eG Foodblog: Swisskaese - The Israeli Table - Not Just Felafel and Or

[Swisskaese]

You can take leftovers home from restaurants. Although grill restaurants, such as the one I am about to show you are not so keen on letting you take leftover salads home. I don't know why. It is a bit silly. You can always ask, some them say ok and others say they would prefer that you leave it.

BTW - We do have a table to table program where restaurants and wedding halls donate leftover food to soup kitchens and other organisations in need.

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Still enjoying seeing Israel (and its cuisine) through your eyes Michelle. Thanks for the photos of your dinner at The White Pergola. Warm bread, olives, and an assortment of fresh salads, a tasting of the fresh catch of the day, and lemonade--definitely a perfect meal for me.

I have to ask though, do you think the reason that some restaurants want you to leave your leftover salads is that they, er, recycle them? Sorry, but my enquiring mind has to know (and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who's wondering that).

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No, it is really because the meals are a fixed price and you can ask for refills on the salads throughout the meal. Some could ask for a refill at the last minute and then ask for a doggy bag. That is cost prohibitive for a restaurant.

[divalasvegas]

You can take leftovers home from restaurants. Although grill restaurants, such as the one I am about to show you are not so keen on letting you take leftover salads home. I don't know why. It is a bit silly. You can always ask, some them say ok and others say they would prefer that you leave it.

BTW - We do have a table to table program where restaurants and wedding halls donate leftover food to soup kitchens and other organisations in need.

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Still enjoying seeing Israel (and its cuisine) through your eyes Michelle. Thanks for the photos of your dinner at The White Pergola. Warm bread, olives, and an assortment of fresh salads, a tasting of the fresh catch of the day, and lemonade--definitely a perfect meal for me.

I have to ask though, do you think the reason that some restaurants want you to leave your leftover salads is that they, er, recycle them? Sorry, but my enquiring mind has to know (and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who's wondering that).

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No, it is really because the meals are a fixed price and you can ask for refills on the salads throughout the meal. Some could ask for a refill at the last minute and then ask for a doggy bag. That is cost prohibitive for a restaurant.

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Thanks Michelle. You are so amazing; it's almost midnight and you're here with us. Bless you and I'm impatiently anticipating your dishes for Shabbat. Your menu sounds wonderful.

[Swisskaese]

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.

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Never mind the wheat grass and the fruit and juice--what's his phone number?

With or without the lad, though, fruit and juice stands like that one would be wonderful to have over here in the States. (Well, I guess we do have our approximations, like the fruit stands that sell fresh squeezed juice, and the smoothie stands that have proliferated like dandelions.)

I have a linguistic question for you.

I note that whenever you want to say "God willing," you use the Arabic term -- "Inshallah."

Is this an ecumenical gesture or a way around the prohibition on uttering the name of God that some branches of Judaism have?

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Sandy, there is a big gay tourism campaign at the moment to attract gays to Tel Aviv. Let me know when you are coming and I will get a cousin of mine to show you the hotspots.

It is actually an Israeli thing. Most people say "Baruch Hashem", when is not using the word G-d. A lot of Israelis use both Inshallah and Baruch Hashem. It really depends on the individual. For example, we use the Arabic term, "Yallah" to get someone to get going. The proper Hebrew term is Bo or Bo'ee, depending on whether you are male or female.

Edited August 17, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Swisskaese]

Now to finish this evening. We went to a grill restaurant south of Tel Aviv. The restaurant is called Avazzy, which means Goose. The restaurants happens to serve goose. We went there to eat goose shwarma, but they don't make it anymore. So, we had shipudim, the Hebrew word for shishlik, which is what most people know as shishkabab. This is a really good grill restaurant. It is not fancy at all, but look what we were greeted to when we entered the restaurant:

No, it is not prom night in Rishon Letzion. That is a bride, yes folks, I said a bride. Now, my mama always told me, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say it at all." So my comment is Well, she did wear a bib.

