Category: Culinary

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Cooking Vacations in Israel: Herbs and Spices

Cooking vacation: a chance to get to know the local herbs and spices.

A culinary tour in Israel will inevitably acquaint you with the large selection of herbs and spices in the country. Israelis have a strong link to the local herbs and spices. This link, so enriching the present-day cuisine and every Israeli table, stems from antiquity. In those days, man was closer to Nature. In the Eastern Mediterranean, most people lived off the land. Agriculture was the main occupation and the local herbs were used both for cooking and for medicine.

The Land of Israel, the ancient homeland of the Jewish People, was blessed with many herbs. The ancient texts mention some of them such as dill and corianders, oregano and marjoram, myrtle and thyme. All of them were grown specifically for culinary and medicinal uses. The Talmud even gives precise instruction for planting and watering these herbs, so important for the local cuisine for the last 3000 years.

It is no surprise, then, that Israel has a flourishing industry of herbs and spices and is one of the largest exporters of herbal products and condiments to Europe and the US.

Cooking Vacations with Israeli Cuisine

The Israeli cuisine makes extensive use of fresh herbs. In almost every house or balcony, even in the large cities, herbs are grown to make infusions or as spices in everyday dishes.

Walking the streets of Tel Aviv during your cooking vacations, just raise your eyes and look at the balconies and you will see mint and basil peeping at you. Fresh herbs used for adding taste to dishes are a healthy, real and refined way for those of us who wish to avoid using soup powder or condensed industrial spices. Naturally, during our cooking vacations, we will use these herbs freely for taste and scent.

Cooking Vacations – Meeting with popular herbs in Israel

Let’s look now at some of the most popular herbs and spices in the present Israeli cuisine:

Za’atar. Za’atar is probably the biblical “moss” mentioned since the days of King Solomon. It is closely related to oregano, marjoram and thyme. Natural medicine uses it as a well-proven disinfectant and as an aid in reducing headaches. In the kitchen, Za’atar is suitable for practically all the Middle-Eastern dishes, and upgrades even a freshly chopped vegetable salad.

Jerusalem Bruschetta

Take some toast, rub a clove of garlic on the toast, sprinkle olive oil and crushed tomato and add a generous amount of Za’atar on top.

Coriander. Coriander is mentioned in the Bible from the times our forefathers went to Egypt. It is a well-known remedy for stomach aches and strengthens the heart. In the kitchen it is used, mainly fresh, in a wide variety of dishes. The chopped fresh leaves should be added just before the cooking is done.

Sage. Sage is known to be originally from the Middle East. It was brought to Europe by the Roman soldiers who conquered Palestine. Natural medicine believes it lowers the blood-pressure, helps fight the common cold and gum infections. Some even produce a perfume based on sage. In the kitchen we have to use it with care, avoid adding to much sage since its strong taste tends to dominate the dish. It’s a good idea to add it to meat dishes and even to pasta with a fine sauce of olive oil, sage and garlic.

Mint. Mint, or its locally known variant Na’ana, is known the world over. It is originally from Greece and is known from ancient times all over the Middle East. Natural medicine uses it to relieve throat aches. Many Israelis drink tea with na’ana. In summer it is customary to serve cold water with mint leaves and lemon in every restaurant or café. The Arab tabouleh salad uses na’ana as you can see in the recipe included in the cooking workshop in the Arab Galilee culinary tour. For example, it’s a good idea to add na’ana leaves to fish kebabs.

Parsley. Natural medicine uses it to treat problems in the urinary system. Yet, it is best known for its place in the Israeli cuisine. Sometimes it seems that without parsley, there is no Israeli cooking… It is used in copious amounts in practically every dish (tahina, tabouleh, salads, hummus…).

Thyme. Thyme, the poets’ and chef’s beloved spice. Natural medicine uses it to calm cough and to relax strained muscles, if used in a bath. In the kitchen it’s delicate taste makes it suitable almost for any dish. Thyme is good for a meat roast or for roasted vegetables, finds its place in pasta and even in ice-cream.

