Four craftsmen

When professional guilds disappeared from the world, so did the precise definition of the term "craftsman," which for centuries referred to those who followed in their forefathers' footsteps and practiced the same craft with the same level of expertise. Mechanized assembly lines and patent registration killed off the guilds that had been around for thousands of years, and diminished the importance of concepts such as seniority, experience, specialization and unique production. This process also had positive aspects, of course - such as the lowering of prices for products which had previously only been within the reach of the upper classes - but hopeless romantics will forever continue to seek the unique craftsman's seal as a mark of quality.

There are still some expert craftsmen around, though others might liken them to Don Quixote - people with a great, burning passion for doing something, who aspire to perfection and achieve an impressive degree of specialization in their chosen, specific field. They may not be the easiest sorts to live with: Their obsessiveness can make day-to-day life tough at times. But then nothing compares to hearing them talk about the object of their passion, or watching them in the act of creation.

Haim Cohen's workshop is located in the Florentin neighborhood of Tel Aviv, in the house where he was born 62 years ago. In a neighborhood where the majority of residents are of Greek, Turkish or Bukharian extraction, the oven-maker who taught Haim's father the art was called "the Ashkenazi." The small workshop first began operating in the yard of the house in 1945, and over the years, when carpentry shops, body shops and other tiny businesses supplanted residential housing there, the workshop expanded, bit by bit, like patchwork. In recent years, the trend has changed once again, and now a lot of these businesses are being pushed out of the neighborhood to make room for residences. But Haim and the carpentry shop opposite, whose employees while away their breaks in feverish backgammon tournaments, are still here.

Modern turbo ovens and other imported ovens have taken a bite out of Cohen's livelihood, certainly, but his ovens, which come with a lifetime warranty, are still in high demand; used ones are sold in flea markets for a relatively high price, too.

Haim Cohen Ovens, 6 Hatzerim Street, Tel Aviv, Tel.: (03) 682-0363; www.cohen-ovens.co.il

Ali Minawi, son of a family of Jaffa potters, has been leaning over potters' wheels since age 12, when they had to be strenuously operated by foot pedal. He's been working with clay for more than 30 years, and has passed his craft down to his children as well.

When you actually see "clay in the potter's hands," twisting and taking on the shape of a pot or kettle, you understand what the author of that phrase must have felt, and appreciate the persistence and precision required to produce a range of useful vessels that are not one-off pieces of art - as distinguished from craftsmanship.

An especially keen eye may discern the tiny differences between the pieces, but making pottery is still a completely manual process that requires many hours of work for each item, starting with the kneading of the clay all the way up to the painting and glazing. Yet somehow the completed items sometimes still look as if they were poured into a mold or came off an assembly line.

Minawi isn't the only potter who works here. The Adama studio was founded 20 years ago by Eli Elisar, a graduate of the Bezalel school of art; he is now responsible for designing of all the pieces. This workshop is one of the few in Israel that manufactures terra-cotta vessels, using one of the oldest techniques, rather than importing them ready-made from abroad, despite the high cost of importing fine clay bricks from Spain and Germany, the lengthy production process and the craftsmen's wages. Almost every one of the beautiful pieces on the shelves of the factory store were created in cooperation with chefs and with thought to adapting them to the needs of cooks, restaurateurs and hoteliers: There's a terra-cotta bell for roasting antipasto vegetables; a Portuguese-inspired dish with narrow slots for holding sausages and meats to be grilled atop coals; pointy Moroccan-style tajine dishes; and deep pots of all sizes, painted in warm, earth tones, for hearty winter dishes baked in the oven for hours.

Adama Pottery Studio, 40 Ben-Zion Gelis Street, Segula Petah Tikva Industrial Zone, www.studio-adama.co.il

Butchers and their families ostensibly eat carpaccio for breakfast, steak for lunch and beef stew for dinner. The menu enjoyed by grill builders is quite similar. The Sundi family, for instance, has four grills at home, on which it cooks lamb chops, chicken and steak on a daily basis. They purchased the grills on Olei Zion Street in Jaffa - a pilgrimage site for restaurateurs from all over the land. You can find used and refurbished kitchen equipment in dozens of small shops there, but Shauli and his son, Dudi, are among the last true craftsmen on the street, who actually build the grills themselves.

For 38 years, Shauli has been building quality coal and gas grills, and he also makes gas burners, mostly for restaurants, by special order, though they're available to the general barbecuing public, too. His specialties are a heavy coal grill made of steel, and another model that has six gas burners installed beneath a layer of coals, which ensure that the heat is spread equally and strongly.

Shauli & Sons, 26 Olei Zion Street, Jaffa, Tel.: (03) 683-2456

Sometimes a man gets up in the morning and adopts a spiritual homeland. He may have grown up on a moshav near Ramle, but Ram Evgi still has the look of a suave Italian Mafioso, down to the trim mustache and elegant beard; he speaks fluent Italian and is the proud owner of a spectacular collection of coffee machines.

Evgi is a big believer in the idea that quality coffee is, above all, fresh coffee that was just roasted. While it's true that Colombian coffee has a different flavor than Costa Rican, and that coffee-growing and preparation methods are important factors, the most significant factor of all in his view is the roasting and freshness. These thoughts led him, 15 years ago, to come up with a unique idea: a small roasting machine for coffee shops. This machine is sold all over the world, from Honolulu to Rome. Even the Italians, the world's greatest coffee aficionados, have fallen in love with Ram's beautiful and cleverly designed machines.

Coffee-Tech Engineering, Tel.: (03) 648-0979, www.coffee-tech.com