Goat with the Wind

Lunch on day #2 was a surprise. I was taken to a mountain in what looked like the middle of nowhere, and then informed that we had to figure out where the place we were supposed to eat was.  A restaurant?  Someone's house?  

After wandering around and asking a few farmhand/cowboy types were we could find "Goat with the Wind," we arrived at a 140-goat dairy with no electricity where a group of friendly volunteers from various countries served incredible food prepared right there on the farm.  It's near the town of Yodfat, about halfway between Haifa and the Sea of Galilee.  

The food to follow was quite something.  First some labaneh with zataar (a kind of oregano spice mixture that is commonly used to flavor foods in Israel, especially salads) drizzled with a very strong olive oil.

bread, cured olives, fresh goat cheese with rosemary (which grows prolifically here in every park and on the side of the road)

stewed tomatoes in a hot, clay dish with Halumi (a cheese made for grilling),

roasted eggplant salad with nana (mint) leaves, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil, then stewed tomatoes and zataar with the most amazing flavor you could imagine,

a chopped salad with red cabbage, cilantro, red & yellow bell peppers,

warm goat cheese topped with tasty, crispy things of unknown origin,

an array of hard and soft goat cheese made on the farm (the one full of black pepper was my favorite),

and dessert...two tiny brownies hiding under adorable clay cones.

We ate sitting under a carob tree, and the wind brought us gifts of carob beans now and then.

Last was delightful tea served in a very pretty pot.  Quite an incredible culinary experience in the most beautiful setting imaginable.

The first 24 hours

I was starving at the Amman Airport in Jordan after my long flight across the Atlantic, so I decided to have a meal at ShawarmaRama, which was pretty much the only option.  I ordered labaneh--thick yogurt drizzled with olive oil--

accompanied by some falafal with the standard pita, pickles and tomatoes.  Now I tend to avoid tomatoes if it's not tomato season or if it's from a fast-food place, as they tend to have the flavor and texture of cardboard.  But it's always tomato season in the Middle East and I thought maybe, just maybe the tomatoes in the airport would be okay...and they were amazing. Full of flavor!

After the 45 minute flight to Tel Aviv, Gilad took me downtown to Bourekas Amikam, a classic Bourekas Bar where we shared a boureka with green olives & cheese, and one with spinach and cheese.  The accompaniments included a sort of salsa, a spicy chile oil, tahini, olives and pickles.  About the pickles, they are so much nicer than most I've had in the US...crunchier, crisper and more delicately flavored. And they come with almost everything.

For dessert we had malabi--a creamy, milk-based pudding--topped with rose syrup and ground pistachios.

 The next morning in Jerusalem we drove to the Rechavia neighborhood of Jerusalem and sat outside at Carousela Cafe.  The cappuccino was a fine remedy for the jetlag and the spread of edible delights lived up to my great expectations of the famous Israeli breakfast. It began with really fresh bread and lots of tasty things to spread on it...including a thin tomato sauce, cream cheese (much lighter than what we have back home), labaneh, olives and...

the most incredible cherry jam.

To drink there was also limonana, a popular drink with lemonade and the Israeli version of mint leaves, called nana.  

 For the main course, a salad of leafy greens and sunflower seeds, two kinds of quiche and more yogurt with apples, honey and granola.

The Last Supper

I used up what was left in my fridge to make lunch for now & dinner for the train before I get to the airport.  Lunch is a kale (surprise!) salad with carrots, sunflower seeds, the last of the gruyere, caramelized onions, cukes and olives.

For dinner, more kale with feta, tomatoes, walnuts, olives & cukes.  Both with lemon, balsamic & olive oil.

I took one last bike ride on the towpath down to the spillway, drinking in the lush greenery...passing the fisherman on the lake, the bubblegum-pink Rose of Sharon blooms along the canal swollen with the recent (much needed) rains...enjoying the cool, humid weather that has been missing for much of this baked summer.  Tonight, to Israel.

So much kale, so little time.

You know those stickers that say "eat more kale?"  Well, I should probably have one that says just the opposite.  I've wondered a time or two this season whether a person can eat too much kale...  I decided to grow a lot of it in my garden since I buy a bunch at the store every week.  My harvests have been bountiful and I've been eating it at least 4-5 days a week.  My favorite way is to chop it, squirt on a bit of lemon juice, massage it and then have it in salads.  Nutrition tip:  lemon juice (or vinegar, or anything acidic) makes all the glorious minerals in kale more bioavailable for absorption.

So yesterday I made my final harvest before departing for Israel, and I've got a lot of kale to eat in 36 hours!  Breakfast this morning is something I haven't had in a while:  Millet with walnuts, kale, cheese (in this case I'm finishing up the gruyere in my fridge) and hot sauce.  Sounds strange, I know, but I looove savory breakfasts.

My host claims that there is no kale in Israel, period.  Makes sense given the climate.  So I may be going through kale withdrawal, but I have a feeling that copious amounts of grape leaves and parsley will be a fine substitute.

I think part of me is already there, as I woke up around 3am this morning (10am Israeli time) ready to start the day.  I did get back to sleep after some effort.  Perhaps I'm just excited.

http://forward.com/articles/153529/gourmet-palestinian-food-takes-tel-aviv/

I read this article about Palestinian food and the recognition it's getting in Tel Aviv (I'm choosing to leave politics out of this blog), and decided that Arab ravioli--made with young goat in yogurt sauce--is a definite must.  As well as the Palestinian tartare (sirloin tartare with bulgar, mint, lemon and chiles) and rose flavored milk custard (flowery deserts make me swoon...chocolate is wonderful but I'll take a lavender macaroon or a creme brule over almost anything chocolate).

But for now, I'm stuck here at home eating a local beef burger, open-faced, topped with melted gruyere on a bed of caramelized onions, basil, cucumbers and dill accompanied by some sauteed kale from the garden and a handful of my neighbor's tomatoes.  I suppose it's not that bad :-)

As for lunch tomorrow, there will be garbanzo salad with lemon, Malibar spinach and parsley from the garden, carrots, scallions olives and olive oil.  I figured I should get warmed up by posting my edibles before I go!

Preamble

4 more days!  And I will be flying over the Atlantic for my first visit to the Holy Land.  But it's not Masada and the Western Wall that has me anticipating...it's the food.  Food, food, food.  Israeli breakfasts with their savory delights of cheese, bread, olives and salad...bourekas with tantalizing fillings and buttery, flakey filo pastry...shawarma fresh from the spit, falafel, baba ganoush, fluffy pita and of course, coffee.  Did I mention coffee?


My lovely Israeli host has been talking up the food in Israel since we met back in February.  He and I had many a conversation centered around lamenting the sorrowful state of the food system here in the USA, and how fast food here is just abysmal.  He has made countless claims that the cheapest, fastest food in Israel is still fresh and amazing.  Plus the array of fruits and vegetables that can be grown year-round makes for a fabulous experience at the street markets.  


Sure, I'm excited to cover myself from head-to-toe in Dead Sea mud and I can't wait to touch the ancient olive trees...but eating and shopping for edible delights at the markets is what really has me drooling.  


So my plan is to take pictures of most edible things that I purchase as well as meals in an attempt to document the variety of delectables that will make their way to my belly over the next 2 weeks.  

Here is my dinner this evening:  Udon pasta with pesto I created from the basil growing in my little guerrilla garden at the apartment complex where I live, accompanied by cherry tomatoes from my neighbor's garden (that I'm watering while he's away and making certain that no ripe tomatoes go to waste) and a few olives.  I'm so excited to eat olives in Israel!  Olives olives olives.  I adore olives.