The basis of national Israeli cuisine is fresh vegetables in various variations and combinations, meat and fish dishes. Jewish cuisine is very heterogeneous, because many Israeli dishes were brought with them by migrants from Europe and other countries. The proximity to the Arabs also affected the traditional cuisine of Israel.
Israel has a huge baking and sweets culture that stems from family homemade recipes. Sweets, once upon a time former secret Jewish grandmothers, now anyone can try.
Of course, Israeli restaurants follow the kosher food rule. Meat and milk are stored and prepared only separately; fish is eaten exclusively from species that have scales. You can't eat pork at all. Of course, these prohibitions do not apply to tourists, but most often you simply won’t find non-kosher products in restaurants. Israeli drinks are also interpreted as kosher and non-kosher. This concerns, first of all, wine. And the key to kosher is the correct harvesting and processing of grapes.
Traditional Israeli dishes
A popular Israeli appetizer made from pureed lamb peas with garlic and lemon juice.
Pea and bean balls. This dish is most often served with hummus, and you can buy it right on the streets.
Baba Ganush. This is not a separate dish, but a popular sauce made from fried eggplant. "Baba Ganoush" is prepared with the addition of sesame paste "Tahini", garlic or onion, herbs and spices.
Meze. This is the general name for many types of snacks made from fresh and cooked vegetables. They are usually used to complement meat dishes.
Juicy scrambled eggs fried in tomato sauce with the addition of various ingredients and seasoned with herbs. The dish is served in a cast iron frying pan with bread, pieces of which replace the spoon.
Israeli cuisine has preserved its centuries-old heritage almost in its original form. In addition, she tried on the traditions of the East and the West. This is why Israel's national dishes are loved all over the world.
Miracle on beans
One such dish is hummus, a chickpea snack popular in Israel and other countries. Soak 200 g of chickpeas overnight. Then cook it until it is properly softened. Brown 4 tbsp in a dry frying pan. l. sesame seeds, grind it in a coffee grinder and mix with 1 tbsp. l. olive oil. Beat the finished chickpeas with a blender, add 2 cloves of garlic, juice of half a lemon, 2 tbsp. l. olive oil and sesame paste. For richness of taste and aroma, add a pinch of coriander, cumin and red pepper. Spread hummus on croutons or pita bread, and your family won’t be able to tear themselves away from this snack!
Herring in ambush
We love forshmak no less. This is the national dish of Israel, which is prepared from herring, less often - from meat. We clean the herring from the bones and cut it into small pieces. In the same way, chop 2 hard-boiled eggs, 2 boiled potatoes, an onion and a medium apple. Cut into pieces 100 g butter. We pass all the ingredients through a meat grinder or beat with a mixer. Season the finished mixture with salt and pepper, transfer it to a herring bowl and put it in the refrigerator for an hour. Before serving, sprinkle mincemeat with green onions. This appetizer will successfully diversify the menu of both a regular family lunch and a dinner party.
No frills casserole
As you know, traditional Israeli cuisine is not complete without matzo - unleavened crispy flatbread. They are eaten like bread or added to various dishes. For example, in, aka casserole. Break 500 g of matzo into pieces, pour in ½ cup of boiling water and let it soak. Separately beat 6 yolks and 6 whites, mix them with the soaked matzo. Add 150 g of chicken fat, salt and pepper. Grease a heat-resistant dish with oil, sprinkle it with grated bread and pour in the matzo base, you can add raisins to taste. Bake the kugel for 30 minutes at 180°C. In Israel it is served with broth. However, on its own, it will definitely appeal to the home’s taste.
Queen of the Seas
Stuffed - truly the signature national dish of Israel. We clean the fish (pike or cod) from scales, remove the fins, tail, head and entrails. Cut it into pieces 2 cm thick and remove the pulp. We pass it through a meat grinder twice, the second time with a raw onion. Add boiled carrots, 100 g of bread soaked in milk to the minced meat and grind again in a meat grinder. Add 2 raw eggs, 2 tbsp. l. butter, salt and pepper. Stuff the pieces of fish with minced meat and smooth out the edges. Place sliced onions, carrots and beets on the bottom of the pan, and fish in one layer on top. Fill it with water, add your favorite spices and cook for 1.5 hours. For home gourmets to appreciate the dish, serve it chilled.
Goose stories
There are some very interesting recipes in Israeli cuisine. Stuffed goose necks are just such a case. Before cooking, a couple of goose necks need to be tarred and rinsed with water. For the filling, mix 8 tbsp. l. ground beef, raw egg, chopped onion, 2 tbsp. l. bread crumbs, a pinch of salt and pepper. We stuff the necks with minced meat, only loosely, otherwise they will burst. We carefully sew the edges with thread. First, cook the necks for half an hour in salted water, then fry in oil until golden brown. Before serving, cut the necks diagonally. This dish will be a real decoration for any holiday dinner.
