Swisskaese

The Coffee Nazi is great! Daniel, you are giving away all of the secret haunts! Just kidding with you! I am glad that you like my name. You can read more about in my bio. I used to live in Switzerland and I really dislike what Americans call Swiss cheese (Emmenthaler). It was a joke among my friends and family, so the name has stuck ever since.

Starbucks bit the dust a year ago. We actually have some very nice local chains Ilan's, Cafe Hillel, Arcaffe (I think this one is local) and a few others. I buy coffee at Ilan's. We also have the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, but I am sure this is not a local chain. I hang out a a few "Mom and Pop" cafes in Tel Aviv. If you are really nice and are coming to Israel I will reveal them in a personal email. Burger Ranch is still around. Wendy's bit the dust. Burger King in Dizengoff Center closed. Mind you, I am not upset. I don't like fast food burger joints. I agree with Daniel's take on Israeli breakfast, most of us have become very lazy. In all fairness, most of us work in hi-tech and barely have time to kiss our spouses and children goodnight. I travel quite a bit. Although, in the last month I have had a bit of a break. I try to make an Israeli breakfast every Saturday. It is our way to relax and read the paper, listen to classical music and enjoy life. I buy labane from our green grocer. His mother makes it. And we buy other cheeses from a stand at the Dizengoff Food Fair. We have amazing artisan bread from a number of bakeries and I make an omelette with fresh herbs. Oh, I almost forgot, red guava jam!!!! Then, I cut up peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes (for David, I'm allergic to raw tomato), zero.

I am very happy that Daniel Rogov is participating in this thread. He is definitely the expert in Israeli cuisine. He has never steered me wrong.

That is a fabulous idea. Let me know if I can help you. My husband-to-be is well connected.

I will be happy to post a picture. I am going to try making some this month.

You are all getting carried away. We (Israelis) are not so caught up in what is purely Israeli or not. Israelis are from all cultures and all walks of life and we basically love food from all of those cultures. You will find Sephardi Jews that love gefilte fish and Ashkenazi's that love Sabich. We love(d) going to Umm al Fachum, Abu Gosh and Dalyat al Karmel for amazing Israeli Arab food that is prepared with love. Let's stop with the labelling and talk about what foods we like that happen to be in Israel. Who cares if they aren't indiginous to the country, we have wonderful produce that ultimately creates great tasting food, full stop. I for one am very happy that we have some many different cultures here. I never run out of cooking ideas. What you are doing is getting into political banter and I have to live with it and other horrendous things here everyday. I joined eGullet so that I could escape from the sadness and frustration of what is happening in my country. Please let's not start it here! Michal (aka Swisskaese)

Are you talking about "malcot falafel" or Queens of falafel? I've been to the Herzilya location and it is great. They make 3 types, each is served with toppings different from the traditional pita- I just can't remember the variations. I also had their Sabich which was quite tasty as well. There was: Red pepper falafel Sweet Potato falafel Classic original All served in a Yemenite syle fluffy pita. It was excellent. I am partial to the original. I like the classic the best. I also found that falafel shel haim in Tel-Aviv was excellent. I can go on and on. The food is Israel is indeed wonderful. I love it. I also think Bissili, which is widely available in the U.S., is the best tasting snack food I've ever had. I'd rather eat bissili than any potato chip. Well maybe yuca chips run a close 2nd.

