CUISINE
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And
the house of Israel called the bread Manna; and it was like coriander seed,
white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. |
Contents
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FOR
FORTY YEARS, as they wandered in the Sinai Desert, that the children of Israel
dined almost exclusively on quail and manna. Even though this may have been a
nutritionally satisfying diet, one can reasonably speculate that after not too
many years it tended to become rather monotonous. Of two things, however, we
may be certain: the recipe for manna has been irretrievably lost; and that was
the last time in history that all of the children of Israel shared a single
culinary style.
Some 4,500 years later, the
descendants of those wanderers, now settled in the Promised Land, are enjoying
a far more diversified cuisine, one that is set with the dishes of people who
have come from eighty nations and a host of distinct culinary backgrounds.
While there is a rapidly increasing awareness of the sophisticated culinary
styles of France, Italy, and the Far East, especially in the better restaurants
throughout the country, many of the dishes served in the homes of people and in
simpler although often charming restaurants have their roots in the traditions
of the countries of the people who brought their favourite dishes with them
when they immigrated.
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THE MOST PERVASIVE culinary
influences in Israel are the cooking styles of the Middle East, North Africa,
the Mediterranean basin, and Central and Eastern Europe. Of all these cookery
styles, the one best known and most popular remains that of the Middle East.
Because most of the inhabitants of the Middle Eastern nations are Moslems and
are, like Jews, forbidden to eat pork, Israelis have been readily able to
assimilate their culinary style. In addition to the indigenous cookery of
Israeli Arabs, Jews from Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, Egypt, Libya and Yemen
have each made unique contributions to the national table.
From Iran has come the tradition of
cooking meat together with fruits, lentils or split peas. From Lebanon has come
an appreciation of fish flavoured with cayenne pepper, paprika, cinnamon and
other spices. Jordanian kebabs, whether of plain or marinated lamb, or of a
mixture of lamb and beef, have also become indispensable to local cookery.
Syrian or Kurdish kubbeh, lamb and cracked wheat paste served in fried patties
stuffed with meat, onion and pine nuts is a well-loved dish wherever one
travels within Israel, as are sfeeha, small pastry shells filled with spiced
ground lamb, pine nuts and yoghurt that originated in Egypt.
No culinary style is more
distinction than that of Yemen, whose cookery has earned a special place on the
Israeli scene. This particular style is not specially sophisticated, and its
highly flavoured cookery relies on special spice mixtures. The cereal and
burghul dishes of Yemen, along with a range of specially tasty breads, have
also received wide acceptance throughout Israel.
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ANOTHER MAJOR culinary
influence comes from the peoples of the Maghreb, the North African nations of
Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Among the most renowned dishes of these countries
are couscous and shakshouka. Originally devised by wandering Berber tribesmen
some 4,000 years ago, couscous is a grain made of hard wheat semolina, topped
with simple-to-prepare meats and a variety of vegetables and accompanied by
side dishes. Algerian couscous invariably includes tomatoes; Moroccan versions
rely on saffron; and Tunisian couscous is highly spiced. The side dishes also
vary widely, depending on the whims of individual cooks. Shakshouka is another
beloved dish of the Maghreb. In this dish, to be found everywhere in Israel,
eggs are poached to near hardness over peeled tomatoes that have been sautÅed together with onion, garlic and a generous variety
of herbs.
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BALKAN COOKERY forms another
important element of the Israeli table. From Greece and Turkey have come such
popular dishes as moussaka (a baked aubergine, cheese and meat pie), dolmades
(stuffed grape leaves) and the incredibly light, honey-soaked baklava pastries.
Israelis are particularly fond of the the Graeco-Turkish style of frying or
grilling fish after seasoning with fresh herbs and lemon.
