Sweeter things for a new year

Wine lover Tamin John is set to offer doorstep delivery of new kosher wines via her monthly wine box — Kosher Wine Discovery. John, who grew up in Australia, has always been interested in wine, but her route to the kosher market has been unusual.

“I grew up in a small country town in New South Wales, went to university in Canberra and then worked for government for a couple of years.” She took leave to travel to the UK, working as an au pair in the Lake District and met her (now) husband, Sagi Saltoum while on a weekend in London. “I travelled back and forth to see him while I was still au pairing. I moved in with him when I finished my work and we married quickly.”

On a trip to Israel with her husband, she fell in love with the country and with Judaism and decided to convert — a process she has been undergoing for the last couple of years with the London Beth Din.

Her husband observes kashrut, so when she moved in with him, there was a steep learning curve on how to keep a kosher home — which she embraced. What she found more difficult was the drastic reduction in her wine choices. “We were picking from the same wines each week. I couldn’t find a kosher equivalent of the wine selection boxes that exist in the mainstream market which introduce you to new wines.”

So she decided to launch her own — working with UK distributors to find the labels that may not be accessible via wine merchants. “There are some real hidden gems out there” says John, who, ahead of the pandemic had travelled to Kedem’s kosher food and wine events in Los Angeles and Israel to seek out some of them. “I tasted a delicious Pet Nat from Jezreel winery in January 2020. A Pet Nat is a naturally sparkling wine that’s been fermented in the bottle — they only made 1000 bottles; and there’s a winery in the Hunter Valley in Australia called Harkham Wines, that does not yet have UK distribution. They make a classic Chardonnay and a Shiraz that I know people would love to try.”

As soon as she can fly to Israel, she plans to visit wineries to work with and then to advocate on their behalf with distributors here to get their wines into our market. “I’m so excited to play a role in getting this wine to people here.”

She says the four wines in each box (which will be available on subscription) will be a surprise to the recipients. “There will be tasting notes and ideas for food pairing plus an opportunity to share reviews with the Kosher Wine Discovery community. The four bottles will allow recipients to open a new bottle each Shabbat. The plan is to include three red wines and one white.” The price per box is currently planned at £65 per month including shipping.

Those wanting a sweet treat to celebrate the new year, will want to look up Swiss-born patisserie chef, Perl Muheim. The 30 year old, who lives with her husband in Hendon, trained at London’s Cordon Bleu culinary school.

“After I graduated from high school I took a gap year and came to London to study for level one of their patisserie diploma.” She returned home to Zurich and found work in popular vegetarian restaurant, Hiltl, before and during her studies for her Bachelor of Arts degree. “I worked in all areas of the restaurant, including the pastry section.”

In 2017, she returned to London to complete levels two and three of the Cordon Bleu patisserie course. She admits that her parents were concerned that she was choosing a difficult career path, but Muheim was adamant that she wanted to become a pastry chef — “I had to do it.”

After the diploma, she found work at The Savoy Hotel — which boasts the largest pastry section team in London. “They have 30 pastry chefs and it was a great experience, even though it was really hard work. I was there for 14 months, working 14 hours a day during peak seasons.” During her time there, her team changed entirely, as people were unable to cope with the gruelling conditions — “Sometimes chefs would only stay six months” — but it was worth it, she says, to have gained invaluable experience of making an array of pastries, glazes and fillings as well as learning chocolate work and all sorts of decorations. “I was in the Afternoon Tea team and we made so many different things, so I now have a range of skills I can apply to my pastry work.”

With The Savoy on her CV, she walked into roles at catering companies and restaurants before moving to kosher catering companies. “I was lucky to be Jewish and have connections within the community” she says, explaining that she worked for Adam Zeitlin until he closed his company, and then with Ben Tenenblat pre- pandemic.

“I made desserts for Ben over Pesach, but after that he was doing savoury foods and burgers, which was not for me any more, so I decided I would start up on my own.”

Now married and working part-time as a learning assistant in a local Jewish primary school — which she says she loves — Muheim bakes from home using all kosher, chalav yisrael heschered ingredients. “I specialise in dairy and people sometimes ask me for specific bakes. My first range was for Shavuot in 2020 when I baked cheesecakes and panettone. I do birthday cakes and for Chanukah I made doughnuts then cannoli this Shavuot.”

She says that as her cakes are made with cream, she makes them fresh, and delivers to customers within a few hours, to be eaten on the same day or perhaps the next. For Rosh Hashanah she’ll be offering a North African apricot almond cookie, as well as a cookie made with pistachio paste — both parev. “My apricot cookie recipe was given to me by an old lady and is known in Morocco as melousa. It’s soft inside and slightly sweet and has a bit of tang from the apricots. They’re really popular when I make them —people tend to eat loads of them — and they are gluten free.”

She will also be baking a decorated chocolate layer cake — “It’s like one we used to make at The Savoy and will make a lovely gift.”

Perhaps the biggest gift this year will be sharing the cookies and wine with friends and family.

 

Instagram: kosherwinediscovery / perlaviva