When Rochester chef Andrew Lederman and his “sous chef” Harriet Renzi came to town ‎in January 2008, many Modi’in residents stood to gain – but in a good way! As part of ‎our Chef Exchange, Andrew, owner of Bodhi’s Café in Rochester, and Harriet, winner of ‎Rochester’s baking competition, were the lucky recipients of a free trip to Modi’in.‎

Read Harriet's beautiful essay on the trip, submitted to the National Council of Jewish Women's newsletter. Click here.

Drew and Rubie showed a group of busy single moms some quick, nutritious recipes.

Learn more about the Chef Exchange.‎

Both Andrew and Harriet are glowing about the experience. Harriet says “thank you, ‎thank you” to the Federation for a “fabulous, amazing experience.”‎

‎“People were so warm and welcoming. I was awestruck by the whole trip and proud to be ‎part of the partnership. Not only were the sights so exciting, full of history,” continues ‎Harriet, “but we got to see how people live in their daily lives. I stayed with a family with ‎three children and the sounds, the sights and smells were the same as in my house.”‎

The chef visited the PACT program that Rochester supports in Lod.

While in Modi’in, the duo was matched with local chef Rubie Cordova, who will in turn ‎travel to Rochester in the spring. With Harriet’s assistance, Andrew and Rubie cooked ‎together, performing several demonstrations in the community.‎

Their first cooking event was a demonstration of healthy, quick recipes for a group of ‎single mothers. Next was a trip to Lod, where Rochester supports a PACT (Parents and ‎Children Together) program which provides education, assistance with language, and ‎computer training for Ethiopian Israelis. While in Lod, the chefs did a demonstration on ‎healthful cooking, Israeli style. ‎

Drew visited a restaurant in Modi’in (Maskit) and created the evening’s “special” dish.

Andrew as invited to be a “celebrity chef” at Maskit, a restaurant for fine dining in ‎neighboring Shilat. He cooked the specialty of the day, sesame tuna on jasmine rice cake ‎with mango salsa.                                 .‎

Finally, the chefs threw together a lovely dinner for friends of the partnership – steering ‎committee members and local dignitaries.‎

Here it is! Tuna on rice cake with mango salsa and veggies.

While in Israel, Andrew and Harriet, accompanied by Federation staff member Isobel ‎Goldman, toured food related businesses, including a chocolate factory in the north of ‎Israel and a specialty bakery in Kfar Vitkin. They traveled to Jerusalem to see the old city ‎and visit the kotel. ‎

As Andrew, a first timer to Israel said, the trip was “interesting, educational, rewarding ‎and fun.”‎

The chefs go shopping.