197 replies to this topic

[Tapenade]

Milky also comes in Mocha flavor and you can get Chocolate w/ whipped chocolate milk. Personally, I prefer vanilla and vanilla/chocolate swirl Karlo.  

Chocolate with chocolate whipped milk?! I don't remember that at all. I really have to arrange a visit now.

I never ate krembos either. But the kids devour them. It always used to make me laugh seeing the kids on their way home from school, each one with a dot of "krem" on the tip of his nose -- the telltale sign of having just finished a krembo.

I'm amazed at everything you've written about Tiv Ta'am and all the luscious photos, particularly those cheeses. (I remember when the only thing you could get was "gveena tsehuba" -- yellow cheese, it was all encompassing.) I'm a former Yerushalmit, and, as you can imagine, we never saw that kinda stuff! Although maybe now they do. (By way of explanation, Jerusalem is a lot more strict on religious issues than lawless, heathen Tel Aviv and its environs.

Lovely blog!

When I moved to Israel 26 years ago, most supermarkets carried one kind of cottage cheese (which in my opinion is still the best cottage cheese anywhere in the world), one kind of low-fat white cheese, and perhaps three kinds of packaged yellow cheese. All, of course, from what used to be the national dairy product monopoly, Tnuva ("milk churn"). Since then, Tnuva's monopoly has gradually been broken by companies such as Strauss and Yotvata, and a whole host of boutique cheese and yogurt makers. We've been up to a tiny village in the north of the country, Klil, which is almost impossible to find, and where there are a couple of boutique dairies that make incredible goat cheeses, including camemberts that rival anything I've bought from France.

As for the religious issue, the truth is that most of these producers make sure to keep kosher, so you can find their products in Jerusalem too. To the extent that the selection is more limited, it's only because Jerusalem is much less prosperous than Tel Aviv and its surrounding towns in the coastal plain.

[Swisskaese]

Today, I had my usual Muesli breakfast and Chai Masala.

I had lunch at our company cafeteria. Most hi-tech companies here have a cafeteria for their employees. It is a hot meal and you have a number of dishes to choose from. There is always a fish, tofu, meat and chicken choice as well as a salad bar, hot vegetables and dessert.

Here is what they had today (sorry for the blurry pictures):



Here you had a choice of Tofu schnitzel, sauteed fish, fried chicken legs and curry chicken.



And a choice of chicken schnitzel, grilled boneless chicken breast, roasted chicken pieces and stuffed potato with minced meat and grilled vegetables.



Here is part of the salad bar.



Other part of the salad bar. See the big tray of Israeli Salad?



Soup and hot vegetable bar. Today was chicken & vegetable soup, stir fry vegetables and rice.





This is what I had for lunch today.

BTW - This is a Kosher cafeteria and since meat is served, there are no dairy dishes available.

[Swisskaese]

I had drive 40km to get it, but I finally found a Krembo! Just kidding...



The wrappers are put on by hand because they haven't been able to invent a machine that won't crush the Krembos. Do I hear a start-up anyone?



Naked Krembo. Please, no phallic remarks about this Krembo. I know, I need to get my head out of the gutter.



Creaminess.....

This Krembo is Mocha flavoured. They also have vanilla, strawberry, banana, tutti frutti and chocolate.

I forgot to mention that Krembo is a whipped sugar that is placed on a cookie base and covered in chocolate.

Edited by Swisskaese, 28 December 2005 - 01:09 PM.

[Swisskaese]

Michelle,

I was away for a couple of days so I'm catching up on your blog now.. It's wonderful.

I loved your story about how you ended up in Israel. I can't imagine what it feels like to grow up somewhere with the feeling that you don't really fit in. I am so glad for you that you found your true home.

I have a question.. I see that most of your cookbooks are in English, and obviously you write about food in English here on EGullet, yet I assume that in your daily life you do not speak English?
Do you think and write about food exclusively in English, or do you translate somewhere in between?

I speak 4-1/2 languages. German is my second language, it was spoken by grandparents, uncles, aunts and great grandparents at home. I also speak and read Italian and French. My French has really suffered over the years.

Hebrew is my 1/2 language because I am still learning the language. I speak a mixture of English and Hebrew at work. Sometimes I translate from German into English or Italian, but for the most part I think and write in English.

I also understand and can read in Dutch and Spanish and understand some Portuguese and Romanian.

[Swisskaese]

After work today, I picked up David at the train station and we went to one of our local Green Grocers. This one is very special and you will see why by the pictures. It is right next to the citrus groves I drive by everyday. It is call HaMeshek (The Farm) and they have been in business since 1933. However, they recently modernized....



HaMeshek sign



The sign says "Taste of once upon a time".





