“The cow does not provide milk”, a true story
(or where the idea for the rustic breakfasts at “Beit Shalom” emerged from)
A personal note

When my father, Haimke, was a child, short time before the establishment of the State of Israel, they had a cow in the yard. This was part of their capital and precious food resource for the women in the family, grandmother Yocheved and her daughter-in-law (mother of my father), Shura Fine.
The two orchestrated the family cuisine, improvised delicacies of nothing and made cheese of the cow’s milk to the members of family delight who savored the tastes.

However, this cow was much more than food for my father Haimke and his twin brother Moishke. She was the only pet which was allowed in the yard.

The two twins, whom everyone called Haimke-Moishke, as no one ever knew who is who, played with the cow every day. They rode it and bothered the neighbors with the ring bell that they had hung to its neck. The dream faded away when grandfather Shalom decided to sell the cow. The poor creature was hungry, thin as in Joseph’s dream (biblical story) and the daily amount of milk it provided gradually decreased.
The buyer arrived. But the crying of Haimke-Moyshke had not melted grandfather Shalom’s heart. And grandfather Shalom, who thought that daily milk consumption is essential for his family, as well as strict and fair discipline to his children, transferred the cow to the buyer with a handshake and for a few cents.

But Haimke-Moishke, whose mischiefs were known in the entire community, did not surrender to the decrees of the strict father. The family legend tells that they ran after the buyer, who was satisfied with the “bargain” he has just made, down the main street of town and shouted behind him: “the cow does not provide milk, n-o-t m-i-l-k….”, so that perhaps he would regret and understand that he bought something that does not fit his expectations.

In retrospect, it is a funny tale. My father, Haimke still misses the taste of dishes that grandmother Yocheved and mother Shura prepared of this cow’s milk. Therefore, it was only appropriate to reconstruct the taste of the original cheese meals that were customary in the Fine family throughout my father’s childhood, when he and my mother, Miriam, decided to offer breakfast for the guests at “Beit Shalom” Estate, a prestigious guesthouse which quickly became an exquisite boutique hotel.

This is an absolutely true story; almost no legendary details added to it except for, perhaps, some thoughts which were added throughout the years, but this is also what makes “Beit Shalom Historical boutique hotel  so special.
You have never experienced a guesthouse like “Beit Shalom” before. The cheese is made as an artwork; the creativity, the enchanting rooms adorned with high quality furniture. And the rustic hospitality is like anything that you have encountered anywhere else in Israel. It is a place where everything, from the hospitality to food, is offered with much attention to details and love.

Irit
Daughter of Miriam & Haimke