Beetroot coolness
Soups are held in high esteem in traditional Israeli cuisine, including cold ones. Boil the beets until half cooked adding 1 tbsp. l. 9% vinegar. Grate it on a coarse grater and return it to the broth along with large potatoes, cut into cubes. Add salt and cook the vegetables until cooked. At the end, pour in 100 ml of raw beet juice- this will make the color more saturated. We put 5 tbsp. l. sugar, stir and cool the soup. Pour it into plates and put finely chopped fresh cucumbers, greens, tomatoes cut into slices. A harmonious addition to this borscht would be a sauce made from 1½ cups sour cream and 3 tbsp. l. horseradish.
Dessert Challenge
Israeli ones are extremely rich, for example, kindley cakes with poppy seeds and nuts. Knead the dough from 1 kg of flour, 400 g goose fat, 6 raw and 2 boiled yolks, 30 g sugar. Add 5 g of yeast diluted in warm water, and 50 ml of white wine. Leave the dough to rise. Boil 200 g of nuts, 200 g of raisins and separately 100 g of poppy seeds and 100 g of sugar in a mixture of 100 ml of white wine and 150 ml of water until thick. Divide the dough into 8 flatbreads, place the filling on each and roll, giving them an elongated shape. Brush the kindleys with egg and bake at 180°C until they are golden brown. Those with a sweet tooth will never be able to resist such a delicacy.
The cuisine of Israel makes an indelible impression on those who encounter it for the first time. We hope our recipes will convince you of this. And if you are already familiar with this cuisine, tell us about your favorite dishes.
Israel is a holy land. An amazing state that was formed relatively recently. Food in Israel is like a country - an incredible combination different cultures, all kinds national dishes, a plexus of East and West.
Returning to my ancient land, Jews not only brought with them many languages and traditions, but also a culinary heritage different countries, which, combined with indigenous dishes, created a multifaceted Israeli cuisine. It also shows the close influence of Arabic traditions.
Israel, Tel Aviv. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thorbak2006/
The national cuisine of Israel is divided into Ashkenazi and Sephardic. Sephardic refers to the Jewish people from the countries of the Middle East, the food in it is spicy, rich, with aromatic spices and herbs. Ashkenazi is associated with the Jewish people from Eastern and Western Europe; here the dishes are more modest, with flavor nuances familiar to Europeans.
It should be noted that Jews follow the religious laws of kashrut in preparing and consuming food. For example, pork and shellfish are prohibited. Dairy products should be prepared and eaten separately from meat dishes.
Food prepared according to the laws of kashrut is considered “kosher,” that is, “permissible.” In Israel there are “kosher” restaurants and cafes, which are divided into dairy and meat, and you can also find “non-kosher” ones with Chinese, French, and Russian cuisines.
Snacks and street food in Israel
A traditional Israeli dish is hummus. A unique snack made from chickpea puree (chickpeas - chickpeas), olive oil, garlic, onion, lemon juice and spices. Sometimes tahini, a paste sauce made from sesame seeds, is added to hummus. Hummus can serve as an appetizer, a side dish, or a main dish.
As street food, it is added to pita, round bread in the form of a pocket, it turns out to be a very nutritious and healthy fast food.
In general, street food is common in Israel. There are many different snack bars, stalls, and benches where you can quickly grab something to eat.
Falafel. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ingmar/
The most popular fast food is the Arabic dish falafel. It is made from hummus, which is ground into a homogeneous mass, made into balls and deep-fried. Falafel is served in pita bread, along with a salad of fresh vegetables, and topped with tahini sauce.
Falafel in pita bread with salad. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryry9379/
Burekas pies are also in great demand. They are made from thin unleavened or puff pastry filled with cheese, potatoes, and spinach.
Be sure to try the Israeli kebab Al ha-esh (translated as “on fire”) - meat cooked on the grill. It is not inferior in popularity to hummus.
Main dishes of Israeli cuisine
In Israel, according to religious laws, cooking food on the Sabbath is not allowed, with the exception of food prepared in advance, which is placed in the oven the day before, on Friday, and simmered over low heat until the next day.
One such Shabbat dish is cholent. In Sephardic cuisine it is called hamin. A hearty roast of meat, potatoes, beans, onions, chickpeas and spices. It is prepared in a pot and served on Saturday morning.
Cholent (khamin). Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/missvincci/
If you are a lover of scrambled eggs, then try a dish called shakshuka. A dish of eggs in a spicy sauce of tomatoes, onions, bell pepper. There are many recipes for shakshuka. Traditionally it is served in a cast iron skillet with bread.
