Cooking workshop: Palestinians and Israelis in the the Same Pot

With the director of the programme Dr Rosemary Hollis

The olive tree is the old man of the Mediterranean whose name conjures up a host of images. It is a symbol of eternity, health and peace. With this in mind we hosted, our second cooking workshop for  students from  The Olive Tree programme at City University. 

Young Palestinians and Israelis cooked together and ate from the same pot.   They shared their ideas and stories in a relaxed and fun atmosphere. We talked about  Hummos and Falafel but cooked from a wider range of Mediterranean dishes such as cotolette alla milanese, pesto trapanese, Lebanese moussaka and apricots filled with cream and pistachios. 

 'The Olive Tree Programme is a unique initiative for young people, Palestinians and Israelis, whose lives have been framed by conflict and whose talents and leadership potential single them out as candidates for an exacting three years of study, reflection, exploration and debate in London.'

Mini Cotolette di pollo alla Milanese

1 free range chicken breasts, skin off

1 large free-range egg, beaten

60 g home made breadcrumbs

50 g unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt

Serves 3-4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

1. With a good knife, slice the chicken breasts.
2. Flatten the slices with a meat tenderiser.
3.  Soak the slices in the beaten egg, and then coat them with breadcrumbs, pressing the crumbs hard into the meat with your hands.
4.  Heat the butter and the oil in a frying pan that is large enough to hold the chicken breast slices in a single layer.
5.  When the butter begins to colour, add the meat and cook at a lively heat until a crust has formed on the underside, about 3 minutes.
6.  Turn it over, turn the heat down and cook for 2 minutes.
7.  Season with salt, and transfer to a hot serving dish.  Serve at once.