Because it reflects a blending of
European and Middle Eastern influences, and because of substantial numbers of
immigrants from these countries, the cookery of the Balkan states, Yugoslavia,
Romania and Bulgaria, is particularly well known in Israel. Mititei, the
thumb-shaped minced meat patties of Romania, and the mixed meat grill kebabs of
Bulgaria are both grilled on skewers and are not dissimilar to Middle Eastern
shishkebabs. Other well-known dishes include Romanian tarator, a cold yoghurt
and cucumber soup sprinkled with chopped walnuts and dill; Bulgarian ghivetch,
a medley of stewed vegetables similar to ratatouille, sometimes served with
yoghurt, and Yugoslavian sarma, a variety of meat mixtures stuffed into cabbage
leaves that have been pickled in brine. Especially popular are ciorba, the
somewhat sour and hearty Balkan meat or fish and vegetable soup, and mamaliga,
a sweetened solidified cornmeal Romanian dish similar to the Italian polenta.
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THE COOKING style of Central
and Eastern Europe that has made it self most evident is that of the East
European Jewish kitchen. Diverse but rarely subtle, having evolved mainly in
the shtetls (the small towns and villages inhabited primarily by Jews until the
advent of the Holocaust), these are the foods that most Americans and Europeans
consider to be typically ``Jewish''. Much in evidence are dishes like gefilte
fish (fish balls made of finely minced carp, pike, or a mixture of the two, generally
served in their own jelly and often accompanied by horseradish); cholent (a
slowly simmered beef stew traditionally prepared for the Sabbath meal); kishke
(a peppery blend of breadcrumbs, chicken fat and onions prepared sausage-like
in beef casings); and knaidlach, egg and matzo-meal-based dumplings. Other
popular offerings from this variegated kitchen are kreplach, dumplings filled
with ground meat or cheese and boiled or fried; latkes, fried potato pancakes;
and a large assortment of salt, pickled and matjas herring dishes.
It should be understood that there
is nothing lean, light or subtle about the foods of the East European Jewish
kitchen. These are dishes that assault the nostrils, make their way to the
stomach with a thump, and then sit heavily in the intestines for several hours.
Loaded with overcooked vegetables and incredible amounts of fat and
cholesterol, such cookery ignores all the rules of what we have come to think
of as refined cuisine. Despite these seeming faults, well prepared old world
Jewish cookery is a delight. The owner of one restaurant that specializes in
these dishes claims that people come to his place and weep for joy. This is
probably not much of an exaggeration, for whatever else one says about it, the
East European Jewish kitchen is the heartland par excellence of nostalgia. One
should, however, bear it mind that as popular as such foods are, they are far
from being the most popular culinary style in the land.
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IMMIGRANTS FROM Russia,
Poland and Hungary have also contributed dishes that were poaular with their
Gentile neighbors. From Hungary, whose cookery is marked by the liberal use of
dozens of types of paprika, have come goulash soup and stew, a variety of carp
dishes, dumplings and tarhonya (dried pellets of flour and egg). Polish cuisine
has given the nation dishes that feature the heavy use of sour cream and dill
as main cooking ingredients. Dishes from Poland include duck soup, cold fruit
soups, krupnik (barley, potato and sour cream soup), a variety of stuffed cabbage
rolls, and plain and filled noodle and dumpling dishes.
From Russia has come borscht, the
famous beetroot-based soup that can be red or clear, cold or hot, and may
contain meats, vegetables and sour cream; golubtsy, stuffed cabbage rolls often
served in a tangy tomato sauce; kulebiaka, a salmon mousse baked with a flaky
pastry dough; and several quasi-French dishes including chicken Kiev, beef
Stroganoff and chicken Pojarsky. Another well-known Russian dish popular in
Israel is pirozhki, miniature turnovers stuffed with chopped meat, vegetables
or fruit. From the Ukraine come kasha (buckwheat) dishes and vareniki,
dumplings stuffed with a savory or sweet filling such as cheese, potatoes, meat
or fruit; and from Georgia have come a variety of meat dishes served with plum
sauce.
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OTHER CULINARY styles that
make themselves felt, albeit on a lesser scale, are those of India and
Ethiopia. Traditional Indian delicacies such as eggs with lamb, chicken with
chestnuts, chicken tandoori, split pea fritters and stuffed potatoes are to be
found in the homes of Indian immigrants as well as in several fine restaurants.
