{"id":1600,"date":"2014-06-16T12:04:39","date_gmt":"2014-06-16T12:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/?p=1600"},"modified":"2014-06-16T12:04:39","modified_gmt":"2014-06-16T12:04:39","slug":"culinary-twists-you-will-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/culinary-twists-you-will-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Culinary Twists You Will Love in Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nicole Sivan<\/a><\/p>\n

Although food varieties and choices in Israel resemble much of what can be found in any Western country, Israelis have a few unique traditional eating habits that will differ from how one might feast in an English-speaking country.\u00a0 While these eating habits may seem foreign when compared to your everyday norm, you will soon discover that this Mediterranean\/Middle Eastern style of dining will surprise and delight you. Who knows, like many of us, you may fall in love with the Israeli way of doing things and you may never again be able to readjust to your native culinary culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Israeli-Breakfast\"<\/a>

Israeli-Breakfast<\/p><\/div>\n

Breakfast:<\/strong> Breakfast in Israel is an event. Do not oversleep if you are staying in a hotel with a buffet breakfast.\u00a0 I can assure you that your hotel, even the 2-star one, is not serving you a dinky continental breakfast like you would find in a Motel 6.\u00a0 There will be no dry coffee cake, stale cornflakes, or weak coffee here.\u00a0 Oh no.\u00a0 A true Israeli breakfast is a cross between a health fanatic\u2019s fantasy meal and a glutton\u2019s delight. This morning meal is traditionally presented with an assortment of fresh fruit, a variety of white cheeses (feta, cream cheese, and varieties unknown outside of the Mediterranean basin), yogurts, eggs (hardboiled, scrambled, sunny side up), fresh breads, smoked fish, and the plat de r\u00e9sistance of any true Israeli breakfast: salad. Israelis love salad in the morning and sliced cucumbers and tomatoes are a staple for any native\u2019s morning meal.\u00a0 An Israeli salad (tiny cubed pieces of tomatoes and cucumber lightly salted and dressed with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon) is also a popular breakfast must, as are these salads:\u00a0 beet, cabbage, Tabouli, spicy carrot, potato and more. And forget about mayonnaise; everything is based on olive oil here.<\/p>\n

Barbeque:<\/strong> Sorry folks, but an Israeli cookout is not a 4th of July event and you will rarely find a hamburger or hotdog at a traditional Israeli-style barbeque<\/a>. And keep searching, but I\u2019ll be happy to make a wager that ketchup and mustard bottles will not be waiting on the tables either.\u00a0 No, while Israelis have many cuisine influences<\/a>: American, European, Asian and Middle Eastern, an Israeli barbeque is solely a Middle Eastern affair. In Hebrew a barbeque is called: Al Ha-Esh, which translates to On the Fire. Kebobs and grilled chicken will be the main event and the head griller will see himself as a true culinary artist armed with the responsibility of cooking everything to perfection.\u00a0 Imagine chicken thighs, legs and breasts marinated in olive oil and spices as well as kebobs, ground beef or ground lamb, blended with herbs<\/a> and spices and shaped like flattened sausages.\u00a0 And what goes with such heavenly barbequed treats?\u00a0 Hummus and pita of course.\u00a0 Canned pickles in brine, Israeli salad, and cold watermelon can also be counted on at any Israeli barbeque.\u00a0 Is it different than what you’re use to? Yes.\u00a0 Will you miss your burger or hotdog? No. Will you return to your home country craving an Israeli al ha-esh?\u00a0 Most certainly.<\/p>\n

Beach Food:<\/strong> A trip to a beach is a go-to activity for any summer itinerary, especially in a country bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.\u00a0 I have to admit that the cooler contents of a beachgoer in Israel will much resemble that of beachgoer in any Western country: ice cream, popsicles, chips, sandwiches, and fruit.\u00a0 However, the Israeli beachgoer will add a few exciting twists, my favorite relates to how one should eat watermelon.\u00a0 Watermelon is in season all summer long in Israel and it is sweet, tasty, and seedless.\u00a0 Probably some of the best watermelon you will ever eat can be found here. And how is watermelon best eaten in Israel?\u00a0 Topped with a white, salty cheese, like a feta, of course.\u00a0 Sounds disgusting?\u00a0 Give it a try! You\u2019ll be a convert after the first bit. I guarantee it.<\/p>\n

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By Nicole Sivan Although food varieties and choices in Israel resemble much of what can be found in any Western country, Israelis have a few unique traditional eating habits that will differ from how one might feast in an English-speaking country.\u00a0 While these eating habits may seem foreign when compared to your everyday norm, you more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[75,625,244,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-1600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israeli-life","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-israeli-news","10":"tag-israeli-food","11":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","12":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1600"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1604,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions\/1604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}