Israel is not just about falafel and shwarma. I can say that because I live here. We have a melting pot of restaurants: Russian, Romanian, Indian, Chinese, Persian, Libyan..... and so on. We have a melting pot because Israelis come from all over the world. Hence the Middle Eastern food because Jews also came from all over the Middle East. With that said, falafel has definitely evolved here. We now have a gourmet falafel stand that serves all different types of "falafel" with different herbs and even with ground chicken and beef. I haven't been there, but I hear it is very good. I can't remember the name of it, but I will try and find it and post it for anyone who is interested. Come visit and I will be happy to give you a culinary tour of my beautiful country. We will start with the food fair at Dizengoff Centre. Then, I will take you to a Libyan restaurant in Jaffa...... Foodman, I hope to welcome you too someday. Inshallah. I would love to visit Lebanon. Lebanese cuisine is very good. BTW - Just to let you know how much we love falafel, we even have Falafel flavored crisps. Some of you may be familiar with Osem's Bissli? It now comes in falafel flavor!!!! As far as a dish that is true to Israel? I can't really think of one that didn't originate in another country. Although, some say that Jerusalem grill is authentic to Israel. I am not so sure. Jerusalem grill is sauteed chicken hearts, livers and spleens and bits of lamb fried with generous amounts of onion and garlic and herbs and spices. The best place to get that is at a rather seedy restaurant called Sima on Agripas St in Jerusalem.

The best ones I have ever had were at a Druze restaurant in Dalyat al Karmel. In fact, Druze food is excellent. This thread is really making me hungry.

Here is the Romanian version of garlic sauce called Mujdei de Usturio. It is not made with mayonnaise: http://www.catteacorner.com/vegan-f.htm#mujdei A little goes a long way!! It is very good with grilled meat, it cures cold and it is good to use if you don't want anyone to kiss you. So make sure that everyone at your table has some.

Friday night I went to friends for pot luck dinner. I made chicken stuffed with couscous. I mix the couscous with cinnamon, apricots, pine nuts and a little honey. Then, I stuff the raw chicken and baste it with a sauce of pomegranate syrup, honey and lemon juice and bake in the oven. Tonight, I had artichokes with homemade sauce. I just mix homemade mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice and thyme in a food processor. Stuffed eggplant. I either use ground beef or chicken. Tonight, I used beef and I added cinnamon, pomegranate syrup, onion, pine nuts, rice, sesame oil, worcestershire sauce and mustard with seeds. I served this with steamed broccoli. Sorry, I don't have any pictures. Our digital camera is broken.

I haven't had time to make it yet. I am still recovering from Passover.

The Dobos Torte recipe is in Culinaria Hungary. I think it is out of print, but you should try to get your hands on a used one. Here is an Amazon link, but it is not the eGullet link. http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/3829026188...531#reader-link BTW - This is one of the best Hungarian cookbooks I have seen! My future mother-in-law is Hungarian. A little like Zsa Zsa Gabor, without the seven or eight husbands!

Are the recipes in German or in English. If you have the original german, I could translate it for you. Could Wheat Powder be dry malt extract?

I just found the Crottin Cake recipe on the Martha Stewart Website. If anyone is interested it is located under the Weddings bulletin board, "Ceremony and Receptions". Click on "Archives" and click "Search". Type in "Crottin Cake" and you will find the recipe. Thanks again, Wendy!

Thanks for trying. Those are great suggestions. I agree, I think the popover pan is a great idea. Take care.

You're very welcome!

Hi Foodman, Thanks for the link to your Lebanese cooking lesson. Now I know how to make kubbeh properly. I don't know anyone here that makes them from scratch. Take care,

I just spoke with a co-worker who is half-Lebanese. He is going to ask his mother for a recipe.

Here is a Greek version of the garlic sauce. It refers to the Palestinian and Lebanese versions of this sauce. I will try to find another recipe. http://www.cliffordawright.com/recipes/skordalia.html

Baker's used to have a brand called Baker's Baking Powder. Check out Lot 185 on this following site: http://www.icollectorlive.com/viewCatalogL...3&page=8&rec=25 BTW - It is now called Calumet.

There is a brand of baking powder by Baker's, but it is called Calumet.

Neil, BTW - did the lights come back on at the Bellagio? What happened?

Martha Stewart's look like Baba au Rhum tins or Panna cotta tins.

That is very close to what I want, but I think that Sinclair has the actual recipe from Martha Stewart. If she can't find it, then I will order this book. It looks like they scored the cake? Or did they score a cream colored icing and then put icing sugar on top? Thanks a lot!