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Pleasure Hunting / Desert retreat By Ronit Vered Tags: israel news, friday magazine  Members of the international gastronomic society Chaine des Rotisseurs ("the order of the holy grill") slide in the darkness along the slope of a wild cactus garden, on a path illuminated only by the weak light of candles in paper lanterns. On the backdrop of the huge silhouettes of saguaro cacti, the president of the order, adorned in a magnificent cloak, with medals and gold chains on a gleaming blue satin ribbon, raises a burning torch and officially announces the start of the weekend events. It's not exactly another ordinary day in Ein Gedi. The lords and ladies sit around a table fit for knights, dozens of meters in length, that has been set in the desert oasis, and clink their wine glasses to the sounds of the speeches. At the sight of the culinary delights - an entire lamb roasted in a pit for an entire day, tiny quail skewered on huge swords, browned ribs of cote du boeuf and mountains of mullet - there is some confusion, and polite chatter is abandoned in favor of eating and drinking. The feast of meats is accompanied by lewd French drinking songs sung by the elders of the order, eyes sparkling, and stories of biblical passion, as befits the dramatic biblical scenery. The order of the day is to get drunk on wine. At a friendly supper held by the local branch of Chaine des Rotisseurs in the early 1970s, the members feasted on oxtail soup, fish in Hollandaise sauce, veal Lucullus, potatoes Parisienne and a basket of fruit accompanied by Carmel President sparkling wine and wine from the Mikve Israel winery. Today, members of the order enjoy meals of sausages and seafood flown in specially from European markets, various sophisticated mousses and gelees and a selection of prestigious single-vineyard wines. But beyond the linguistic differences and the growing selection of ingredients and cooking techniques, some things never change. And the name of the game, in the jargon of Chaine des Rotisseurs, is the game. Advertisement After all, what does an ordinary person - insurance agent, clerk or cook - have in his life without a generous helping of theatrical games and the joy of eating, drinking and being in good company. "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die," commanded the prophet Isaiah; "Eat and drink, fill your belly and rejoice day and night," recommended the Babylonian gods, who took immortality for themselves and left Gilgamesh a small and miserable corridor to death. Chaine des Rotisseurs believes in adhering devoutly to ancient decrees. Chaine des Rotisseurs is the modern incarnation of the medieval Goose Roasters Guild. King Louis IX - actually one of the more ascetic kings in the history of grandiose debauchery and feasts that defined the French royal dynasty - was the one who in 1248, by royal charter, organized the more than 100 professional guilds existing at the time, including the Goose Roasters. At a time when Europe had yet to learn of the existence of the turkey, goose was one of the most common and favored types of meat. Even chicken came nowhere near it. Goose fat has more calories than that of chicken, a fact of unparalleled importance in a world of poverty and deprivation. Geese can survive on a diet inferior to that of other domesticated fowl and they can be taken to market with no need for transportation. That is how geese had the misfortune of attracting the interest of a guild that specialized in roasting them. Only in the 16th century were the rights of members of the guild extended to include the roasting of other domesticated fowl, wild fowl, lamb and venison. Then came the French Revolution, which brought about the abolition of the guild system, and the Goose Roasters Guild disappeared into historical oblivion until the mid-20th century. In 1950 a group of French gourmands got together and decided to bring the old brotherhood of the royal meat roasters back to life. One of its prominent figures was Curnonsky, the pen name of Maurice Edmond Sailland, a French writer known as "the prince of the gastronomes," the successor of such famous French gastronomes as Brillat-Savarin and Grimaud de la Reyniere. This group of chefs, professional restaurateurs and gourmands adopted the official symbol imprinted on the guild's shield, the hierarchy of officials and a swearing-in ceremony beneath the sword, in the best feudal tradition (and restricted to men only). Mainly, members vowed to conduct a life of half serious, half joking worship of good food. Branches of Chaine des Rotisseurs can be found today in 80 countries worldwide. The Israeli group was formed in the 1960s by industrialist Maurice Benin. Because entertainment of this kind is usually restricted to the wealthy, and because joining such a social network has always involved the method of "one rich friend brings another," a somewhat secretive halo has developed around the order, accompanied by a bit of the antagonism typical in an exclusive club. In recent years, perhaps because of the attempt to bring younger people into the order and perhaps because the appreciation of good food is no longer seen as a betrayal of the values of the State of Israel, the order is showing the first signs of openness. The weekend in Ein Gedi, which was attended by about 50 of the 150-member Israeli order, was