Whole Foods’ National Spice Coordinator, Chef Simone Cormier, was thrilled to be in Israel this October sampling foods and identifying the way Israelis mix and incorporate spices into dishes, “My favorite food/spice combinations here (in Israel) are schwarma and shakshuka.” Cormier told Delicious Israel.

Perhaps Cormier’s firsthand experiences are what set her apart from the rest.  In choosing where to take Simone to sample spices in the Levinsky Market, we knew that only the freshest options would do.  Two small ethnic stores in the Levinsky Market in Tel Aviv (that are also stops along our Levinsky Market Tour) hosted to Cormier.  Among the many spices on display, Cormier was thrilled to see long cinnamon sticks and bitter almonds (illegal in the United States because of their cyanide content). “I am excited to play around with them and see what I can come up with”.

While in Israel, Cormier took the opportunity to visit one of two principal Whole Foods paprika suppliers, “Seeing the paprika plantation in the Negev Desert was amazing I’m really glad I got to visit and see the production process during the harvest”. Whole Foods’ other main paprika supplier is located in Argentina.