All types of fresh salads and hummous.



Specialty teas



We bought Tunisian tea which includes star anise, cinnamon bark, rose buds, dried ginger and other goodies.



And Diet tea, something we need to go on after this week! Not sure what is in it. Looks like some dried fruits.



Various olives and spices and rice mixtures.



We bought a Bukharan rice mix. In general, the rice mixtures are various spices, nuts, fruits, etc. that you add to the rice right before you cook it. This one has slivered almonds and various spices. We also buy a Persian mixture that has nuts and raisins. And another one that has pistachios and dill.



And finally, organic strawberries from the fields in my town.

Edited by Swisskaese, 28 December 2005 - 01:07 PM.

[Swisskaese]

Okay, now for a test .....

Any idea where I took this picture? It is in Israel.




Any idea what these are?



While you are pondering over these, I am going to get ready to cook. I am making the following tonight:

2 butter crusts

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Chunky Applesauce

Pastry Cream

[Gifted Gourmet]

"Couple in a Sardine Can" was cast in bronze by Benjamin Levy, a sculptor in Tel Aviv ...

more on Levy and some other of his startling pieces!

[Swisskaese]

"Couple in a Sardine Can" was cast in bronze by Benjamin Levy, a sculptor in Tel Aviv ... 

Good job Melissa, but where is the sculpture located? It is not in Tel Aviv.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Good job Melissa, but where is the sculpture located? It is not in Tel Aviv.

Either in Englewood, NJ or Ein-Hod Artist Colony?

[Swisskaese]

Good job Melissa, but where is the sculpture located? It is not in Tel Aviv.

Either in Englewood, NJ or Ein-Hod Artist Colony?

It is Ein-Hod and the reason I posted this picture is because David's late uncle, Peter Rozsa, lived there as well as in the artist's quarter of Jaffa. Ein-Hod is an artist community in the North. I will show you some of his artwork later.

For more about Ein-Hod: Click here

David comes from a very artistic family. His mother is a famous singing teacher in London. She taught Kiri te Kanawa, Karita Mattila and many other famous opera singers. She was a singer herself and still has a beautiful voice. His aunt is an actress here in Israel and his father was trained as an artist and also dreamt of being a orchestra conductor. David plays the flute, has a nice voice and is an early music fanatic.

I also studied classical singing, but alas never became a professional.

Ein-Hod is not far from Zichron Yaakov which is the home of Binyamina and Carmel Mizrachi wineries. This town was founded by Baron Edmond de Rothschild.

Binyamina Winery

Carmel Winery

Edited by Swisskaese, 28 December 2005 - 02:47 PM.

[Swisskaese]

Everything I planned to make tonight is made and I will post the pictures in the morning.

It is time to get a few hours of sleep.

Lila Tov Everyone! Until tomorrow.

[Tapenade]

After work today, I picked up David at the train station and we went to one of our local Green Grocers. This one is very special and you will see why by the pictures. It is right next to the citrus groves I drive by everyday. It is call HaMeshek (The Farm) and they have been in business since 1933. However, they recently modernized....



HaMeshek sign



The sign says "Taste of once upon a time".





All types of fresh salads and hummous.



Specialty teas



We bought Tunisian tea which includes star anise, cinnamon bark, rose buds, dried ginger and other goodies.



And Diet tea, something we need to go on after this week! Not sure what is in it. Looks like some dried fruits.



Various olives and spices and rice mixtures.



We bought a Bukharan rice mix. In general, the rice mixtures are various spices, nuts, fruits, etc. that you add to the rice right before you cook it. This one has slivered almonds and various spices. We also buy a Persian mixture that has nuts and raisins. And another one that has pistachios and dill.



And finally, organic strawberries from the fields in my town.

The Tunisian tea and all the others at this shop, and most of the spices, come from the village of Beit Lehem Haglili in the north of Israel, or as one would say in English, Bethlehem of the Galilee. What? you may ask. Surely Bethlehem is a few miles south of Jerusalem. Well, yes, one of them is: Beit Lehem Yehuda, or Bethlehem of Judea, to define it properly. But this is where the New Testament story of Jesus' birth gets things mixed up: Jesus, whose family lived in Nazareth, was almost certainly born in the Bethlehem that's just a few miles away. The New Testament story puts his birth in the other Bethlehem, a few days trip by donkey, let alone on foot, and definitely not a trip for a very pregnant woman during a cold winter, because it lends credence to the Gospel accounts of the descent of Jesus from King David, who really did come from the Bethlehem south of Jerusalem.