Ethiopian dishes such as wat, a highly spiced stew of chicken and dried legumes
and kitfo, an offering of raw chopped beef seasoned with a blend of hot chili
peppers, garlic, ginger, fenugreek, cardamom, cloves, allspice, turmeric and
nutmeg may be found in several small restaurants, but these are patronized
primarily by Ethiopians.
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AWARENESS of international
trends in cookery, especially in restaurants, has increased enormously over the
last two decades. Several Hebrew-language magazines are devoted exclusively to
the culinary arts and nearly every newspaper in the country has regular food
sections which, in addition to recipes and restaurant reviews, also contain
articles about food and wine history and culture.
A little more than a decade ago,
when most Israelis dined out, it was at Middle Eastern, North African, Balkan
or East European Jewish restaurants. What this meant was that people were
eating the same things at restaurants that they were eating in their homes.
That picture has changed dramatically, and even though such establishments
still thrive, many of the best and most popular restaurants now specialize in
French, Italian and Far-Eastern cookery. Even more important, from the point of
view of both the gastronome and the food historian, a ``new wave'' of Israeli
chefs has been making itself felt. Neither the heaviness of traditional French
cuisine, nor the frivolity of California dining, nor the sometimes moribund
traditions of the Middle East could satisfy these rebellious chefs. What they
were seeking, and what many of them found, was a way to combine the best of
traditional French or Italian cookery, the best of nouvelle cuisine, and the
best of the Mediterranean traditions. In fact, restaurants have advanced so
rapidly in quality that Israel is now on its second and third wave of such new
wave chefs.
However, most people concur that,
despite these advances and an abundance of readily available and excellent
foods, the country has not developed its own unique cuisine. Alas, not even the
street foods so popular throughout the nation are truly Israeli. Felafel,
deep-fried balls of minced chickpeas, parsley, coriander, onions and garlic,
have been mistakenly identified as indigenous to Israel- but ground chickpeas
have been found in the tombs of several of the Pharaohs, and Egyptians,
Moroccans, Algerians and Lebanese have been happily feasting on felafel for at
least 200 years. The equally popular shawarma, marinated lamb roastting slowly
on a rotating vertical skewer, which can be found everywhere in the land, is
Turkish in origin, as are bourekas, which are delicious cheese or potato-filled
phyllo-dough pastry shells. Most important, however, is the fact that as a
meeting point of European, Middle Eastern and North African cultures, the
national table is a rich one, offering many pleasant surprises to those who sit
at it.
A Few Words About Kashrut
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Within Israel, the religiously based dietary laws of kashrut have played a role
in determining cooking and dining habits. For those who follow these rules,
pork and various other types of meat are forbidden, as are shellfish, fish
without scales and the flesh of any kind of scavenger. Nor will Orthodox or traditional
Jews, following the proscription in the Book of Leviticus, cook or serve meat
and dairy products at the same meal. The rules of dining for Moslems, as
detailed in the Koran, are not dissimilar to those followed by Jews.
The restaurants that have succeeded best in presenting high quality cookery while maintaining a kosher kitchen have been those serving foods from nations where Jews made those adaptations over many centuries. Even though there is a demand for kosher French, Italian and Chinese food, most of the restaurants serving the kosher versions of these types of cuisine have not succeeded in attaining high levels of cookery. This is partially because there are inherent contradictions between the cuisines of these nations and the demands of kashrut. Fine French cookery, for example, is absolutely dependent on being able to sautÅ meat in butter; Italian dishes often combine meat and cheese; and Chinese cuisine is heavily dependent upon the use of pork and shellfish. Eliminating one vital ingredient or another, substituting butter with vegetable-based margarine, or serving industrially processed North Sea pollack instead of shrimp is simply not conducive to fine dining. Without exception, the hotel dining rooms throughout the country are kosher, and some talented chefs have done well within these limitations. But few private restaurants have done as well, and with few exceptions, the best restaurants in the country are not kosher.