The restaurant has a taboon oven and they are constantly making fresh lafah. David got the baker to do a little lafah acrobatics:

The finished product

The grill. It is a charcoal grill. They were grilling shipudim, steaks and eggplants.

Mezze. Similiar to last night, except they had rice and a hot cauliflower dish that was really good. I am not sure how they made it. I think it was cooked in chicken broth. We decided not to have hummous. We basically rolled out of the restaurant. I have to go to the gym tomorrow.

Sorry for the blurry picture. David had chicken livers which he said were nice and moist, and goose filet. We are not sure if it was goose breast or butterflied thigh. I had goose filet and lamb. The goose and lamb were both nice and moist. The lamb was pink inside. Very good.

We finished the meal with a Turkish coffee for David and mint tea for me. I usually just have the mint and forego the teabag. The baklava was walnut and it was moist and tender. Just enough syrup. They made up for last night's baklava.

I must go to bed now. I play director again tomorrow. I have a full day of meetings tomorrow, but I will try to check in from time to time. See you at the wine tasting.

Lila Tov

Edited all my mistakes. That is what happens when you speak three languages at work all day. I get mixed up when I am tired.

Edited August 16, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[rlibkind]

What is seabream like?  Firm? Flaky? Strong flavored?  Mild?

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What Michelle said: mild, flaky. Various breams are found in many parts of the world. Along the East Coast you can get porgies, which are a bream, and they are sweet and delicious. Get one at a Greek restaurant that simply grills it whole with a little lemon juice and light seasoning.

[Maliaty]

What a great blog!

Thanks for sharing.

Also, Max Brenner has made it "down under" - such great iced chocolates!

Cheers

Maliaty

[MarketStEl]

Lafah differs from pita how? They look awfully similar.

(And we could set up a gay tourism exchange with Philadelphia--the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation just won a major advertising award for its campaign to encourage gay tourism here [slogan: "Get your history straight and your nightlife gay."])

[Swisskaese]

Lafah differs from pita how?  They look awfully similar.

(And we could set up a gay tourism exchange with Philadelphia--the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation just won a major advertising award for its campaign to encourage gay tourism here [slogan: "Get your history straight and your nightlife gay."])

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Lafah is 18 inches or more in diameter and it doesn't have a pocket.

Love the slogan.

Edited August 17, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Swisskaese]

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.

←

Never mind the wheat grass and the fruit and juice--what's his phone number?

With or without the lad, though, fruit and juice stands like that one would be wonderful to have over here in the States. (Well, I guess we do have our approximations, like the fruit stands that sell fresh squeezed juice, and the smoothie stands that have proliferated like dandelions.)

I have a linguistic question for you.

I note that whenever you want to say "God willing," you use the Arabic term -- "Inshallah."

Is this an ecumenical gesture or a way around the prohibition on uttering the name of God that some branches of Judaism have?

←

It is actually an Israeli thing. Most people say "Baruch Hashem", when is not using the word G-d. A lot of Israelis use both Inshallah and Baruch Hashem. It really depends on the individual. For example, we use the Arabic term, "Yallah" to get someone to get going. The proper Hebrew term is Bo or Bo'ee, depending on whether you are male or female.

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My other half has informed that I gave incorrect information. The Hebrew phrase for "Inshallah" is "Bisrat Hashem" and this is a direct translation from the Arabic.

Yallah means several things in Hebrew, "Don't mess with me", "Get going" (positive or negative) and "Let's go". In Hebrew, you would say "Kadima" to imply "Get going".

Bo or Bo'ee means "Come here".

Edited August 17, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Rebecca263]

In my home we say "Yallah, im'she!" to the 16 year old so often that I believe that the cat thinks that I've changed Kiddle's name!

[Swisskaese]

I forgot to mention a few other things about the Goose restaurant last night. You could order a number of different grilled meats, cut for shishkaba, at the restaurant, such as:

Cornish hen (boneless, skinless)

Steak

Chicken

Tonsils

Turkey

Chicken hearts

Gizzards

Spleen

Turkey testicles

Goose heart

Goose liver

Goose filet

Lamb

Lamb fat (you can add this to any of the above)

You could also order a regular steak.

