Shalom everyone! A travel show I watch once shared that the true joy of traveling is being able to taste the local cuisine of the places they go to, and I happen to agree with that philosophy. During our week long stay in Israel, we ate, tried and enjoyed their foods, so join me again as I share the different kinds we ate while we were there.
First thing on the list is hummus. Hummus is a dip made from blended chickpeas, mixed with tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic. One of my favorite Middle Eastern dishes. A lot of people do not like this, but I could have it anytime with pita bread, with chips, or vegetables. Yum! In the picture we see two hands with broken pita about to be dipped. I have to make hummus one of these days!
Before we continue with the cooked dishes, let me take you to Machane Yehuda market, the largest market in Jerusalem. This market is the main 'traditional' market in Jerusalem as opposed to grocery stores scattered throughout the city. In this picture we can see different herbs I dream of planting.
We visited the market one night, by walking on our own, asking around how to go because I could not remember the way from our hotel because we stayed in a different hotel last time I was there. In the picture we see dried fruits like dates, apricots and other goodies that are so yummy! If only I could buy everything!
There are 250 vendors selling a variety of goods, from fruits to vegetables, to specialty foods, to clothing and Judaica items. You name it, they have it here. That's why I try to visit a traditional markets in places that I go to. These are olive oil we see in the picture.
For people who love cooking like me, it is pure joy to see and smell all kinds of spices on display, and one can only marvel at the colors and aromas they emit. Turmeric, chili powder, coriander, black pepper and so many others. Hmmm.
I couldn't help but take pictures of the assorted vegetables as they looked so fresh, and oh so big! Of course I could not bring them home with me, so I just ate and ate salads while we were there! Ha ha!
Dates are a very good source of essential minerals such as calcium, iron, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, magnesium and zinc. This I made sure to buy, as they are very good and easy to transport.
I love avocados! I always buy them when they are in season but of course I did not buy them to bring home when I was there. Anyways, I can get them locally. I just took pictures.
Say cheese! Eating some kinds of cheese is an acquired taste, but I loved their cottage cheese so much I always made sure I ate some every single day I was there! And they had loads in every hotel we were in so I had my fill.
Here are some prepared foods, from olives to hummus to all other kinds of dips and what-nots. I wish I knew how to make all of them! During my first time in 2005 I have not yet learned to appreciate these foods but after I learned, I loved eating all of them!
Look at these humongous pomegranates! They are very powerful anti-oxidants, are are said to contain properties that prevent cancer and other diseases.
The vendors just look at us as we take pictures of everything. A lot of tourists go to this market just to see the produce, but a lot more people go to eat and buy from there, just like we did. And there are really so many to choose from.
How I wish to be able to go to a market like this every day, having so many varieties of fruits and vegetables. I guess some can't be grown in my tropical country.
The fennel and the kohlrabi celery are two veggies I don't normally see here in this part of the world, and if I do, they are usually imported, very expensive and already wilted because almost nobody knows what they are. They are usually made into salads. They are the two veggies next to the pile of avocados from the left.
I never wanted to get near olives before. But as my taste buds developed, I grew to love them, and now I try to buy them whenever I can. I especially love going out to eat in Middle Eastern restaurants sometimes just to eat olives. From green to black, to plain to stuffed. Just yum!
Breads can be found anywhere. In carts like this, in the backs of trucks, and they just pile them up, and you just take your pick!
Figs are a fruit, as well as pomegranates, that are mentioned in the bible. They are sweet when ripe, but very delicate so taking some home with me was just not feasible.
On the way to and from the Dead Sea we passed rows and rows of banana plantations, as well as other fruit bearing trees. There were so many other things, but I did not take pictures of everything.
Now back to the foods. Like I said, breakfast and dinner was always buffet at the hotel, and we always had our fill. This picture here is of course for breakfast, as we see different kinds of spreads and bread.
Lunch would be served in one of the restaurants in the area where we would be during the day, and although not buffet, we asked for it to be local foods, that way we get to try everything the country has to offer. Hummus is never absent, as well as olives and pitas. We had these yummy kebabs on one place, and you see the various plates of salads and dips that we had.
Here is a breakfast plate, not sure whose it was, but you can see there's salad, with feta cheese, ther's cottage cheese on the side, there's yoghurt, and I tell you, the yoghurt is also another thing that was super delicious! I made sure to have at least one during breakfast time, ha ha!
This is what they call the St Peter's fish, which is actually tilapia. We had this lunch when we were in the Galilee area, near the Sea of Galilee, as this type of fish is caught from the Sea of Galilee. Only in Israel do I eat tilapia. I won't eat it anywhere else.
On our first day, since we were a group from Hong Kong, the organizing party just assumed that we would be a group of Chinese people, so they tried to feed us something 'Chinese' like this. After we specifically asked our tour guide to take us to Jewish restaurants so we can eat the local food, which they so graciously accommodated, and for which we are so grateful.
We had this soup in Jerusalem if I am not mistaken, I can't remember what was in it, but I do remember that we finished every single drop of it. We happily dipped our pitas, and slurped it to warm our hungry tummies.
Ha ha! Here is a picture of a plate with that soup and pita waiting to be dipped. We were always hungry as we were always walking around!
The salad area of one of the hotels we stayed in. Bell peppers were always present, and I usually don't eat them raw but in Israel I did, because they tasted so sweet! I had to try every thing.
The falafel is also another dish made of chickpeas. They are minced and then fried with some herbs. Now I am craving for some. See the green plastic bag beside the soup? That's pita bread.
A close up shot of the falafel. Those are the brown balls, for those who don't know what falafels look like.
This was in a restaurant in Bethlehem. Look at our full plates! See? There's pita on my plate.
This was someone's healthy breakfast plate. Salad greens, yoghurt, tuna and some other things.
More salad offerings. Tomatoes, capsicums were an everyday offering. Eggplants and lettuce too.
Super happy with falafel in one hand and pita on the other. I was surely pigging out.
This was in Jerusalem for sure, a restaurant near the Machane Yehuda Market, if I remember correctly.
Another breakfast plate. There were surely more foods we ate but I did not take pictures. Perhaps since it was already my third time, I got too familiar and thought there was no need to take so many pictures.
Given another opportunity, I would gladly go to Israel again. To explore, to dine, to have interaction with the locals, to do so many things that I have not done before.
Anyhow, this is the last article for the 2010 trip, and I still have the 2008 and 2005 trips to share. Those two were special as well as I was with different people and so there are different memories. Until then, lehit raot, or in English, see you again!
For more travel articles, you can go to this page.
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