![\"Lake](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/rkg11BBr72_0_0_1200_900_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Lake")
<\/a><\/p>\nLake Ram in the Golan Heights <\/p>\n
(Photo: Israel Bardugo)<\/p>\n
Amber stands on the site of what was once a caf\u00e9 used by Syrian officers before the 1967 Six-Day War. Chef Shadi Sabbagh, who created the menu, says the restaurant draws inspiration from \u201cthe beauty of the lake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lake Ram and its surroundings certainly stimulate the appetite. We answer it with excellent Druze salads, steaks and skewers befitting the Golan\u2019s reputation for meat, accompanied by alcohol. And the presence of restaurant manager Yazan Khater, who returned to the region where he grew up after building a career in the wine world in Israel and abroad, makes clear that the drinks menu deserves attention as well.<\/p>\n
The smiling Khater, from the nearby Druze town of Majdal Shams, is emblematic of the modernization visible among many younger Druze. He wears jewelry and tattoos and dresses stylishly. Like many members of his community, he is also grappling with questions of identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike many Druze families, ours is divided,\u201d he says. \u201cMy grandmother lives in Syria, as do all my aunts on my mother\u2019s side. My mother did not see her sister for 40 years, and only recently did they meet. It is hard to change the opinions of the older people in our village. Among the younger generation, it is changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many years, there were problems with how we defined ourselves. We were considered pro-Syrian,\u201d says Saleh Nahle, who owns a vacation accommodation complex. \u201cToday we are Israeli in every sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teacher and cheesemaker Rabah Safadi makes the same point. \u201cMy father served in Syria, and I grew up in a pro-Syrian home,\u201d he says. \u201cOver the years, people of my generation were worried that the Golan would be returned to Syria, so we had to maintain loyalty to that side. But after all the problems on the Syrian side, suddenly the truth came out, and the only place we want to live is the State of Israel. Even if they moved Israel to America, I would go with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
To better understand Druze life in 2026, I set out on a two-day journey with Mika Shimonov, who runs the Mika FoodArt culinary tour company, through Mas’ade, the youngest of the Druze villages in the Golan Heights.<\/p>\n
After two days with the village\u2019s warm and welcoming residents, I understood what Shimonov means when she talks about the \u201cquiet generosity that characterizes this place so strongly. Maybe that is why the food here is so good,\u201d she says. \u201cEverything is still close to the land, the seasons, the family and memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Safaa Ibrahim <\/p>\n (Photo: Amir Kaminer)<\/p>\n After eating Safaa Ibrahim\u2019s remarkable food, many assumptions about Druze cuisine begin to fall away. The dishes she piles onto the table are worlds apart from the familiar clich\u00e9s of Druze pita and stuffed grape leaves often found at food fairs and shopping malls.<\/p>\n Under the name \u201cThe Little Kitchen,\u201d Ibrahim hosts groups in her immaculate home by advance reservation, from five people to as many as 30, showcasing the Lebanese and Syrian influences on the Druze cuisine of the Golan Heights.<\/p>\n Grape leaves cooked with meat <\/p>\n (Photo: Amir Kaminer)<\/p>\n \u201cMy mother, who died two years ago, was the village cook for weddings,\u201d she says. \u201cShe was always proud of me and would tell people, \u2018My daughter is a chef.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The menu includes grape leaves cooked with meat, mansaf, salads, bulgur mujaddara, tashweh, a rice dish with ground meat and almonds, and basha wa asakro, which combines kibbeh with shish barak dumplings. In winter, she serves a thick, warming kishk soup. A meal costs 180 to 200 shekels per person.<\/p>\n Rice dish with ground meat and almonds <\/p>\n (Photo: Amir Kaminer)<\/p>\n Rabah Safadi is also preserving culinary traditions inherited from his mother. Although he studied software engineering and works as a high school teacher, maintaining his family\u2019s cheesemaking heritage is important to him. Under his Gvinot HaEla brand, he sells products including bryndza-style cheese, ricotta, halloumi and yogurt with mint and garlic from his premises in the center of the village.<\/p>\n \u201cTradition represents our roots,\u201d Safadi says. \u201cMany of our customs have already changed. On the one hand, we need to preserve important things, and on the other, bring in new and creative things that fit the era we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n Gvinot HaEla <\/p>\n (Photo: Mika FoodArt)<\/p>\n Safadi is the third generation of his family to make cheese. His grandmother taught his late mother the secrets of making their delicate cheeses.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mother\u2019s cheeses became well known throughout the villages,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I studied at the Technion, everyone asked me to bring her labneh. After she died, things lost their meaning. My wife, Ruwayda, suggested that we start making my mother\u2019s cheeses.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruwayda, who works as a special education kindergarten teacher, also helps make the cheese. \u201cWe buy goat and cow milk from farmers in the village to support them,\u201d she says. \u201cWe don\u2019t put preservatives or additives in the cheeses, so you can taste the original flavor.\u201d<\/p>\n Tourism in Mas’ade is not limited to food. Sixteen years ago, Abir Masoud and her sister went shopping in Majdal Shams. As they walked past a ceramics studio, Masoud saw a woman working at a pottery wheel.<\/p>\n \u201cWe kept walking, but I felt that my soul had stopped and gone into that woman\u2019s studio,\u201d she recalls. \u201cIt was as if only my body was still on the road, while all of me was with her. I had to turn around and go inside. We Druze believe in reincarnation, and I felt that maybe in a previous life I had worked with ceramics.\u201d<\/p>\n Masoud entered the shop. \u201cI told the woman, \u2018I want to be like you.\u2019 I asked her to teach me. I was already a mother by then. I began saving money and went to study with her.