Rosemary. Rosemary is a very adaptable plant. Driving along the coast or walking in parks during your cooking vacations, you will see it everywhere. Rosemary oil is good for the scalp and strengthens your roots. In the kitchen it is widely used but you have to be careful: it has a strong taste. It can be added to meat dishes, and you can use its branches as skewers and even place it on the grill so its scent is blended with the kebabs. In addition, you can add rosemary to any marinade.

Basil. Natural medicine uses basil to treat stomach aches, nausea and vomiting. In the kitchen it is synonymous to a good match. You can add it to practically any dish, preferably fresh including vegetable salads or rice and of course, you can chop it to make pesto.

We will meet all these herbs and spices, and many more during the workshops in the cooking vacations and culinary tours and learn how to use them to make savory dishes and drinks.

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Street Food in Israel

Enjoying a Falaffel

It may be that the great weather Israel enjoys most of the year is what makes street food so popular all over the country. The fact that you can walk outside and eat outdoors also fits the Israelis’ temperament, people who are known to be open and candid and not necessarily very polite. Be it as it may, during a culinary tour to Israel or a cooking vacations, you are bound to meet the people outside in markets and stands and experience the huge variety of street food around the country.

The one street food that has developed into a real national dish is of course falafel, balls made of hummus and spices, fried in deep oil. Falafel is an Arab dish which was adopted in Israel in the late 1950s and later on underwent modifications and improvements which made it into a real Zionist street food. Falafel is usually served in a fresh pita with a variety of salads, tahina and pickles. You can order a whole portion of falafel (a whole pita with about 6 balls) or half a portion (half a pita with 4 balls). In most places you can take as much of the salads offered as you like. A portion of falafel costs about 15NIS. Along Ibn Gvirol Street in Tel Aviv (which is lined with food stalls all along) you can find dozens of falafel stands. In Jerusalem, for example, we recommend trying “Between Gaza and Berlin” (55 Aza St, Jerusalem), where particularly fresh hummus is served as well as falafel balls, koubbe and additional home-made dishes, all excellent and extra-fresh.

In the typically Israeli family of street-food, falafel is the eldest son, but the family has a daughter as well: shawarma. Cuts of meat (usually turkey, but originally shawarma was made of mutton) which are packed into a laffa (a large Iraqi pitta ,which one fills and rolls like a huge taco), with salads and potato chips. A portion of shawarma costs around 25NIS and you had better take into account that it’s a really large dish. Here too salads are served with no limitation. While on your cooking vacations, it’s a good idea to try out “Shawarma Daboush” at Ibn Gvirol St. on the corner of Zeitlin in Tel-Aviv. The line here is long at all hours of the day and the night, but this also ensures a very fresh product, prepared right there, along with a generous variety of bit spicy salads.

As part of the same family of street-food you can encounter Sabih. There’s an ongoing controversy regarding the origin of the name. Some claim it has to do with sabah, which is the Arabic word for “morning”. Yet others say it’s a Hebrew acronym for “salad, egg and more eggplant”. The most famous Sabih stand is probably “Oved’s Eatery” at 7 Sirkin St in Givatayim. Oved himself is a colorful character whose behavior is reminiscent of the famous Seinfeld character “The Soup Nazi”. Oved has his own language, a huge crowd of devoted customers. Here too you’re bound to encounter a long line, but it’s worth the waiting: the taste is unbeatable.

One can find a great number of other street-food, of course, such as pizza, hamburgers or even stalls selling Mexican tortillas. In addition, you can find stall selling typical dishes of specific communities. A few examples are: Turkish börek (burekas in spoken Hebrew) served with an egg, crushed tomatoes and a pickled cucumber along with ayran (a Turkish yogurt beverage) – you can taste Turkish burekas at “Penso” in Lewinsky Market or at “Burekas Amikam” on Ibn Gvirol St, both in Tel-Aviv. A Tunisian sandwich, called Fricassee, is made of a long bun with pickled lemon, potato, onion, olives, tuna and mayonnaise. Excellent fricassee is to be found on Dizengoff St in Tel-Aviv. You can also taste Hungarian Kürtős (a dessert made of puff-pastry filled with goodies) at Dizengoff St in Tel-Aviv. The French too are represented at the “La Gâterie” on Ben Yehuda St in Tel-Aviv where you will be able to enjoy a thick fresh croissant which is cut along the middle to be stuffed with rich cheeses, fine salamis or both ingredients together with a poached egg. You’ll deal with your guilty conscience later on…

