars and religion. His fascinating childhood is the subject of his autobiographical book, Candies From Heaven, which was just now released in English. Gil is one of Israel’s greatest experts in food and food culture. Gil has been a regular guest in every Israeli household for over 20 years. He’s a pioneer of the televised cooking shows here in Israel. He’s a food journalist and author of many cooking books and some novels as well. Gil joins us for the second time to talk about his amazing childhood in Jerusalem.