Learn Hebrew Online topic: Israeli food

Learning Hebrew Online

Learn Hebrew Online topic: Israeli food
(by Shira Choen-Regev - Hebrew online teacher)

Oct. 7, 2009
THE JERUSALEM POST

Shalom,
What is Israeli food? It is rather difficult to answer this question. Actually, we still try to develop a recognized cuisine in the "land of milk and honey;" a cuisine that reflects the diversity of Israeli society, rooted in the Jewish tradition, and utilizing the regional customs.
Hence, we find a very eclectic cuisine that integrates local dishes as well as "emigrated" dishes, and uses the local fresh fruits and vegetables as well as the notable dairy products of Israel to create a unique Israeli flavor. On a typical Israeli table, you can easily find Romanian eggplant salad served besides a North-African Chirshi pumpkin salad, and Mediterranean Pita bread holds Wiener schnitzel and French fries, not to mention the Arab-Israeli vegetable salad.
Often, it is easier to recognize your home food when you're away from home. So, I ran a little non-scientific survey on an internet forum of Israelis who live abroad. I asked them about the food they really crave for, the food they want to eat as soon as they land in Israel. The list turned rather long, and few discussions evolved around the level of authenticity of certain foods to the Israeli culture. Naturally not all Israeli-related dishes will be presented in this issue, but you will get a general taste of our gastronomical cravings.
So, open up your appetite, and join our Israeli table.

בְּתֵאָבוֹן,
Bete'avon,
Bon Appetite
by Shira Choen-Regev
The HebrewOnline Team
Weekly Hebrew Food
Many Israelis emigrated from the Mediterranean and Arab countries and brought with them the flavors of the Middle Eastern food. In addition, the Arabs that have been living in the area contributed a lot to the developing cuisine of the young country.
We begin our culinary tour with a sample of the Middle Eastern cuisine, continue with tastes from the Balkan and Europe and conclude with some original Israeli foods. Don't worry - desert is being served at the end.

פִּתָּה
Transcription: pita
Literal Meaning: Pita bread
Description: Pita bread is a double-layered flat or pocket bread traditional in many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. When the pocket bread is filled with Hummus, it may serve as the base of many dishes such as falafel, French fries, salads, and shish-kabob. It is also customary to take a piece of the pita bread and dip it in the Hummus or labane while picking some spicy olives and pickles on the side.


חוּמוּס
Transcription: Xumus
Literal Meaning: Hummus
Description: Hummus is a dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. Hummus in pita is a common school sandwich and is present in almost every dinner table. People, however, will take the extra mile to find their fine, fresh, tasty Hummus.

פָלָאפֶל
Transcription: falafel
Description: fried ball or patty made from spiced smashed chickpeas (חוּמוּס)and/or fava beans (פוּל, ful).
Although Israel doesn't have a universally recognized national dish, many believe it is falafel.
If you want to get the real feeling of the falafel stand, you can click
here to play the Falafel King (מֶלֶךְ הַפָלָאפֶל) game.

לַבַּנֶה
Transcription: labane
Description: Labane is a yogurt which has been strained in a cloth to remove the whey, giving a consistency between that of yoghurt and cheese, while preserving yogurt's distinctive sour taste.
The word Labne is derived from the word לָבָן (lavan) which means white.

סָלַט יְרָקוֹת יִשְׂרְאֵלִי
Transcription: Salat yerakot yisraeli
Literal Meaning: Israeli vegetable salad
Description: Tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions, finely sliced and spiced with olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper and minced parsley.

בּוּרֶקַס
Transcription: burekas
Description: A type of baked or fried filled pastry, made of a thin flaky dough such as yufka, phyllo or puff pastry, and can be filled with cheese, mashed potatoes, spinach or other fillings. It is often served with hard-boiled egg.
The burekas was brought to Israel by the Balkan Jewish communities of the Ottoman Empire.

שְׁנִיצֶל
Transcription: shnitsel
Literal Meaning: Schnitzel
Description: A kosher variation of the Wiener schnitzel made of chicken or turkey breast, coated with a mixture of beaten eggs and bread crumbs, and fried. The Israeli schnitzel is often served in pita bread accompanied by hummus and French fries. The schnitzel tradition was brought to Israel by Ashkenazi Jews coming from Europe. Many Israelis were of Viennese or German origin, but during the early years of the State of Israel, veal was unobtainable and chicken or turkey proved an inexpensive and tasty substitute.

פְּתִיתִים
Transcription: ptitim
Literal Meaning: Baked flakes / Ben-Gurion rice / Israeli couscous
Description: Ptitim is one of the foods considered to be a unique Israeli culinary contribution. This wheat-based baked pasta shaped like rice grains or round pearls was invented during the austerity (צֶנַע, tsena) period in Israel, when rice was scarce. Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, challenged the Osem food company to quickly devise a wheat-based substitute to rice. The resulted product was nicknamed "Ben-Gurion's Rice" by the people.
Nowadays Ptitim is generally considered as a food for children and is often served as a side dish along with the aforementioned schnitzel.

גְּבִינָה צְפָתִית
Transcription: Gvina Tsfatit
Literal Meaning: Safad cheese
Description: A special kind of cheese which was first produced by the Hameiri family in Safed (צְפַת) right after the big earthquake which struck Safed in 1837. Although the original cheese is still produced in the same dairy by the sixth generation descendant of the Hameiri cheese makers, it is also produced with many variations by other dairies and varies in the amount of fat (as low as 3% fat) and the origin of the milk. 

קְרֶמְבּוֹ
Transcription: krembo
Literal Meaning: cream-in-it: a portmanteau of the words: קְרֶם (cream) and בּוֹ (in it)
Description: Krembo is a chocolate-coated marshmallow treat that is only sold in the winter tike. It consists of a round biscuit base on the bottom, and whipped egg whites cream from above, coated in a thin layer of chocolate. Although the "krembo season" is very short, (October to February), 50 million krembos are sold each year-an average of 9 per person in Israel.
You can watch the Krembo making process in the following link.
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