Swisskaese

Gilthead seabream is a very mild flaky white fish. I really like it. I buy it whole and stuff the insides with garlic slices, lemon and thyme and then sautee it in a pan. Chatzilim is the Hebrew word for eggplant. We have different kinds of eggplant salads: Roasted eggplant, lemon, mayonnaise and garlic Baba ganoush which is roasted eggplant, garlic, lemon, olive oil, tehina and parsley Chopped fried eggplant with peppers and tomatoes Fried eggplant Roasted eggplant with onion, parsley and garlic Eggplant that tastes like chicken liver etc. I have never tried making any of the salads, with the exception of tabouleh and hummous. I can buy some really nice ones, so I don't bother. We don't serve as much tabouleh in restaurants as they do in Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. You can find it, it just isn't offered in all of the grill restaurants. Most of the other salads are also served in those countries. Thanks for the compliment on the photos. David has take some of the restaurant photos. I am more of a people and landscape photographer. The landscape photos and the shuk photos are mine.

I am off to Tel Aviv. I think I have figured out most of my Shabbat menu: Druze salads from the food fair Maybe another surprise as an appetizer Challah and surprise bread Mahloubeh Some other vegetable for the Vegetarian guest Green salad a la Daniel Rogov Fruit salad

I feel honored that you took the time to look. I hope your daughter (is "dd" a girl?) enjoys her time in Tampa and that you don't have empty nest syndrome for too long.

I don't have time to show you during the week of the blog, but there is a local chocolate maker who has gone international. His name is Max Brenner and he sold his business to Elite in 2001. They just opened a Max Brenner boutique and cafe in New York. I think there is a discussion about it on the New York forum. Max Brenner's chocolates are nice. He has very good hot chocolate at his cafe. I am not a big chocolate person, but several friends of mine told me that his chocolate soup is very good.

I forgot to tell you about lunch. Today, I had fish again because it is light and tonight we are going to have goose shwarma. I had the same fish I had last night, gilthead seabream, roasted butternut squash and a salad.

You can either have the fruit mixed with water, juice (i.e. orange juice) or milk. We chose water. I forgot to mention that the sign under "Tall Drink of Water", says "Wheat Grass". You can also get a shot of wheat grass. Most of the fish and grill restaurants overload your table with salads. We couldn't finish half of it. This restaurant has a fixed price for the salads, fish and a drink (i.e. lemonade). Dinner for two was 138NIS or 31USD. It would have been a little more with wine or beer. It is a real bargain.

I apoligize for starting so late today, but I am filming a video at work and I just finished. Just call me Michelle Spielberg today. I just got back from lunch. I don't have my camera here because Tapenade is taking it with him to Tel Aviv. I will post more pictures this evening, but feel free to ask questions.

I forgot a few pictures. Here are some pictures of Jaffo. This one of my favourite signs. I told you about the best fish restaurant in Tel Aviv/Jaffo, Margaret Tayar, but the best fish restaurant I have ever been to (I have travelled to a lot of places and eaten a lot of fish), full stop, I mean ever, is in Acco, Israel and it is called Uri Buri. Uri Buri is the name of the owner and he makes love to his fish. He offers a tasting menu of the days catch. You tell him what your restrictions are and he works around that. I had some amazing baby sole there. And, they also have fantastic homemade ice cream. Their date/walnut and cardamon ice creams are to die for. This is not an El Bulli restaurant. He serves fish with wonderful flavours, but it is fish and seafood, pure and simple. You must make reservations. He is always full.

There are some very nice small chocolate makers here. I will show you one at the food fair on Friday.

