Pam R

I add egg and flour. I say do it. And lots of shredded onion.

I can't imagine that the prices will go down once they've gone up (perhaps by a little, but not much). It's like the fuel surcharges that all of the shipping companies started using a few years ago. They added them as a temporary device to help with the high fuel prices. When the fuel prices fell, the fuel surcharges remained -- and have continued to rise since then, regardless of the price of fuel. So as a food retailer, a 64 oz. bottle of juice is costing me over $1 to ship (from Toronto to Winnipeg). I've been ordering all of my Passover ingredients and products over the last couple of weeks and almost all of the flour/wheat based products have gone up in price and one of my suppliers sent out an email saying that this was just the beginning and to expect things like matzo to jump considerably. With the value of the Canadian dollar being much higher this year, most of us expected the price of these imports to go down, but in fact, they're going up because of the wheat prices.

I have no idea what the actual season for lychee is, but my local SuperStore has had them a few times in the last month or so (and since there is no local lychee season here, I've been buying them). Anybody else seeing them? Doing anything with them? I'm just enjoying them chilled, on their own, but I've been wondering what else I should do with them.

Gingerbread halvah sounds good . . very good. Maybe I'll do one batch of those, and a batch of cherry chocolate. Not much time for baking this year (Purim is much too close to Passover).

I love them roasted, cooled and in salad. Or roasted and eaten hot. Or in soup (borscht or a chilled beet soup). Or made into beet chips. Beets are good.

Grandma used two feet in each batch of soup -- because that's how many the chicken had. Her chicken soup was the best.

I like cherry filling for chocolate dough. I simmer dried cherries in a little water and rum or an orange liqueur with some sugar and then puree with an immersion blender. Orange filling would be good too. I have been thinking about them, but don't know if I'll have time to bake many. I did get a case of halvah filling in last week . . what would be the best dough flavour for halvah filling?

The reviews are in. Blue/Pom was loved by all (well, the 3 of us who tried them when they came in), the Mango/Blood Oange was liked by all -- I think it needs ice. I'll try other flavours with my next order.

I can tolerate spelt, whereas wheat can be an issue (diagnosed by a doc as a gluten-intolerance, but I can go with 'wheat intolerance'). I've never tried kamut, but thanks for the suggestion. I'll try to get to the health food store this weekend to see what they have. I'll see if they have the Artisan Acres brand.

Ilana, todah. Memories of smells and food are very strong. It's been over a decade since I've been in Ashkelon, but every once in a while I'll smell something cooking and it will remind me of the falafel or shwarma carts, or even the smell of the bus station in Tel Aviv (some french fries frying remind me of the station). Seeing all of the food this week, and the markets and the stores did the same thing -- it sent me right back to Ashkelon on a warm summer evening, sitting outside a restaurant with my friends drinking lemonana or watermelon juice and noshing on burekas and pizza. So please let your daughter know that some of us are reading this because we're interested in learning about a new food culture while others are excited to be reminded of something they enjoyed long ago. It has been such a pleasure following along this week. Thank you for sharing, and please thank your family and your neighbours for letting us take a glimpse into their kitchens and dining rooms. Lehitraot (till next time).

Ilana, have a good week (shavuah tov!). I've never made shakshukah, but I've always wanted to, and it looks great. I always thought it was a hard dish to make properly, but that looks very doable. Next weekend I see jachnun and shashukah on the menu. Malawach looks great too!

I also own a retail store, and I just wanted to add that I agree with the things Rob has been saying. Suggested retail prices are always good to know, but I rarely follow them. They're set by suppliers in another city who 1.don't include my shipping charges in them nor 2. know my customers. We mark up things differently, depending on what it is. For chocolates, we like a 50% mark up, but some can go higher, and some can't even make 30%. You really do have to make sure you're making enough and let the retailer figure out if it will work for them -- and each retailer will work things out differently. On another note, we used to specialize in high-end cakes and tortes. We had several restaurants interested in selling them, but we couldn't wholesale them in a way that would make either of us any money, so we didn't do it. The bottom line is that you have to be able to make money.