[Swisskaese]

In my home we say "Yallah, im'she!" to the 16 year old so often that I believe that the cat thinks that I've changed Kiddle's name!

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I use it all the time and David always makes fun of me, because he says this the one thing I say where my southern accent comes out. He says it sounds like I am saying "Y'awl" as in "How y'all doin?".

[Swisskaese]

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I just found out from a few of my colleagues that this is not such an unusual occurence. It seems that in some instances, the bride and groom eat somewhere prior to getting married. Usually, they are given a basket of leftovers or fed a few minutes after the wedding.

[Swisskaese]

Thanks Michelle.  You are so amazing; it's almost midnight and you're here with us.  Bless you and I'm impatiently anticipating your dishes for Shabbat.  Your menu sounds wonderful.

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Thanks Diva.

[Swisskaese]

I would like to prepare you for tonight's tasting. It is not going to be a tasting of one of my favourite boutique wineries, but it is going to be a wine tasting of Carmel wineries. This doesn't mean that I don't like Carmel wines. I do like some of their wines and I will give you a full report this evening.

Carmel Wineries was started by Baron Edmond de Rothschild in 1882.

Through the early decades of the twentieth century, the wine business bloomed. Branches of Carmel Wine Co., were opened in Damascus , Cairo , Beirut , Berlin , London , Warsaw and Alexandria and sales increased; particularly during the First World War when thirsty allied troops passed through Palestine .

I like their Private Collection wines and some of their Selected Vineyards wines.

I am not sure which brands we will be tasting this evening.

I am not sure if Daniel is available, but he could tell us all about the wines. He is currently finishing Rogov's Guide to Israeli Wine 2007. I have the 2005 version of this book and it is very helpful. I plan to buy the 2007 version when it comes out.

Edited August 17, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[rlibkind]

Lamb fat (you can add this to any of the  above)

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Yeah! Lamb Fat! Had it shashlik style more than 20 years ago at Shemesh on Ben Yehuda St. in Jerusalem, reminding me of the best part of my mother's untrimmed lamb chops! My favorite form of cholesterol (next to butter).

[Smithy]

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I just found out from a few of my colleagues that this is not such an unusual occurence. It seems that in some instances, the bride and groom eat somewhere prior to getting married. Usually, they are given a basket of leftovers or fed a few minutes after the wedding.

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If Israeli weddings are anything like Egyptian weddings, it might be because they won't eat until after midnight, by which time they'll have been on their feet for hours. What would be the likely wedding and party schedule of the people in your photo?

Thanks for the linguistics discussion! I'd been wondering the same things about your use of Inshallah. Once again I'm surprised at how much cultural mixing there seems to be in Israel. You may need to repeat that, with examples, a few more times for it really to sink in.

[little ms foodie]

Michelle, not knowing anything about Israel I want to thank you as your blog is certainly an eye opener! What a beautiful place with such gorgeous fresh looking food! now as for the turkey testicals I can probably do without!

fantastic pictures of both the food and the cities!

[Swisskaese]

I just returned a few minutes ago from the wine tasting. As soon as 24 is over, I will give you a full report. It was a lot of fun.

[Milagai]

Is a taboon oven similar to a tandoor? That bread looked a lot like naan...

Anything other than bread made in a taboon?

Great pictures...

Milagai

[Swisskaese]

Before we went to the wine tasting we stopped by one of, if not the best pastry shops in Israel. The pastry shop is called Gaya and it is owned by the pastry chef and his wife, Hans and Mira Bertele. It is located at Segula Junction.

Hans Bertele, who was born near the Bodensee, in southern Germany, is an enormously talented pastry chef who studied and worked with some of the best pastry chefs in Germany before becoming the Hilton Hotel's senior patissier. For nearly 20 years, his cakes and pastries have earned him a worldwide reputation. Bertele is also a master of the art of sculpting in sugar, his colourfully sculpted birds and flowers serving as extraordinarily beautiful discussion pieces. With Hans at the ovens and [Mira Bertele] running the new establishment, Bertele's is rapidly on its way to becoming an appealing little pillar of tradition and quality.