The king of sweet street-food is without doubt ice-cream. Tel-Aviv is packed with ice-cream parlors of various kinds. Some of these have joined the health-food trend and offer yogurt ice-cream with a variety of toppings. Try “Yogo” on Rothschild Avenue in Tel-Aviv or maybe Italian cream-based ice-cream. For this, one of the oldest and most special ice-cream parlors is “Iceberg” (there are two branches in Tel-Aviv, on Ibn Gvirol and on Ben Yehuda). “Iceberg” offer a unique choice of flavors, such as pineapple-vodka sorbet, orange-chocolate, pepper and mint sorbet (no mistake here!) and many other creations. All the ice-cream is made right there using natural ingredients and limitless creativity, making sure the sweet side of your Cooking Vacations is taken care of.

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Cooking Vacation: culinary tour of vineyards, wineries, cheese and chocolate

Wine, cheese and chocolate – could there be a better combination? All this we’ll meet in a culinary tour in the green North of Israel, from the Carmel Mountain to the Galilee, which is known nowadays as Israel’s Tuscany.

We will leave on our tour from the center of the country and drive to the Tishbi Winery, where we’ll start the day with a rich breakfast. We will tour the winery and the vineyards and learn about the production process of wine and brandy as well as about the vineyard’s terroir. The Tishbi winery is one of the oldest in Israel. A visit to the winery is in fact an encounter with an unbroken tradition starting in 1882. The name “Tishbi” was given by Israel’s national poet, Bialik, in 1925. Once there, we’ll taste the Tishbi wines which have seen success both in Israel and abroad for quite a number of years.

Our culinary tour will then continue to the “Ha-Noked” dairy farm. “Ha-Noked” is an outstanding boutique dairy farm producing boutique cheeses. Its specialties are organic goat and sheep cheeses. During our visit we will learn about the way cheese is produced at “Ha-Noked” and about the principles of organic dairy production. Naturally, we’ll taste some of the delicacies. And if we’re lucky, we might even see the flocks of sheep and goats gently making their way on the local hillsides.

We’ll have lunch in an Arab restaurant in the Galilee, at Kfar Rama. “Ezba” is a well-established culinary hallmark. The restaurant specializes in the refined dishes of the Arab cuisine of the Galilee. Its cooking makes extensive use of herbs and spices from the area and offers us a unique opportunity to taste the simple and mouth-watering delicacies which are traditionally served on the tables of local Arab families. The dishes vary according to the season and to what Nature has to offer in the immediate surroundings.

After lunch, we shall continue our culinary tour with a visit at the “Rimon” winery where pomegranate “wine” is produced. This is the only place in the world producing pomegranate-wine. The winery uses a special kind of pomegranates which is grown locally and produces a deep-red juice with an especially high content of vitamins. It was a typical Israeli idea to try producing wine from these fabulous pomegranates and within a few years of the experiment, the wine turned out to be an unprecedented hit with the public. Nowadays, the winery produces a number of pomegranate wines all of which sell very nicely.

Not far from there, to the north, we’ll reach the Miles winery and Adir winery at Kerem Ben-Zimra, a high-end boutique winery. Indeed, the Northern Galilee and especially this particular spot is extremely suited not only for growing wonderful pomegranates but for cultivating vine in order to produce wine of the more traditional kind. The Miles winery, a small, very select family business, is known for the great care taken in all the phases of production. The owners believe that the process must start with the proper treatment of the vines, so all the work is done by members of the Miles family themselves, from caring for the vines and the grapes up to the aging of the wine in a specially built cellar.

Nothing can sweeten a culinary tour like having some excellent chocolate on our way back. This we’ll find in Kiryat Tivon, made by “Mishi”. Gourmet chocolate is used for the meticulous preparation of pralines that leave their mark for many hours. Nougat and fruit, marzipan and genache, with alcohol or any number of other fillings, a visit to “Mishi” will no doubt be a perfect conclusion to a culinary tour to Northern Israel.