Egg dish - Shakshuka. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aragornital/
Among the fish dishes, it is worth noting the signature dish “St. Peter’s Fish” - grilled Galilean tilapia. Why St. Peter's? According to Biblical legends, it was this fish that Peter caught and found in its mouth a coin with which he paid the tax for the temple.
St. Peter's fish - Tilapia. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/junnbeve/
Israeli sweets
Israel offers many different confectionery: baklava, “donchikes fun tvore” donuts, blinchikes - pancakes with various sweet fillings, khomentash - pies with poppy seed filling, candied fruit and much more.
Pies - khomentash. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danb2007/
An interesting dessert that is definitely worth trying is Knafeh. This incredibly tasty and tender delicacy is made from Kadaif vermicelli and goat cheese. When serving, knafeh is poured with sugar syrup and sprinkled with almonds. walnuts or pistachios.
Israeli sweets - Knafeh. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/visit_jordan/
The traditional Israeli sweet is Bamba. Corn sticks soaked in a thin layer of peanut butter. They are incredibly popular; not a single holiday is complete without them.
Beverages
Israel has a very developed coffee culture. They're preparing it different ways: latte, iced, Turkish coffee, flavored with cardamom, espresso.
Refreshing in hot weather Mint tea, as well as freshly squeezed juices, pomegranate juice is especially incomparable.
As for alcoholic drinks, local brands of beer Goldstar (dark) and Maccabee (light) are popular.
Israeli beer - Maccabee and Goldstar. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/asner/
IN last years Winemaking is rapidly developing here. The most prestigious wines are the Yarden, Gamla, Golan and Carmel series, which have already won many awards at international festivals.
Of the strong alcoholic drinks, the most common is arak (Lerous Premium Arak). Aniseed vodka, 50% strength. Usually before use it is diluted with water and ice is added.
Strong alcoholic drink- Arak. Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56872425@N08/
Of course, Israeli cuisine deserves close attention in terms of gastronomic tourism. Israel is a land of contrasts, with original dishes filled with spicy and unusual flavors that never seem boring.
Although most people plan a trip to Israel to visit the holy sites, getting to know the local cuisine is also worth special attention. The culinary traditions of Israel are very diverse, because they have developed under the influence of many peoples living in the country. To help you navigate the wide range of dishes you can try in Israel, we offer you a list of the most interesting ones.
Hummus is the king of Israeli cuisine. A delicious appetizer made from chickpeas, olive oil and lemon juice has long gained popularity around the world, and yet the most delicious hummus is prepared in Israel. It is usually served with hot, fresh bread, but Israeli chefs are not afraid to experiment, and you can try different variants serving hummus, for example, Kavarma hummus - hummus with minced lamb and onions.
There are many versions about the origin of falafel - balls of chickpeas or beans, but no matter what nation is the author of this dish, it undoubtedly occupies an important place in Israeli cuisine. You will find it in almost all establishments: from expensive restaurants to budget eateries. Falafel is especially popular as street food because it is much cheaper and easier to buy than to cook at home. Falafel is traditionally served with hummus, bread, Israeli salad and pickles.
Knafeh is an Arabic sweet that is very popular in Israel as a dessert. Knafeh is made from dough and goat cheese with a lot of sugar syrup, sometimes nuts or cream are added to knaf. Ready dish sprinkled with pistachios and flavored with a few drops of rose water. Knafeh must be eaten hot.
Eggplants are widely used in Israeli cuisine. They are served with tahini or yogurt or pureed with lemon juice and spices - this is baba ganoush. Like many other local snacks, baba ganoush is served with freshly baked bread. Despite its simplicity, it is very tasty and, importantly, healthy and low-calorie dish.
Shakshuka is one of the most popular breakfasts in Israel. The main ingredients are eggs and tomatoes, but shakshuka is more than just scrambled eggs. Main role Tomatoes play in shakshuka; one serving requires about 5-7 pieces. A thick sauce is prepared from tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices, into which they are then carefully beaten raw eggs. The dish turns out very beautiful: the white and yellow round fried eggs look very picturesque on the red tomato background.
Jerusalem mix grill
A trip to Jerusalem cannot be considered complete without trying the famous mixed grill, which consists of fried pieces of different types of meat. The classic mixture includes lamb, veal, goat and pigeon. All this is fried on the grill or in a frying pan, as a result, all types of meat complement each other’s taste, turning into an incredible, incomparable dish. Mix grill is served wrapped in thin bread or placed in pita bread along with fresh and pickled vegetables.
