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It’s easy to miss the Taste Of Life restaurant in Tel Aviv (43 Ben Yehuda St.) if you walk too quickly.
 If you do stop and go in, you will find a small, neatly designed space, offering fresh, tasty vegan food, for comfortable prices.
This quiet restaurant has been operating in Tel Aviv for more than 20 years. The place is run by the African Hebrew community, whose founding generation arrived form the U.S. in the beginning of the 70’s.
Nutrition, for this community, is an important building block within a dedicated, all encompassing, spiritual way of life. In fact for the African Hebrews from Jerusalem, Veganism is a way to get closer to God.
Who are the African Hebrews?
In 1966, Ami Ben-Israel had a revelation in which he was told that the African Hebrews need to leave the U.S. and search for their roots.
“Our ancestors were slaves,” explains Yocheved, an African Hebrew at the restaurant, who emigrated from Chicago in 1976. “But following the sources, Africans came from Israel, since Israel was connected to Africa prior to the digging of the Suez Canal. The 12 tribes of Israel scattered, and some arrived in Africa.”
The idea behind leaving the U.S., explains Yocheved, was “to re-connect with our God, and this is a spiritual matter, more than a territorial one.”
The original group that Ben-Israel gathered around him numbered some 400 people. They traveled to Liberia in order to purify themselves of the Western influence and re-connect with their roots.
The first African Hebrews to arrive in Israel were absorbed relatively easily in the southern towns of Arad and Dimona. Today the community is 3,000 people strong, mostly children, and has proved itself to be a healthy, law-abiding, and cohesive community. The community became famous due to its musicians who partake in a variety of performances and productions.
Also the transition into meticulous nutrition, which began in Liberia, was completed in Israel.
African Hebrew Eating Habits
Three days a week the African Hebrews eat food with no salt. From Friday night to Saturday night they fast, a custom that was inspired by the concept of the land laying fallow once every seven years.
Once every three months they observe a week with no sugar, followed by a week of raw foods only (except for bread and tofu). How does such a way of life contribute to getting closer to God?
According to the African Hebrews, Veganism is the fulfillment of the first Divine law. Yocheved expands: “All that God created, every mineral and vitamin is in the earth. Human beings were made of earth, and that’s how they build their body – directly from the earth, not by the second-hand eating of a cow. A cow, for instance, eats soy, and eating a cow provides second-hand soy. Humans are not supposed to eat meat.”
Yoheved’s Teriaki Tofu
The Taste Of Life restaurant, isn’t only a source of income. It aims to show that the African Hebrews have a spiritual kitchen, which takes time to prepare.
Don’t expect someone to warm up your order of a vegan burger in a microwave, bring out a ready made salad, or take fruit juice out of the fridge. Take your time and use the opportunity to get interested in what the dishes are made of.
Those who wish to find out how tasty it is to be a vegan, can start with Yoheved’s Teriaki Tofu recipe.
Yoheved’s Teriaki Tofu
Ingredients for Teriaki:
2 cups water
4 tablespoons Tamari sauce
1/3 teaspoon grated ginger
Pineapple juice for sweetening (to taste)
1.5 tablespoons corn flour
Apple cider vinegar (to taste)
For Tofu:
200 grams sliced tofu
Tamari sauce for marinade
4 broccoli florets
3 cauliflower florets
A small onion, cubed
1 carrot, sliced
3 bell peppers (green, red, yellow) medium cut
3 mushrooms, coarsely cut
4 cherry tomatoes
Preparation:
For teriaki: mix water, tamari, pineapple juice and vinegar. Boil and add ginger while boiling. Melt corn flour in a little water and add for thickening. Mix until creamy. Cook another 3 minutes and turn heat off.
For the Tofu and vegetables: Marinade tofu in tamari sauce. Brown the tofu in a pan or in the oven. Cook all vegetables (except mushrooms and tomatoes) in boiling water, taking care to not over cook.
Warm up the teriaki, add tofu, cooked vegetables, mushrooms and tomatoes, and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve with or without rice.
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