Sorry it took so long to report back but, I had a problem uploading the pictures and then 24 came on. Tonight did not turn out exactly as we planned. As Daniel said, Tel Aviv was very crowded. So, we went straight to Jaffo and went on a mission to find Middle Eastern Pastries. First, I tried Daniel's suggestion, either they are closed or they don't exist anymore. Secondly, I tried another suggestion of a specific place and it doesn't exist anymore. Then, I went to plan C and they also don't exist anymore. What has happened to the Middle Eastern pastry shops in Jaffo? So, we decided to stop looking and head to dinner. I would have loved to have gone to one of the best fish restaurants in Jaffo, called Margaret Tayar, but we just can't afford it right now. Her restaurant has been written up in Gourmet magazine. So, we went to a simple, but nice fish restaurant on the sea: The White Pergola First, they brought a table full of mezze. The salads were nice and fresh. The pita is prepared onsite, so they are nice and warm when they come to the table. One was covered in zaatar. Hummous and Eggplant salads Syrian olives and pepper salad Another eggplant salad, carrot salad and Matboucha and labane with cucumber Pita with zaatar and plain pita Israeli salad Then, grilled Gilthead Seabream. They also had trout, seabass, drumfish and a few others. And, they also serve shellfish. The food is simple, but delicious. We then headed to Abulafiya, just to show you this Jaffo landmark. They have been a Jaffo institution for 120 years. They are open 24 hours a day and are famous for their fresh pita, kaak, lamacun and other breads. People are always lined up three or four people thick. Tonight the crowd was light. There bread is good, but we decided to show you some baklava. Big mistake. It is the second worst baklava I have ever had. The best baklava I have every had was in Turkey, second is in Nazareth, third Bethlehem. Someday, I hope to be able to drive to Beirut and go to one of the bakeries that Elie and others have recommended. I hear Lebanese baklava and other pastries are some of the best. On our way to Abulafiya we passed a very good Libyan restaurant, Dr. Shakshouka. Shakshouka is sunny sideup eggs that have been sauteed in a mixture of hot peppers, onions and tomatoes. It is hard to see, but they hang their old shakshouka pans from the ceiling. They also have very nice couscous complet and other dishes. Abulafiya The oven The baker in the red shirt. Mahmoud the bread seller. So, I have been bragging for years on eGullet about Israeli juice bars and we went on a mission to take you to my favourite juice bar in Tel Aviv. It is on Sheinkin Street. IT WAS CLOSED!!!! It used to stay open late. So, we went to my second favourite juice bar on King George. IT WAS CLOSED!!!! I was bound and determined to show you some damn juice, even if I was going to have to squeeze with my bare hands and lo and behold, a juice bar was open on Ibn Givrol. And.... it was good. Ahhhh, Israeli fruit Tall Drink of Water Nirvana, not the band. On the left is my mango/banana juice and on the right is David's Kiwi/Pineapple. Tel Aviv and Goose Shwarma is planned for tomorrow. Lila Tov.

We are back from an interesting evening in Jaffo. The traffic was so bad that we had to go straight to Jaffo. I will load the photos and give you a full report.

I am off to Tel Aviv and Jaffo. See you later.

We have a special treat for you on Thursday evening. You are all invited to a wine tasting at one of our favourite cookery shops. The shop is called Zaafran. which means Saffron. The owner, Michel is a lovely man. Take a look at their website. It is in Hebrew, but you can look at the photos.

I was trying to be healthy. I see a fresh fruit drink this week. Abulafiyah is on the cards for our visit to Jaffo.

These are a mixture of Middle Eastern and Eastern European. There is beet salad, carrot salad, cabbage salad, fried eggplant salad, pickled cucumber, fried cauliflower, tabouleh, etc. We are bit spoiled here and have the luxury of buying premade salads. Paula Wolfert has some recipes for Moroccan salads in her couscous cookbook. I am going to make a few salads on Friday for Shabbat dinner. I will do a step-by-step and give the recipes. One of my guests is vegetarian. I am also going to take you to a local food fair on Friday. I hope the sweet Druze ladies are there. One of them sells her amazing homemade salads.

Tapenade and I need to compare notes. I've been making my Sephardic Charoset for several years now, so I think my friends and family are tired of it. I need to try something new. When Passover rolls around again remind Tapenade to share his recipe and add it to RecipeGullet for the rest of us! ← Here is a picture of Tapenade's charoset: He is a bit protective of this recipe. He won't even tell my family what is in the recipe. I will try a butter him up for you.

My first thought was "shopping cart." Is a shuk cart different from a shopping cart? ← Yes, they are carts that you purchase for your personal use. They are great for cities like New York where everyone shops on foot. Here is an example: Shuk Cart

Inshallah, I hope that will change and I will be happy to show you around.

Before I go back to working..... Can you tell my boss is on vacation? Shhhhh. I want to show you a picture of the Zimmer I stayed at in the North last year so you will get an idea of another type of vacation possibility here. I highly recommend staying at one of the hundreds of zimmers in the North. For security reasons right now, I am not going to tell you exactly where it is located. A zimmer. These are purchased as kits from Finland or Romania. I think a few other countries sell these kits, but I can't remember which ones. And you decorate the inside as you wish. As I explained earlier, this one has a four poster bed, fireplace, jacuzzi for two, a kitchnette, dining room table for four people and of course a bathroom. A full Israeli breakfast, including delicious Tunisian briks and homemade jams are included. Beautiful Northern scenery. And another view. Can you see why I love it here? Banana grove at the Sea of Galilee. A huge water waster here. We should really import our bananas.

