Boaz Tsairi, owner of Sakura restaurant in Jerusalem. The sign on the restaurant door says: "Stop cutting foreign chefs. Training Israelis means unemployment." (Margaret Evans/CBC)

Audio

Margaret Evans's report on Israel's sushi wars from CBC Radio's World Report

Let's face it. There is only so much hummus a person can eat. I mean no disrespect to the great hummus makers of this region when I say that. Some of my dearest friends have visited with no other purpose than to find and sample that perfect plate of tawny dip. I've done my bit as host dutifully escorting them to the best hummus houses in the land and dipping my bread in wholehearted solidarity.

But after four years in Jerusalem, I have to admit that when the out-of-towners go home, I seek more exotic fare — at least what's exotic for someone living here. Topping my list are any and all things Asian.

So you can imagine my chagrin when I heard that the Israeli government wants to rid the nation of its Asian chefs and kitchen workers by the end of the year, all part of a plan to cut the number of foreign workers and create jobs for Israelis.

From sushi-loving sophisticates in Tel Aviv to egg roll enthusiasts here in Jerusalem, food aficionados here are in an uproar. Asian restaurant owners say they won't take it sitting down, with or without a reservation.

They've appealed to Israel's highest court. They've also launched a series of wildcat "food strikes" at Asian restaurants across the country — some 300 of them. Last week unsuspecting diners were deprived of egg rolls and fried tempura for a day, and next week noodles and sushi will be off the menu.

Boaz Tsairi, owner of the popular Japanese restaurant Sakura. (Margaret Evans/CBC)

"Our aim is not to be rude to our customer or to tease you but just to make you aware of the situation we are in," said Boaz Tsairi, who owns Sakura, Jerusalem's best-known Japanese restaurant.

The government argues that Israelis are perfectly capable of learning to cook Asian food and says it will open cooking schools to ensure the transfer of knowledge. Tsairi said it will take years.

"In most of North American countries, also in Great Britain, you have a local population which are Chinese, Japanese, and you have somewhere to learn. Somewhere in your background," he said.

Foreign chefs 'work harder'

I grew up on the Canadian Prairies where even the ghost towns tended to have at least one good Chinese restaurant, Asian immigration being a well-entrenched part of the Canadian mosaic and the country's palate.

Not so in Israel, where immigration is mostly based on Jewish roots or ancestry. Back in 1977, Israel did grant citizenship to 66 refugees from Vietnam … part of the great exodus of boat people. A few hundred more would follow but it was a onetime affair.

In recent years, migrant workers from Asia have entered on temporary visas, taking over jobs once held by Palestinians now unable to travel to Israel from Gaza and the West Bank. It helped fuel an Asian food awakening over the past decade — especially when it comes to sushi.

The sushi bar at Sakura restaurant in Jerusalem. Sushi will be struck from the menu for one day the week of Feb. 25, 2008 as part of the protest against the government plan to ban foreign chefs from Israel. (Margaret Evans/CBC)

Tel Aviv has become the 3rd largest sushi market in the world on a per capita basis. Connoisseurs say to remove foreign chefs now would be a setback for an industry just coming into its own and an industry, they point out, that also employs Israelis: For every one foreign cook working, it's estimated there are seven Israelis employed in the industry.

This is a battle about more than fine Asian cuisine or regional purity. Tsairi's wife is Japanese and helps him run the restaurant. Two of his chefs are Israeli, the other four are from Thailand.

Critics say the uproar from restaurant owners is more about the threat to their cheap supply of Thai and Indian labour than to quality cooking. Hiring Israeli chefs is much more expensive.

Tsairi said he hires foreign workers because they work harder.

"Working with the wok is very, very hard work and with all due respect, Israelis are lazy when it comes to working with the wok for eight hours. They want to be in charge, they want to give orders but to do physical work eight hours a day, they will not do it."

Sushi chef Ti Ti Pong is from Thailand but studied with a Japanese chef for six years. (Margaret Evans/CBC)

Ti Ti Pong is one of the Thai chefs. He studied for six years with a Japanese master in Thailand before moving here. There's no doubt in his mind that cooks of Asian origin — wherever they might be from — make sushi better than an Israeli.

Pong said his situation is better than that of migrant workers in Israel who toil as manual labourers. But he also says the money he sends home to his family every month is not enough.

So the egg-roll offensive here is not entirely straightforward. The issue may not be resolved until Israel's Supreme Court makes a decision.

For whom the dinner bell tolls

Asian food fans say they're willing to endure the rotating strikes and sacrifice a serving of chicken chow mein every now and again, if it helps win a stay of extradition for Israel's foreign chefs.

If it doesn't, they might want to try a direct appeal to the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who holds a place in his heart for China. His grandparents fled Russia to settle in Harbin after the First World War and his father's last words are said to have been in Chinese.

But if all appeals fail and foreign chefs are indeed shown the door, restaurant owners such as Tsairi say it will force them to close their own doors.

Ask him what he'll do then and he has a ready answer: "Maybe I will sell hummus," he says. "Easy."

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