The other thing, which you can't see in the photo of the table with all the different teas, is that the one closest to the camera is labelled "Viagra Tea." No, it doesn't contain crushed little blue pills; and in spite of Israeli skill in agriculture, we haven't actually engineered a plant that synthesises viagra. It contains cinnamon bark and dried leaves of qat, which is the only legal narcotic drug in Israel. But the Israeli government is strongly anti-drug, and even pays lots of money for mainly idiotic anti-drug advertising all over the place. So how come qat is legal? Well, it's the high of choice in Yemen, where a lot of Jews used to live; and there are so many Yemenite Jews in Israel who still like to chew the stuff, not just for the mild high but also because it's a social institution, that no government has ever dared to ban it. The closest they came was about a year ago, after an extract of qat packaged as pills was marketed all over the Tel Aviv area for young people who had heard about its aphrodisiac effects: a few users had serious adverse reactions to the pills, called 'Hagigat,' a play on words meaning 'celebration,' and one even died, and within a few days, the Health Ministry banned them. So now, we're back to the natural version. Unfortunately, 'Hameshek' doesn't say how much you're supposed to drink in order to get the advertised effect of "getting the blood flowing."

[Swisskaese]

Any idea what these triangular cubbie holes are for? Surely, someone wants to hazard a guess?

Edited by Swisskaese, 29 December 2005 - 01:43 AM.

[Swisskaese]

Good morning!

We had a very quick breakfast and are continuing our preparations for tonight's dinner party.

This is not a fancy dinner party tonight, so you won't be seeing our best china. We don't have an automatic dishwasher, we are the dishwashers, so we are breaking our rule and using paper tonight.

I really dislike paper plates, even though I have seen some really nice ones. But, I don't want to be up all night washing dishes. So, please forgive me. The other reason is that one of our guests is religious and he keeps a stricter level of Kashrut (keeping Kosher) than we do, so we thought it best to use paper plates.

We are going to start preparing the latkes this morning and I will reheat or re-crisp them in the oven. I will take lots of photos of how I make my latkes. I saw the Latke cook-off and everyone who participated did a good job.

I make my latkes a little different. I make them more like a rosti. My great-grandmother and grandmother did not add flour to their mixture.


BTW, I was 19-years-old when my great-grandmother died at the ripe old age of 92. Oma was an amazing woman and a fantastic cook. I really miss her. Both of my grandmothers are still alive. My Dad's mom is 93 and my mother's mom is 84. They are both wonderful cooks and I learned a lot from them, but I have to say that the two people I learned the most from were my parents. My mother is a wonderful baker and my Dad can cook anything. He taught me the real basics of cooking and he started me on the road to exploring cooking from different countries.

They have a huge cookbook collection. I started reading Bon Appetit, Gourmet and Southern Living Magazine at a young age. My first recollection of cooking is when my parents bought me an Easy Bake Oven. I think I got it in 1968. It was light blue. When my brother, may he rest in peace, was old enough, he and his best friend Wade used to make cakes using my Easy Bake. They would put ingredients such as paprika, cayenne pepper, soy sauce, etc in the cake and serve to the neighborhood kids they didn't like. Actually, if my brother was still here, I am sure he would be a good cook. He loved to invent new things.

My sister is a late bloomer, but she has turned into a good cook. She made some things, like stuffed grape leaves, that I have yet to tackle. She and her friends, pre-children, used to have pot-luck suppers about once a month.

Edited by Swisskaese, 29 December 2005 - 06:02 AM.

[Swisskaese]

Here are the photos of the dishes I prepared last night:



Ingredients for the spinach-artichoke dip. The recipe called for Monterey Jack cheese, which we can't get here, so I substituted Kashkaval, which is a bit stronger in flavour, but it tasted good.



This is the finished product ready to go in the oven a few minutes before the guests arrive.



Pastry cream ingredients for the Pomegranate tart.



And the secret weapon! I think this will be a nice contrast to the tartness of the Pomegranate seeds. I added this after the pastry cream was cooked. These are three different types of Cassis. Starting from right to left: Baume de Casiss, this was bought in Provence. David would not let me use this in the pastry cream. The middle one is from a small winery called the Hills of Galilee. We also have a Kiwi liqueur from this winery. The one on the left is from Carmel Winery and this is the one I used.



Finished pastry cream.

[Swisskaese]

And.....



Mama Kemp's Butter Crust dough. I will post the recipe later. It is just butter, flour, sugar and an egg yolk.



Press into a tart pan or even tartlette pans.



Prick bottom with a fork.



Baked tart.



Chunky applesauce for the latkes.

[Zucchini Mama]

Swisskaese, I had the same Easy Bake oven you did and I used to do the same thing-put mustard and ketchup and all sorts of things in the mix to serve to my friend's brother. Only I think I did it because I had a crush on him.

The triangular cubby holes--I just imagine candles in them.

