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Yael Shochat is the Israeli-born founder of Ima Cuisine, a Middle Eastern restaurant in the heart of Auckland CBD.
After falling for a New Zealander when studying in England, Yael reluctantly made the move to New Zealand in the 90s. A place she felt was far too small, but it drew her in as it was green and seemed to have a future. Yael’s background was in biochemistry and then ceramics, but cooking had always been in her blood, and she yearned for her home cuisine in New Zealand.
After a few catering jobs here and there, her passion for food was reignited. First, she opened a lunchtime spot called City Lunch box on Shortland Street, but keen to offer dinner, she decided to expand and open Ima - which means mother in Hebrew.
Ima Cuisine has been an institution on Fort Street for the past 19 years and is now also famous for its iconic hot cross buns that make an appearance once a year. Following the busy Easter rush, Yael and her family can now sit down to enjoy Passover. We spoke to Yael to learn more about her background, family, and how she cultivates a feeling of home in her cooking.
Images by @kimberleypearcephoto
I didn’t grow up eating hot cross buns, but back in 2004 I stumbled across a recipe I liked, and tweaked it a little. It was different from the traditional bun, and people just went nuts for them.
We weren’t a bakery, and by no means did we have the machinery to be producing the number of buns we were, but each year we continued to make them at Easter and the following for them has grown each year.
In 2018, a journalist wrote a story about them for the Jetstar inflight magazine. She called them the ‘best hot cross buns in the world’. People saw this and began coming in specifically for the buns, and it caught the attention of NZ Herald. They came in to do a video on Ima and the buns just before Easter, and posted it online that evening. 200,000 people viewed that video overnight, and in the morning we arrived to a queue of people down the street. It was crazy, we were completely taken by surprise and so unorganised.
By the next year, we had a solid plan with spreadsheets, and we’re now making buns in the thousands each day around Easter.
There isn’t one particular meal, but we are hugely vegetable focused. So every family dinner will have at least one salad and two vegetable dishes, filled with loads of different herbs. Rather than one favourite dish, flavours and textures are important to use so we cook with this in mind. We also enjoy traditional dishes on Passover, such as chicken soup and matzo balls.
Good food makes me happy. I had a bit of an ‘ah-ha’ moment after my Grandmother passed away. A friend of mine took me out for a very special meal, and that experience completely lifted my mood. It taught me the importance of good food, and I realised that I can also do this for others. I can make people happy with my food, and that’s a big thing for me. The ability to change someone's day for the better, on a regular basis is why I do this.
There’s many recipes, but I think I’ve passed down more so an ethos of food, and how it makes people feel. My three daughters are all great cooks themselves.
Thank you to Yael and her team for letting us come into their 'home' and sharing their beautiful story.