AFAR, March/April 2020

There’s a light breeze coming off the Mediterranean as I walk through a maze-like market where colorful spices such as sumac and za’atar are displayed in glass jars, and falafel sizzles and pops in giant frying pans. Overhead, the chirps of low-flying swallows mix with the sound of the muezzin's call for prayer.

It feels like I’m in Morocco or Turkey—but I’m not. I’m in Akko, Israel, a coastal town 70 miles north of Tel Aviv. (The town is also known as Acre.) And I’m with Uri “Buri” Jeremias, a 75-year-old Jewish chef and hotel proprietor with a Santa Claus beard who appears to know everyone we pass on our stroll…