Israel Information
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
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Home Country: israel
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 Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 11:14 am Post subject: FOOD & DINING IN ISRAEL/ ISRAEL DINING GUIDE |
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FOOD & DINING IN ISRAEL
GENERAL
The food in Israel is as varied as the population living there. “Israeli cuisine” is a concept which is evolving from the many cooking traditions and the local raw materials. Most of Israel’s Jewish inhabitants are immigrants from eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and North Africa, who brought with them long-standing traditions of Jewish food that developed in the area where they lived, so that you can find couscous in Israel alongside gefilte fish.
Besides its being a country of immigrants, Israel is a Middle East country, part of whose inhabitants are Arabic, and their influence is felt in dishes such as humus, tehina and falafel, as well as in many rice dishes. Israel is also a western country, is influenced by world events, and spires to keep astride of all world changes and vogues, including culinary trends.
Although McDonalds and other hamburger and pizza chains thrive in Israel, the world race after the Mediterranean Basin diet and eating culture can be felt here. In recent years a thriving quality wine industry has developed along with olive oil manufacturers and quite a few small dairies that produce French-style cow and goat cheeses. Fish and seafood have also started playing a major part in the menus of local restaurants, as befits a country located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
In Israel, you can eat Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Arab and American food. You can eat in simple workers’ restaurants or in prestigious chef restaurants. Most of the restaurants and coffee houses in between the latter two offer a menu composed of dishes that have become popular with the local population over the years, and which is based on sandwiches, pastas, fish, vegetables and meat.
Like anywhere else in the world, it is advisable to use common-sense when choosing a place to eat, and to enter places that look clean and pleasant, and where there is a large turnover of diners. Many restaurants have a menu in English. In those that don’t, you’ll always find a waiter who speaks reasonable English and can explain the menu. Most restaurants and food stalls are open non-stop from the morning until the evening hours. Restaurants which are also bars remain open until the small hours of the night. In the major cities, especially in Tel Aviv, you can find something to eat at any hour of the day or night.
POPULAR FOOD
Falafel
Israel’s flagship dish comes from the Arab cuisine, and is to be had at almost every street corner. It is sold at quick-service stalls offering cheap food. Falafel is round deep-fried balls of minced chick peas and spices. It is sold in pita bread, a kind of round flat bread pocket, together with fresh vegetables, tehina and humus, and sometimes also with potato chips. Pickled vegetables and hot sauces can also be added to the falafel and pita bread. Falafel, in spite of its being a street food, can also serve as a full, satisfying, nutritious meal. Ask passers-by where you can find a place selling the best falafel, or simply choose a place which seems popular.
Shawarma
This street dish is shared by the Arab, Turkish and Greek cuisines. Shwarma is meat (sheep or turkey) that is slowly grilled on a rotating skewer. The outer layer of the meat is cut off, and served in pita bread or lafa (Iraqi pita bread which is rolled and wrapped around the dish), to which fresh vegetables, tehina, humus, and potato chips are added. Here, too, it is habitual to eat the dish with a variety of pickled vegetables.
Humus
Every humus-loving Israeli will tell you that the place where he regularly eats humus has the best humus in the world. Humus is an Arabic food made from chick peas, cooked and crushed into a puree together with raw tehina (sesame paste). Humus is usually served with olive oil, spices and parsley, and sometimes also with a hard-boiled egg, ful (cooked broad beans) or other side-dishes. Humus is eaten together with pita bread, or as they say in Hebrew, a plate of humus “is wiped dry” with pita bread. You can also find canned humus at the marketing chains. However, you can’t compare the industrialized product with the humus you’re served at the specialized popular restaurants, where the service is fast and business-like, without undue ceremony.
Jewish Dietary Laws (Kashrut)
Kosher food is food Jews are permitted to eat according to Jewish religious law. There are many kashrut laws, and their degree of observance varies according to the various streams of Judaism, and from person to person. To define them simply and as a whole, the Jewish dietary laws prohibit the eating of pork and other animals that do not chew the cud or have cloven feet. They also prohibit the eating of oysters and seafood, and forbid the eating of milk and meat products together.
Places offering kosher food usually display a kashrut certificate granted to them by the local rabbinate. Most hotels serve kosher food, as well as some restaurants. But there is no binding law. So if kashrut is important to you, you must check it out at each separate place where you dine. It is harder to find kosher restaurants in Tel Aviv, while in Jerusalem and other cities, the vast majority of restaurants are kosher. In the marketing chains, too, most of the products are kosher. They can be identified by a tag testifying to the fact that they are kosher. |
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