I promised Jason that I would post some pictures of Shuk HaCarmel in Tel Aviv. The Shuk is near the original part of Tel Aviv called Neve Tzedek whichs means "Oasis of Justice". It is also next to the Yemenite Quarter. I really like this part of Tel Aviv. The architecture is very special. I will post some pictures of it this evening. But now.... the Shuk. The Shuk is also next to trendy Tel Aviv and the famous trendy street, let's say a Greenwich Village wanna be, Sheinkin Street. This was my old hood when I moved to Israel. It is filled with trendy shops and cafes. On Friday, the street comes alive with people. The see and be seen crowd. It is also a great place to buy really cool shoes and they are not expensive. This shuk is primarily outdoors, and you can get lost in the side streets. There are little shops littering the alleys that sell Turkish products, Thai and Philipino products, Chinese, etc. I used to love to take my shuk cart (I don't know what it is called in English) and stroll through the market. I bought everything there and learned all of my Hebrew cooking terms there. The first time I bought chicken wings the butcher asked me if I wanted them singed. I didn't understand what he was asking me, so I said yes. He brought out a blow torch and started singeing the feathers off the wings. I jumped from fright. We had a big laugh about it. Did you know that Israel is the third largest flower exporter in the world? On only 2,750 hectares of land, we yield about 1.2 billion flowers. We export over 100 different varieties of flowers.

Boker Tov everyone. My breakfasts are rather boring, except on the weekend. So, I am not posting any pictures. I had a Yoplait yogurt with dried apricots, raisins and walnuts and a cappuccino. Miriam, you write so beautifully. You should think about writing a book. As Martha Stewart says, "It is a good thing" that you didn't tell your daughter about the turkey testicles. She may have been traumatized for life. I have to run. Will be back later.

Make sure your assessment is correct before altering the recipe, Katie. Besides "New Coke," "Edge City," a comic strip that runs in The Philadelphia Inquirer that features the adventures of the Ardins, a Jewish family in a Silicon Valleyesque setting, offered another cautionary tale this past Passover. The storyline involved the family's seder, to which Mr. Ardin's mother always brought brisket. Mrs. Ardin, wanting to put her own stamp on the occasion, discouraged Mother-in-Law from bringing any this year. Hubby went along more or less willingly. Comes the first night of Passover and Mom Ardin offers her meal. Throughout the traditional recitation--"Why is this night different from all other nights?"--the children register their dissatisfaction--"Because there's no brisket!" Finally, MiL confesses that she snuck some in, and the kids shout for joy. Now, you know your own family best, so this situation may not apply in your case. But one tampers with tradition at one's peril. ← That is very funny and a typical story. One year my grandmother wanted to try a new Passover dessert and she almost started a mutiny.

Sure, I have to go to the supermarket on Thursday. I will sneak my camera in.

Thanks for mentioning that Daniel. I am not so strict about eating non-kosher Israeli cheeses. I do look at the ingredients on foreign cheeses. I featured Tiv Ta'am in my previous blog. You can find most of the things Alina showed in her blog last week. It is primarily a Russian supermarket. I can only buy a few things there. They sell pork products.

Before I go to bed, I want to show you a few pictures of my hood. I explained earlier that my town is made up of five farming communities. So, the municipality decided to decorate the city with reminders of the crops by strategically placing fruit decorations around the city. Orange in the roundabout And a grapefruit And pomegranates This is a new bakery. Not the one I want Ling to see. I will show that in the next couple of days. David's home away from home is an Italian cafe called Sissi's. It is run by a lovely Israeli couple that lived in Milano for about six years. They loved Italian food and coffee so much, they decided to open their own cafe. They have very nice salad, sandwiches, pasta and dessert. We decided to behave ourselves yesterday and only had an iced coffee. Some cakes at Sissi's Closeup Cool and refreshing on a warm summer night Tomorrow.... A trip to Tel Aviv, yes Jason, there will be Shuk photos. And, a trip to Jaffo. Lila Tov. Good night.