You studied classical singing too! I bet your facility for languages come from your musical ear.

Zuke

[bloviatrix]

Milk doesn't come in plastic bags anymore?

BTW, I have a container of the same salt. (it was someone's idea of cute thing to give for mishloach manot)

Edited by bloviatrix, 29 December 2005 - 11:07 AM.

[mizducky]

Any idea what these triangular cubbie holes are for? Surely, someone wants to hazard a guess?

All I can think of is that perhaps jars of some kind of fermentable item were put in those niches to, well, ferment. Wine? I dunno ...

[cakewalk]

Are those triangular cubbies from Beit Govrin?

Re: Israe'ls cottage cheese. It is indeed the best in the world. It's also got a 9% fat content. They did eventually make a "low fat" cottange chesse, which had 5% fat. Also pretty dern good, IMO. And then, alas, they came out with a 1/2% cottage cheese. Feh.

[Swisskaese]

Are those triangular cubbies from Beit Govrin?

Re: Israe'ls cottage cheese. It is indeed the best in the world. It's also got a 9% fat content.  They did eventually make a "low fat" cottange chesse, which had 5% fat. Also pretty dern good, IMO. And then, alas, they came out with a 1/2% cottage cheese. Feh. 

That is correct Cakewalk, it is Beit Govrin. The cubbie holes were used to raise pigeons for food and use their feces for fertilizer.

[Swisskaese]

Dinner was a big success. No one left until 2am. I just finished cleaning up and I am going to bed. I will post the pictures tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are visiting two boutique Kosher dairies and some other surprises along the way.

Also, we are going to have Shabbat dinner at my cousins. I will take some pictures and post later.

Saturday I will have more time to chat with you and post about Flam Winery and Latrun Monastery.

Lila Tov Everyone and Happy 5th night of Hannukah!

[Swisskaese]

Milk doesn't come in plastic bags anymore?

BTW, I have a container of the same salt. (it was someone's idea of cute thing to give for mishloach manot)

Milk does still come in the plastic bags. I find this easier to use.

[mizducky]

Are those triangular cubbies from Beit Govrin?

That is correct Cakewalk, it is Beit Govrin. The cubbie holes were used to raise pigeons for food and use their feces for fertilizer.

Wow, was I ever off with my guess! Don't you hate it when you confuse fermentation and composting?

(Somewhat) more seriously--I just went and Googled Beit Govrin--fascinating! I'm tempted to ask more about how they managed pigeon-husbandry in those caves --for instance, were the birds free to come and go through the cave mouth as they pleased, or did they wedge little cage-fronts into all those cubbies? -- but I'm afraid that'll take you way the heck off-topic. (Although, if they were raising the birds for food, I guess it's still semi-on-topic ... don't mind me, I love to play armchair nutritional anthropologist... )

[SobaAddict70]

Er, milk comes in plastic bags? Do tell.

[CaliPoutine]

Er, milk comes in plastic bags?  Do tell.   

Milk in Ontario( maybe all of canada???) comes in plastic bags. There are 3 individual plastic bags in one larger bag( 4L total). You insert one bag into a special milk pitcher and cut a slit in the top.

I have Michigan milk in my fridge at the moment or I'd take a picture. Maybe another Canadian will oblidge

[Mooshmouse]

Swisskaese, I hop in and out of your blog every day. As half of the token Gentile couple at many shabbos dinners with an Israeli family that we once knew, I'm thoroughly enjoying your colourful food journal.

Er, milk comes in plastic bags?  Do tell.   

Milk in Ontario( maybe all of canada???) comes in plastic bags. There are 3 individual plastic bags in one larger bag( 4L total). You insert one bag into a special milk pitcher and cut a slit in the top.

I have Michigan milk in my fridge at the moment or I'd take a picture. Maybe another Canadian will oblidge

Lo and behold, a website devoted entirely to milk in plastic bags! It even has a step-by-step pictorial on how to properly use these wonders of modern packaging. Just when you thought you'd seen everything on the internet...

I haven't seen bagged milk in British Columbia for a number of years now. Come to think of it, I can't even remember when stores stopped selling it that way.

[Swisskaese]

This is one of our favourite bakeries, Artisanal Breads. Everything is good and you usually waddle out of there because they have samples of everything.



The black loaf is chocolate bread. It is yummmmy and not sweet.

Edited by Swisskaese, 30 December 2005 - 09:09 AM.

[Rachel Perlow]

OMG - captions of above, please!

Is that last pic of fruit strudels or something? :drool:

[srhcb]

OMG - captions of above, please!

Is that last pic of fruit strudels or something? :drool:

Rugelach? aka "Jewish Strudel" at my local Italian Bakers.

SB (great pics!)