Burekas came to Israel from Turkish cuisine. These are a kind of pies that are baked from puff pastry stuffed with potatoes, vegetables or cheese. Ready-made burekas are often sprinkled with various seeds, which help to distinguish them by the type of filling. Like many other local dishes, burekas are served with tahini, Israeli salad and cold yogurt.
Malauah
The Israelis borrowed this dish from Yemen, and it is as popular as hummus and falafel. As you have probably noticed, the people of Israel are partial to different types bread, and malauach is another variety of it. Malauach is an unleavened pancake made from puff pastry, to which additives are added to give it flavor: spicy tomato sauce and boiled eggs, tahini, olive oil, honey or other sweets.
This is another dish that came to Israel from Yemen. Jahnun is a roll of rich puff pastry with a lot of butter or margarine. The peculiarity of its preparation is that jakhnun bakes for a very long time: from 8 to 12 hours on low heat. Usually jakhnun is prepared on the night from Friday to Saturday, but in many restaurants it can be ordered on any day of the week. Jahnun served with tomato sauce, seasoned with schug, and boiled eggs.
Israeli salad
How can you visit Israel and not try the symbol of local cuisine - Israeli salad? Even if this name hides a mixture of ordinary fresh vegetables! Classic composition Israeli salad includes tomatoes, onions and cucumbers, but it may also contain peppers, carrots, green onions and parsley. All vegetables for the salad are cut into neat cubes - the smaller the better - and mixed with chopped herbs. The salad is dressed with a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.
“Overwhelmed” - this word can describe my state when I first studied the menu in an Israeli cafe. Until my last visit here, I had not tried anything from Israeli cuisine except hummus and challah. I associated the word “falafel” only with the languidly fashionable pronunciation of it in Ukraine, and I could hardly distinguish pita from an ordinary bun.
But, everything is in order.
The first surprise for me was “where is the forshmak? where is the fish?" It turns out that these dishes were brought to Israel by emigrants from the USSR, but they did not become widespread here, remaining a kind of symbol of Soviet Jewry. And they have the same relation to Israel as Olivier salad does to France.
I will never forget my first visit and “introduction” to Israeli cuisine. First we ate hummus, ate salads (10 types), potatoes and something else incredibly tasty. I was already ready to get up from the table, since my stomach was full, but the hostess did not encourage my intention, cheerfully exclaiming: “And now the first courses!” A whole hour The feast lasted, the dishes changed at such a speed that I did not have time to remember the names. “And I prepared this cousin my daughter-in-law, this is our great-nephew, and this is the owner of the house himself! Don’t offend us, try a little!” - the hostess asked, putting a huge portion of something colorful on my plate.
To my questions about why everything was so oily and fatty, seasoned with hot and spicy spices, she said: “Israeli cuisine is close to Moroccan.”
Eating in Israel is a national sport.
Remember the rule: in Israeli cafes the portions are rather large, in restaurants they are large, and when visiting guests they are huge.
In Jerusalem, I tried the vaunted falafel for the first time. At first I thought it was delicious (even though I naturally splashed the sauce on my sundress - it’s impossible to eat falafel carefully), but then my stomach cramped so much that I decided not to try it again in the near future. Although, they say that in Tel Aviv near Shuka Carmel there is the best falafel in all of Israel. Someday I'll get to it.
Shakshuka (in our opinion: omelette mixed with tomatoes) went better. An ideal breakfast, although quite high in calories.
Hummus... there are dozens of types of hummus on store shelves. Need to try. Hummus is delicious to eat with the aforementioned pita - a pancake bun, hollow inside. It can be filled with vegetables, gravies, salads, tuna or falafel. Tuna, by the way, is the most consumed type of fish in Israel. And it’s fresh here, and that’s why it’s amazingly tasty. Cans of canned tuna are sold in every supermarket. It's better to take it to own juice- in oil it still threatens extra pounds, but not everyone will like it in tomatoes.
But for me the coolest discovery is fruit and its relative cheapness. The first thing I tried was bananas. They are smaller in size, sweeter in taste, and greener in color. Both fresher and tastier.
Mango... a kilogram of mango in Israel can be bought for 3 dollars, and what kind of fruits are they... they say that there are almost 100 types of mangoes. I have identified only 2 for myself so far - small and large. Large ones are more viscous, small ones are harder and juicier.
Passion fruit (locally called “passion flower”) is often plucked straight from the trees. I didn't like it. Lychee is also abundant here. And I’m not very happy either.
But cactus fruits are a completely different matter. They can be bought in almost any supermarket, relatively inexpensively. Limes and pomegranates grow near the house. Figs lie under the trees, but, unfortunately, they spoil relatively quickly. Dates are divine, especially honey dates.
And so you sit there, eat mango for breakfast, look out the window at the sunrise... And only a cockroach flying past reminds you that you are not in Eden.
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