Tel Aviv restaurant chef
Tel Aviv restaurant chefIsrael news photo: Flash 90

The Dan Hotel chain and the ORT trade school network have teamed up to run a $2 million center to teach kosher cooking for a new generation of chefs.

Dubbed the Dan Gourmet School of Kosher Culinary Arts, the center features an auditorium and state-of-the-art equipment to train new Israeli chefs, and what it says its the largest kosher kitchen in the world, Kosher Today’s Israel correspondent reported.

Raviv Schwartz, director of the new center for culinary arts, said there also is a growing demand among Israelis wanting to improve their skills in the kitchen, without aspiring to be world-famous kosher chefs.

Cooking and baking lessons include health foods, Asian dishes, pastries and wines. Raviv told Kosher Today that the courses can help people enjoy gourmet dining without having to go to expensive restaurants.

“Kosher” comes in different flavors today, and the center offers separate courses for the hareidi religious community, which often has stricter standards and than others.

Amir Ilan, who owns a restaurant in Tel Aviv and is director of culinary education at the center, told Kosher Today, "In the past we had to travel abroad to acquire the necessary skills required to be a good chef.

“Now young Israelis aspiring to work in the culinary arts can train here and work anywhere.”

He says he puts a personal touch in his courses, reframing from exact measurements and often reverting to the once-upon-a-time approach of “a bit of this and a bit of that.”

The Center one day may even offer kosher gourmet cooking courses for tourists, as suggested by Kosher Today.