Jessy Cooks

Artists Effi and Amir created a documentary – culinary project with the participation of Jessy Cohen’s residents. The project was realized in the form of an online website that functions as an archive, a collection of movies and a culinary map of the neighborhood.

For this purpose, Effi and Amir stayed in Jessy Cohen for six weeks. During their stay they contacted local residents and asked their permission to film them as they prepare a dish of their own choosing.

This led to conversation about other things: who taught them the recipe, memories related to the dish, members of the family who like/dislike the food, the family dynamics surrounding it, when it is prepared, in celebration of what, where do the ingredients come from, whether it is difficult to obtain them, and finally – stories related to the dish, the ingredients, the cooking utensils or the special events in which the dish is consumed.

The project’s website combines video, sound, graphics and text and allows navigation through various search keys. The website includes 33 movies that are the outcome of these one-time encounters, offering a tour among kitchens, dishes and tales. You can also find there the recipes of these dishes.

In these days a new project which is an outcome of ’Jessy Cooks’ is underway. The aim is to create a group of women-cooks for the purpose of creating an independent catering business.