Haya Molcho is an Israeli cook and restaurateur. Haya was born in Tel Aviv and since moving to Germany, has set up a successful restaurant, NENI. The name represents her sons: Nuriel, Elior, Nadiv and Ilan with each of them contributing to the family food concept that makes NENI a truly unique place to dine. After all, no one can replicate her family.
This is an easy one. My family and friends. I miss them of course in our restaurants. At the NENI restaurants, our guests are at the centre of our attention, and we love taking care of them. However, at home it's much more intimate. Friends and family gather in the kitchen to cook or chat, and I love this bantering around me compared to the hustle and bustle of NENI kitchens, I just have more peace and quiet at home, and I really appreciate that.
So far, I am the boss in the kitchen, however, Elior is catching up. He has a great talent for cooking and I'd say that we complement each other quite well.
We celebrate small and large family meetings at our long table with loads of great food and lots of time to chat. Every Sunday, we invite our boys, their partners and friends. Quite often, several generations of people gather around our table, we love this and really enjoy it. For me, this also has something to do with respect; every generation have different points of view and perspectives on world events and they come together here. It’s an interesting mix and always leads to brilliant conversations.
One helper? I love a bunch of people who clean up after me! They are the best helpers! I love to cook but for me a best-case scenario is when others do the clean-up (laughs heartily). But honestly, I think I wouldn't want to do without my gas cooktop. I literally swear by the combination of a gas and induction cooktop. My kitchen runs on fire - it has to be hot.
I believe the biggest change is the cooker hood as it used to take up a lot of space. We recessed it into the ceiling and now my kitchen is amazingly bright and I love all the space around the kitchen island. Therefore, light and brightness are the most visible changes. I feel that my kitchen is much more inviting than before.
The biggest audible change is the dishwasher. My new one is so much quieter! I don't hear a sound when it's on, and I love that you see the remaining time outside – what a brilliant idea!
Another great innovation in my kitchen is my new oven with Slide&Hide®. Especially that it’s so easy to hide the door – that’s a winner! Now it is much faster to slide in trays, and you no longer burn yourself! It's just so much more convenient as nothing blocks the way to the food in the oven any more.
Another newbie is the vacuum drawer. I have to admit that until now, I've never had one. However, I keep wondering how come that I've never had one, as I am a massive fan now. It is similar with the new steamer oven. I love using the steam function for making focaccia and other goodies. These new functions are so practical, they make the work easier and so they’re simply just good for me.
I simply love gas! Middle Eastern cuisine and Levante kitchens are based on fire. For me, it's also the easiest as I see the flame before me and that enables me to work more easily and more professionally.
There will definitely be more of my beloved sourdough bread as steam is ideal when baking bread. I like adding steam for a couple of minutes in the beginning, then turn it off and allow the bread to bake – it’s fantastic! Compared to my home-made bread before, this is a hundred times better and it’s crispier!