Ilana, thanks! My baked jachnun didn't look like that -- after spending the night in the oven it hadn't browned at all. I'll definitely try it again soon. I don't have a the right pot -- can I use an aluminum foil pan? Or should I use a coated cast iron pot? And do you add anything to the grated tomatoes? By the way, did they have any dairy products at the dairy festival or just meat?

These aren't round, but I think they might be similar: Qualita - Fresh Wrap (Oh, wait. At the bottom of the size list, they have round ones.) I've ordered other things from them and their service was great.

Shabbat shalom, Ilana (still Shabbat here!). I wish I was there! Even though I'm Ashkenazie, when my Baba was still with us, our weekly dinners at her house (she cooked for 17+ of us every Friday) weren't all that different. We didn't have any hilbe, and the soup was not as yellow, but the chicken, brisket, meatballs, potatoes, vegetables, salad -- we had it all. It's lovely to see very similar traditions from very different areas of the globe. I'm looking forward to the jachnun! Does your mother in law also make malawach?

Thanks mhberk! I did have problems whipping a few egg whites in the K6. I'll have a look to see if that bowl is available here.

This topic on whole wheat pasta has shown that there are some very strong opinions on it. The consensus seems to be not to bother. Gluten and I have a very antagonistic relationship, and if we're going to socialize, I want to get as much out of it as possible. So now I'm wondering about spelt, which would be a better option for me anyway. Has anybody tried any of the dried spelt pastas available? Any brands you can recommend?

Todah rabah! I love the pictures from the shouk. They reminded me of wonderful afternoons spent at Macheneh Yehuda, trying to get the best prices for dates and fruit. Your pictures are so vivid I swear I can smell everything (smell is a powerful memory, isn't it?). I'd love to try to gluten-free pita -- do they hold up to falafel well? Kosher chicken legs (that's the thigh & the drum) sell on average for $2.50 here, or just under $8/lb. They'd be less expensive in the US and a couple of cities in Canada. I think the main difference in Israel and North America when it comes to (kosher) meat, is that more cuts are available in Israel because of the demand. While the pomegranate in your pavement is more appropriate for a foodblog, I do have a thing for hamsas.

What are the gluten-free pita made with and have you tried them?

I'm learning so much! Along with the rice mixes, Pereg also sells hawaiij (za'atar, shwarma spices, etc.), but I've never ordered it -- didn't know what it was! And yes, like Kerry asked, can you show everybody some Israeli snack foods, like bamba? And I've been wondering -- Israelis give babies peanut snacks - are there no peanut allergies in Israel?

Ilana, was that Cajun rice spices? Have you tried all of them? For those of us in North America, Pereg sells Israeli rice spice mixes (no actual rice in them).Can you tell us a little about the hilbe/fenugreek? How do you use it?

I don't think I've ever seen a boureka like that - it's beautiful. Will we get to see the shuk?

Please let us see what you do with the jachnun from start to finish. I sell it, so I tried making it once and it . . well, I don't think I cooked it properly. What's the Osem bottle on the top right shelf in this picture? Is it dressing? And can you tell us about some of the dairy products below it? Do I see 'Israeli white cheese'? eta: Do you have a shuk in Ashkelon?

Lior/Ilana - bruchim ha'baim to blogging! (= Welcome.) I spent a month on a kibbutz not far from Ashkelon (Ein Tzurim) and have really fond memories of going into town in the evenings for pizza and burekes, maybe a falafel or schnitzel. More memories of eating the best melon I've ever had on a hot morning while working in the cotton fields. I'm looking forward to this. As the Coke sign (and store sign) says, Kol Tov. Are Krembo still in season?

I reheat in the microwave too. Keep it covered it's fine. Thanks for bumping this -- I think it's the perfect weekend project. I really enjoyed the chicken rolls done in the slow cooker and think I'll put another batch on.