Eucalyptus: Forty Years of Foraging Where Scripture Meets the Plate

Moshe Basson does not look like a celebrity chef. He looks like a man who has been walking through the Judean hills since before you were born, which he has. When he appears at your table holding a branch of something you cannot identify, explaining that King David ate this after battle, you realize that Eucalyptus is not a restaurant in the conventional sense. It is a one man argument that the land itself is the oldest cookbook.

Every morning, Basson or someone from his kitchen walks the hills around Jerusalem collecting wild herbs, leaves, and plants that most people step over without noticing. Hyssop, mallow, black cumin, rue, carob, wild artichoke. These are not garnishes. They are the foundation of every dish.