Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Flavours of Jerusalem and the Holy Land
The cuisines of the Holy Land are as varied as its people.
Over the centuries, the region has embraced rich culinary
traditions from around the Mediterranean, Central and
Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and South
Asia. More recently, dishes brought by Jewish immigrants
from Ethiopia have appeared, and a growth in travel to
East Asia has resulted in the food from this region
becoming hugely popular. The local dining scene has co
a long way since the spartan communal dining halls of th
early
kibbutzim
, and recently an increasingly sophisticate
gastronomic culture has transformed the restaurant scene.
g
MEZE OR SALATIM
is
sabih
, an Iraqi speciality
that consists of potato chunks,
fried aubergine (eggplant), a
hard-boiled egg, salad,
tahina
(sesame paste), hot
sauce and chopped parsley,
served in a pitta. A carnivore
favourite is
shwarma
, the
local, often turkey-based,
version of gyros or doner
kebab. Griddled meats such
as
me'urav yerushalmi
(a
A meal typically begins with
a large selection of starters
(
meze
in Arabic,
e salatim
in
Hebrew). Middle Eastern
restaurants serve
meze
either
e
as a starter or as a full meal.
Dishes you are likely to
encounter include houmous
(chickpea/garbanzo paste
with olive oil, lemon and
garlic), tabouleh (cracked
wheat with masses of
chopped mint and parsley,
i
mixed grill of chicken livers,
hearts and other offal) are
served in, or with, a pitta.
Fish seller's stall at Jerusalem's
Mahane Yehuda market
STREET FOOD
Stalls and storefront eaterie
offer a varied array of chea
nutritious and relatively
healthy “fast food”.
Falafel
an excellent option for veg
tarians, as are houmous an
bourekas
, a filo pastry from
the Balkans filled with salty
kashkaval
cheese, potatoes
l
spinach or mushrooms.
Somewhat less well known
DISHES AND SPECIALITIES OF THE HOLY LAND
you'll run across in the Holy Land
e from stuffed grape leaves and
ansaf
(rice and lamb with a sour
f
ghurt sauce), sometimes called the
ational dish of Jordan, to gefilte fish
nd chicken soup with matzo balls,
voured by Jews with roots in
rn Europe. Popular Palestinian
pecialities include
meze
salads and
e
mac-flavoured meat dishes such as
ussakhan
. About half of Israeli Jews
a and Africa, which is why the
ants often feature Moroccan
couscous, fiery fish dishes from Libya, doughy
malawah
(pan-fried bread) and
jahnoun
(a heavy, slo
w
-baked
bread roll) from Yemen, and
kubbe
(or
Shashlik and kebab
are,
respectively, pieces of meat
and spiced ground meat
grilled on a skewer.
kibbe
) from Iraq -
also a Palestinian speciality.
