* The Chef’s Canvas can be purchased at The Cummer Shop.
Recipe from Sam Efron, Taverna • Photography by Agnes Lopez
Chef’s Statement – Sam Efron
“I chose this painting becasue I feel that it conveys a strong sense of place. The perspective invites the viewer to wander down the street and explore the city. Eugène Charvot’s style gives the entire piece movement and life. I found it easy to imagine the scene filled with the sounds and smells of this part of the world. From Morocco, Tunisia, Israel, and Turkey, to Greece, Italy, France, and Spain, the flavors of the Mediterranean are as vast as its cultures and rich with history. This is some of my favorite style of food to prepare, and I have fond memories of traveling through some of these countries and walking through the streets and markets. At first glance of Charvot’s work, I started to think of the smells of grilled lamb with cumin, garlic, and other spices that may fill the air if I was walking down the street in the painting. This recipe is a family favorite in our home. It’s delicious, healthy, easy to prepare, and full of Mediterranean flavor.”
Get Chef Sam Efron’s recipe for Grilled Lamb Patties here.
View of Rue El-Alfahouine Grilled Lamb Patties, Mediterranean Salad, Chickpea Purée, and Tzatziki Sauce by Sam Efron of Taverna
The Art
A distinguished physician and surgeon, Eugène Louis Charvot served as a military doctor in French Tunisia and Algeria beginning in 1885. Enthralled with these new places, he created a large body of paintings, prints, and watercolors. He wrote to a niece, “The city of Tunis and particularly the Arab markets are from the point of view of the artist beyond all description … all is bright and colored, luminous and fresh. The cube-shaped houses, the mosques, dabbled high and low with white lime, shine under the eastern sun like immense blocks of chalk.”
Pair it with
Recanati Reserve 2012
Israel: Upper Galilee
Grapes: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, certified 100% kosher
Description: Luscious lingering flavors of forest berries, black cherry, black plum and vanilla with the aromas of Mediterranean herbs, such as thyme and rosemary. Finish with hints of chalk, slate, and stone.
The story of the Recanati Winery, a producer of high quality Mediterranean wines, begins with a profound bond with the land of Israel coupled with a passion for fine wine. With the creation of the winery in 2000, Lenny Recanati’s life-long dream to produce truly world-class wines is today the sixth largest winery in Israel .
Located in Israel’s Hefer Valley within the Upper Galilee, the Recanati winery obtains its grapes from some of the area’s finest high-altitude vineyards, which enjoy a climate similar to that of California’s Napa Valley. Warm days and contrastingly cool nights, together with ideal chalky-gravelly soil conditions and limited rainfall, create an ideal environment in which to nurture these classic varietals.
Cabernet sauvignon “Upper Galilee” has the typical expression of the fine Galilee soil and its unique terroir, expressing the powerful fruit flavors of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape through this unique terroir.