Hans' mother-in-law, Tova was running the shop when we arrived. His pastries are a work of art and taste wonderful. His strudel is made with homemade dough like you would find in Hungary or Germany. Unfortunately, he does not have a website. But, we took a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Ling, we went here just for you. My hips are crying already, but it was well worth it.

I had this fruit tart with pastry cream, figs, blackberries and raspberries

David had one florentine.

Beautiful fruit tarts

Top shelf - Foreground L to R, Passion Fruit and Vanilla Tarte, Carosel - Chocolate mousse with cream and praline

Rear L to Right, I don't know what the left pastry is, Marscapone Kadaif

Foreground - Bitter Chocolate Mousse

Rear - Passionfruit and forest fruits with crunchies

There was no sign for this. I am assuming it is a chocolate-orange cake

No sign for this one.

Chocolate Sabayon

I highly recommend this pastry shop.

I must go to bed because I have a very busy day tomorrow. I finish my wine tasting report tomorrow morning.

Lila Tov

Edited August 18, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Swisskaese]

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I just found out from a few of my colleagues that this is not such an unusual occurence. It seems that in some instances, the bride and groom eat somewhere prior to getting married. Usually, they are given a basket of leftovers or fed a few minutes after the wedding.

←

If Israeli weddings are anything like Egyptian weddings, it might be because they won't eat until after midnight, by which time they'll have been on their feet for hours. What would be the likely wedding and party schedule of the people in your photo?

Thanks for the linguistics discussion! I'd been wondering the same things about your use of Inshallah. Once again I'm surprised at how much cultural mixing there seems to be in Israel. You may need to repeat that, with examples, a few more times for it really to sink in.

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I am guessing that the bride and groom were Moroccan. I am not 100% sure. Mainly, the religious Ashkenazi's (Europe and Eastern European Jews) fast the day of the wedding. I don't think traditional (not orthodox) Sefardi Jews fast. We arrived there about 8pm. Normally, the weddings start about 8, so I am really not sure what their story was. I don't know if they were coming from or going to the wedding. The Weddings start at about 7:30 pm with hors d'oeuvres and then the ceremony begins at 8pm, followed by dinner.

[Swisskaese]

Is a taboon oven similar to a tandoor?  That bread looked a lot like naan...

Anything other than bread made in a taboon?

Great pictures...

Milagai

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Thanks Milagai.

A taboon is similar to a tandoor. Just like in a tandoor, the bread is baked on the sides of the oven.

Lafah is about 1/3 as thick as naan. At this restaurant only lafah is made in the taboon, but at other restaurants, especially Arab restaurants in the North, they bake siniya, chicken, lamb and other meat dishes in the taboon. I think I am going to make David take me to El Babour in Wadi Ara for my birthday next month. I will take some pictures.

Edited August 18, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Swisskaese]

Michelle, not knowing anything about Israel I want to thank you as your blog is certainly an eye opener! What a beautiful place with such gorgeous fresh looking food! now as for the turkey testicals I can probably do without!

fantastic pictures of both the food and the cities!

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Thanks Wendy that is quite a compliment coming from you. I think you take beautiful pictures of your meals. We need to come to Seattle and take some lessons.

[Ling]

Ling, we went here just for you. My hips are crying already, but it was well worth it.

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Thank-you, Michelle, that was so sweet of you!

I think your fruit tart looks wonderful, and I love the square shape. I haven't come across an individual square tart pan like that in N. America...it is very cute!

I looked up "kadaifi"--I think it is like "kataifi", is it not? Shredded phyllo? Or does the word "kadaifi" only refer to the walnut pastry that is made with this dough, and then drenched in syrup? I found recipes to that, too.

Regardless, I think the marscapone kadaifi sounds delicious.