only one in a series of regular monthly meetings, each devoted to a different subject: dishes from famous films about food, a midnight bus with champagne to drink on the way to a nighttime grape harvest. Next year, a weekend in Cyprus, neutral ground, is planned with the Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the association. La Chaine des Rotisseurs des Israel, www.chaine.org.il The gardens of Ein Gedi King Solomon's gardens were planted on a hillside here: green rows of aromatic plants to be used for perfume, brought from the Arabian peninsula and Africa, were arranged on terraces that reached the line where the springs gush forth (the remains of the terraces can still be seen today). Perfumes were so expensive that such gardens always belonged to kings and emperors. Mark Anthony gave Ein Gedi, one of the most famous gardens of the ancient world, as a gift to Cleopatra. Three years ago the Ein Gedi Botanical Gardens initiated a project to restore those glory days. The spice beds here, a small but impressive section of the garden that may one day house a study center, include dozens of types of herbs, medicinal plants and spices from all over the world. They enjoy the unique micro-climate of this desert oasis, the best place for growing trees to impressive dimensions. The henna tree of Ein Gedi, mentioned in the Song of Songs; frankincense, used in ancient times to mask the smell of decomposing animal corpses that hovered over the Temple Mount; various types of myrrh (which made its way a few years ago to the Vatican, by special request of the pope), the famous balm of Gilead; the Abraham plant, used by the reclusive monks of Sinai to repress their sexual urges, and more. Room and board Good winds are blowing in the veteran Ein Gedi Guest House, and we are not just referring to the bromine-saturated air that imbues one's limbs with a wonderful sense of calm and a desire to sprawl lazily in the warm winter sun. The prices are still too high, in our opinion, relative to the modest design of the rooms, mainly the old rooms that are scheduled for renovation only this year, but service has greatly improved. The main revolution is evident in the level of the food served in the restaurant. The culinary desert surrounding the Dead Sea has always been regrettable, and the restaurant of the Ein Gedi Guest House - an impossible combination of a kibbutz and hotel dining room - used to align itself with the regional norm. No longer. A new director, a new chef and new attention to gastronomy have created menus that make wise use of high-quality ingredients, within limits. In the coming year there are plans for weekends devoted to culture and the culinary arts, and perhaps these are the first steps on the road to creating a unique cuisine - cooking in salt or in date syrup and using the fruits and herbs that grow in desert conditions. The Ein Gedi Guest House, 08-6594222, www.ein-gedi.co.il, cost per night for a couple on a weekend: NIS 1,380 - NIS 1,920. At all events The Ein Gedi Botanical Garden provides a large number of special locations for fancy meals, from a cocktail at the foot of the baobab tree to breakfast beneath the twisted air-roots of the huge Bengal ficus (banyan) trees. One of the most beautiful of these intriguing corners is Zalman's cactus garden, or "Zalmanland," as the natives call it. For 30 years Zalman Dagami - a carpenter and builder of stages, kibbutz gravedigger and coffin-builder, an obsessive collector of cacti and a free spirit who gained air to breathe when the kibbutz was privatized - worked to set up this lovely complex. There is a tall forest of huge cacti, dense carpets of "mother-in-law's cushion" (Golden Barrel Cactus) and tangled terraces of flora that descend to a wooden deck overlooking the desert. This lovely area is a site for special events - from an intimate meal for six to huge weddings - whose menu includes mainly grilled and smoked meat. Zalmanland, Ein Gedi, 052-2706053 Sinkholes It's been said before us, but we will say it, too: The retreating and shrinking water line of the northern part of the Dead Sea is a source of true heartache. Eli Raz, a geologist who is a member of Kibbutz Ein Gedi and was one of the first to warn of the danger of the formation of sinkholes, leads special hikes in the area. They focus on the holes and crevasses that have opened up in the ground as a result of the receding level of water (due in part to its diversion elsewhere, for agricultural and other purposes), and the disintegration of layers of salt in the ground. It is strictly forbidden to hike in the closed areas alone. The holes are frightening - Raz himself was once all but swallowed up in a pit as deep as Joseph's in the Bible; he was rescued during a complicated operation that took hours. But the pit was also disturbingly beautiful. The textures and colors of the layers of earth now exposed as a result of the rupturing of the ground are breathtaking, but they arouse the uncomfortable feeling that perhaps man should not be peering into the innards of the netherworld, especially when he himself has exposed them. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Picking up the pieces U.S. Jews ponder 'catastrophic' effects of Bernard Madoff affair. Little Adolf Three-year-old Adolf Hitler finally gets his name on his birthday cake.

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