\u201d<\/p>\n Nine years ago, Masoud opened her own shop and studio on Mas’ade\u2019s main street. There she displays and sells cups, hamsas, wind chimes, dishes, evil-eye decorations, pitchers and other pieces. \u201cWomen have taken over ceramics,\u201d she jokes. \u201cIt used to be men\u2019s work. I also run workshops.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Masoud\u2019s most popular products is a ceramic set used for the ritual of drinking mat\u00e9, the South American herbal infusion that occupies a surprisingly important place in Druze life. Druze generally drink their coffee black, strong and bitter, without sugar or spices. But despite coffee\u2019s importance, mat\u00e9 is the dominant social drink.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us, mat\u00e9 is like bread and butter,\u201d Masoud says as she teaches me the rules of the ritual and pours the drink. \u201cIt is a drink for every age. They say it is calming and healthy. If you serve a wonderful meal but do not offer mat\u00e9 at the end, then you have not shown your guest proper respect. We say, \u2018Are you coming over for mat\u00e9?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n So how did a drink associated with South America become so deeply rooted in Druze culture? \u201cThe Druze, who follow a secretive religion, repeatedly had to flee enemies and conquerors,\u201d Shimonov explains. \u201cThey emigrated, among other places, to South America, including Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n Some later returned to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, bringing the custom of drinking mat\u00e9 with them. The tradition proved particularly well suited to the region\u2019s cold mountain climate.<\/p>\n At a small stand on the outskirts of Mas’ade, on the road to Majdal Shams, two sisters-in-law, Madiha and Radania, prepare excellent fatayer, filled yeast pastries, and manakish, thin, crisp flatbreads topped with herbs and spices. \u201cWe make them with a special dough,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n The two opened their stand, which they named \u201cFrom the Saj With Love,\u201d just three months ago to supplement their income, and their pastries have already developed a following. \u201cDuring harvest season, people come and take the pastries to the orchards,\u201d they say. \u201cTourists also stop and buy them.\u201d<\/p>\n Manakish, thin, crisp flatbreads topped with herbs and spices <\/p>\n (Photo: Mika FoodArt)<\/p>\n I particularly enjoyed the potato fatayer, the labneh version and, of course, the herb-filled pastry. Their manakish, topped with za\u2019atar, sumac or hot pepper, provide exactly the kind of comforting carbohydrates a traveler wants.<\/p>\n For the residents of Mas’ade, preserving agriculture is also a matter of principle. \u201cEveryone here is a doctor, professor, engineer or other professional, and they still maintain the agriculture and work their plots and apple and cherry orchards,\u201d Shimonov says. \u201cThey do not do it because they are making millions from farming. They do it because it is important to remain close to the land and to the family.\u201d<\/p>\n A visit to the area is also a good opportunity to buy fresh vegetables from Akram Mahmoud, whose greenhouses flourish between Mas’ade and Majdal Shams. Mahmoud, a former building contractor, established the greenhouses after uprooting an apple orchard that had been losing money.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw tomato prices rising, so I decided to build a greenhouse,\u201d he says. \u201cOlder people told me, \u2018Have you gone crazy? You are destroying an apple orchard for vegetables?\u2019 The beginning was difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahmoud mainly grows cucumbers and tomatoes, alongside parsley and hot and green peppers. \u201cIn winter you can\u2019t grow tomatoes, so I grow cabbage and chicory,\u201d he says. And after buying his produce, ask Mahmoud to share his famous shakshuka recipe.<\/p>\n Businessman Saleh Nahle went in the opposite direction, moving from agriculture into hospitality. Thirteen years ago, he uprooted a cherry orchard about a 10-minute drive from Mount Hermon and replaced it with what was then a pioneering luxury accommodation complex. People around him were skeptical.<\/p>\n \u201cThey called my wife and said, \u2018Your husband has gone crazy. Why is he uprooting cherry trees to build guest suites?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n His White Suites complex, with sweeping views, a carefully landscaped row of dwarf cypress trees, a swimming pool, hot tub and sauna, became a success. A night for two, including breakfast, costs 1,200 shekels.<\/p>\n For Nahle, however, the project was not only a business decision. \u201cWe live together, and I wanted to encourage coexistence and get more Israelis to come visit us,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Amber Restaurant: 052-4588922<\/p>\n Safaa Ibrahim\u2019s Little Kitchen: 050-4488279<\/p>\n Gvinot HaEla: 052-6347983<\/p>\n Abir Ceramics Studio: 050-3379094<\/p>\n From the Saj With Love: 052-2690819<\/p>\n Akram\u2019s Greenhouses: 050-5956885<\/p>\n White Suites: 050-5200222<\/p>\n Mika Shimonov <\/p>\n (Photo: Anatoly Krinitsky)<\/p>\n![\"druze\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/HJfBz11hPfg_0_0_960_1280_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Safaa")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"druze\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SkffHMb3wfl_0_0_960_1280_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Grape")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"druze\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sylzrzb3Dzx_0_0_960_1280_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Photo:")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"druze\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/BJ11GBf11hDGg_0_0_960_1280_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Rice")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\u05e9\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/yk14874381_0_0_700_586_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\u05e9\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/yk14874380_0_0_709_877_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Photo:")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\u05de\u05e0\u05e7\u05d9\u05e9](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/yk14874299_0_0_709_914_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Manakish,")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Mika](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/H1IuVUovMx_50_0_580_871_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Mika")
<\/a><\/p>\n