Shula Giladi stands behind the beautiful wooden stand – actually it is two stands that have been connected in the most natural way possible, just like the whole project – and does not have to say a single word.
Here there are big pots with big bowls in them, pans and skillets and all sorts of other utensils that come from the kitchen floor of the Carlton Hotel, so the business is pretty self-explanatory. Here there is cooked food, come on, that’s about the whole sentence that is enough to make people curious and attract guests and, as if by magic, attract people who have even come down from the sea or come up from there, and here they suddenly change their plans or shape them according to their needs. This need is obviously food, but it is also much more than food.
The Shula Mashtula pop-up (Thursdays and Fridays, until mid-August) is the product of a collaboration between Giladi and the people of Carlton in Tel Aviv. She lives, as one might have expected, quite normally in the north-north settlement, 680 meters above sea level and, historically, a similar distance from the border with Lebanon. Routine, we realized long ago – in ten months – is a deceptive business. One moment Shula’s routine was hospitality and joie de vivre, people came to listen to her cook, talk and sing, and the next moment Shtoula’s routine is “another rocket hit there today,” and her routine itself is evacuation and brave attempts to maintain optimism amidst all the chaos.
And their food is a capsule of optimism. Kurdish cuisine based on old recipes and hardworking hands, supported by the hotel team led by Eran Nachshon. The result is ripened very quickly, almost like on a vending machine, for a connection that cannot stop at the end of the allotted time, simply not.
There’s a hand-rolled meat or vegetarian koba (NIS 55 for four units) (a thousand units, thanks to her sister), stuffed vine leaves (NIS 55) that have undergone the same treatment, plump kebabs that have retained their juiciness and unusual seasoning, large beef balls in a thick red sauce, and two other vegetarian dishes – white beans with mushrooms and rice beans, NIS 25 – that illustrate the deal even better.
This business is not just a business, of course. I’ll elaborate and write that he is not busy at all at the moment. She is an evacuated woman and lives not far from here, hosting private dinners that are more of an unfolding evening experience, and still doesn’t know what a day will bring, and soon what a year will bring, God. But the cooking, the hospitality and, of course, the people are worth more than the end result. “I’ve dealt with many people and characters,” Nachshon said, “but her story makes you want to help in any way you can.”
He set up the stand with that story in mind, adding as much vegetation and greenery as possible, because he saw photos and saw that her house enjoyed the Galilean nature. “I had to try to make her feel a little bit like she was there. A Kurdish cook from our beautiful and good north, after all.” This conversation and these actions were met with a built-in hug. She came to a kitchen team under her command and carts of raw materials ready for work. Excitement was palpable, mutual, and now she insists on only one thing. “Write down that without him, none of this would have happened,” she vowed.
Giladi, 72, worked as a kindergarten teacher for more than three decades and retired with a clear conscience. “I decided to quit and devoured life and the world for three years,” she repeated, “until I decided that was it and that it was time to stay home and start the next phase.” Her “Shola Matsholo” is a smashing success. It is and it wasn’t. There will be more. There are many reasons for this, but the main reason is obvious. “I’m not complaining and I don’t blame anyone,” she clarified, “we weren’t thrown out on the street. They put us in hotels with great, warm staff, and I’m just trying to make the best of the situation and build on it. I believe that the IDF will do the best for me and the best for the country. That’s what I’m building on.” These words are said from behind the pretty wooden stand. Two stands joined into one. Without them, it would be another pop-up food. All of Israel is already with them.
Pop-up Shula Mashtula, Thursday and Friday until mid-August, Carlton Hotel, Eliezer Perry 10, Tel Aviv