Street Foods And Other Delights
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If any group of people have raised
stand-up dining to an art form, it is the Israelis. It is not so much that
Israelis are in too much of a rush to sit down, as that wherever one wanders a
feast of Middle Eastern treats is being hawked from streetside stands, movable
carts and eateries so simple that fancy is something left entirely to the
imagination. The two most popular foods for stand-up dining are felafel and
shawarma. Felafel, deep-fried balls of chickpeas and seasonings, may be of
dubious nutritional value, but when well made they are delicious and fun to
eat. Shawarma, which is made from small, thin pieces of lamb, beef or turkey
meat that are built up on a skewer in cylindrical form to a height of about two
feet (50 centimetres) and then cooked on vertically rotating grills, is no less
a pleasure.
The felafel balls or slice of
shawarma are then placed in a pita bread (nearly everything considered edible
here eventually makes its way into a pita) and seasoned with techina, humous,
and a variety of salads and seasonings. One of the ``tricks'' to master is to
put as much as possible into the pita and then avoid having the contents of
your sandwich drip onto your clothing. This sounds easy enough until one
realizes that the number of condiments available includes such diverse treats
as sauerkraut, red cabbage, marinated sweet and hot peppers, an assortment of
olives, pickles made out of cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and carrots and at
least five different preparations of eggplant. Some purists will put only
techina and one salad on their felafel or shawarma. Others have mastered the
feat of loading their sandwiches with ten or more salads.
Even though fine samples of both of
these treats can be found in almost every neighborhood, some of the very best
felafel and shawarma in the country can be bought in and around the Mahane
Yehuda market in Jerusalem, in Tel Aviv's Betzalel market and Yemeni Quarter
(which adjoins the Carmel market). Especially good felafel is also available
along Derech Ha'atzmaut and Rehov Herzl in Haifa, and near the Central Bus
Stations at Beer Sheva, Tiberias and Acre.
But felafel and shawarma are only
the beginning of the story. Boiled, seasoned chick-peas, hot grilled corn, and
a variety of Middle Eastern breads are also available at street-side stands.
Some say the best of these treats are to be found in Jaffa, but all agree that
the offerings in Nazareth, Jerusalem and Beer Sheva are not far behind. One
bakery in Jaffa, for example, makes twenty-five kinds of bread and eleven kinds
of rolls, many of which are destined to be consumed by the purchaser while
standing at the counter or strolling. Be sure to try your pita bread sprinkled
with olive oil and za'atar -- the Biblical hyssop, which is an exquisite herb.
A bit higher up on the fast-food
ladder are ``shipudim'' -- skewers of meat that have been cooked over small
charcoal braziers. It surprises very few to find bits of beef, chicken, turkey
and lamb meat and liver on skewers, but it astonishes many when they learn that
only in Israel do we also grill goose liver -- the famous foie gras - and then
sell it at remarkably reasonable prices. Most of the places that serve such
snacks are so simple that they have tables but rarely tablecloths. Knives and
forks are always available at such places, but there is a good chance that the
waiter will have to be reminded to bring them to the table. None of these
factors should be taken as drawbacks, for these meat-laden skewers are culinary
delights that would be the envy of many fine European and American chefs. The
very best place in the country to seek out these delights is in the area known
as the HaTikva Quarter of Tel Aviv. On Rehov Etzel alone there are at least
twenty such places, any one of which serves marvellous foods. Personally, I
always seek out the simplest of these places because the food there is
invariably the best and the prices are the lowest.
Because Israel is a Mediterranean
nation, fish has also become an integral part of informal dining. In addition
to fine and sophisticated fish and seafood restaurants, many eateries in the
port area of Jaffa, as well as in Caesarea, Atlit and Akko specialize in what
might be thought of as ``just plain fish''. Fried or grilled and garnished with
lemon halves, there may be no better way to enjoy the bounty of the sea.
Despite the simplicity of such places, however, fish dishes are not
inexpensive. They are, however, well worth the investment.
It almost goes without saying that Israel, like the rest of the civilized world, has been successfully invaded by American fast-food chains. One can without much of a problem, find McDonald's, Burger King, Dominoe Pizza and other outlets of the is ilk throughout the country. My own suggestion is to stay with the street food and fast food of the Levant.