Dining in Israel - Food That Reflects Jewish History

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Adam_Wasserman]Adam Wasserman

Israel is not your average homogeneous country and Israel's cuisine is not your average homogeneous cuisine. Israel is nation of "olim" (the Hebrew term for Jewish immigrants to Israel) from over 80 countries around the world, and its remarkable ethnic variety is reflected in its colorful cuisine. There are however, a couple of major categories of Israeli cuisine. We can basically categorize it into Ashkenazi food and Sephardic food. Ashkenazi Jews are those of Eastern and Western European stock, and Sephardic basically refers to "oriental" Jews from the Middle East and North Africa.

One of the ubiquitous foods from Sephardic lands is of course falafel, which is one of the most basic culinary experiences in Israel. Falafel, in the variety eaten in most Middle Eastern countries including Israel, are bean balls made of ground chickpeas with spices that are deep fried. They are commonly put into pita bread along with salad and houmos or tehina sauce. It is eaten either as a fast food meal, or as an appetizer in a multicourse meal. It is nearly impossible to avoid falafel in Israel, as you will find it on nearly every street you decide to stroll down.

Possibly even more of a staple than even falafel is homous, a bean paste made from chickpeas, with olive oil or spices on top (commonly zatar, which is a combination of sesame and thyme). It is usually eaten by dipping pita bread into the homous, and is a cherished staple food all over the Middle East. I would be willing to bet a large sum of money that every home in Israel has a container of homous in the fridge.

Another common sephardic food is couscous, originally from the Maghreb countries of North Africa, such as Morrocco and Algeria. Couscous is made up of tiny balls rolled from semolina wheat that are then covered with wheat flour. Similarly to rice, it is utilized as the basis for a wide variety of dishes, with flavour coming from vegetables, meat, sauces, or spices.

One of my personal favorite Israeli snacks is malawach, which was brought to Israel by Yemenite immigrants. It is made of thin pastry layers piled on top of each other, giving it a very dense texture. It is thick and dense texture combined with its soft puffiness make it very chewy, similar to Indian Nan bread but perhaps a little tougher. It is usually drenched in butter or margarine, and is often served with a spicy tomato salsa.

Also very popular is Burekas, a Jewish variation of the Turkish pastry "burak", filled with cheese, potato, meat, spinach or eggplant.

Like Sephardic dishes, Ashkenazi cuisine often overlaps with non-Jewish cuisine in its country of origin. One of the most basic Ashkenazi dishes is stuffed cabbage, a common meal in Eastern Europe.

To learn more about Israeli cuisine and its roots and influences, visit Adam's blog [http://israeli-falafel.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-kind-of-food-do-they-cook-in.html]Israeli Falafel.

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