Dinner with friends in Ramat-Aviv

Later on Monday evening we drove to Tel Aviv to meet up with a few friends.  We dined in the Ramat-Aviv neighborhood at a restaurant in the Brodeski commercial center.  

For an appetizer we shared warm goat cheese on a rice and cucumber salad.

My host chose the schnitzel and mashed potatoes, which looked all together way too American for my tastes...Even though schnitzel is decidedly a source of pride for Israelis, it reminds me too much of nutritionally devoid Americana-esque food to get me excited.  I'm sure it's my own hang-up...who doesn't like fried chicken.

For my main course I had yet another fabulous salad--this one with arugula, toasted almonds, wheat berries, radishes, feta cheese and cranberries.  Delightfully prepared and not overdressed.

For dessert the four of us shared cheesecake (the light and fluffy Israeli variety) with orange marmelade on the side and a fresh, creamy mascarpone-like dessert layered with passionfruit and kiwi.  They were both winners.

Old City and German Colony

Monday we ventured into the Old City with its stone walls and narrow streets.  One would think they were too narrow to drive on, however there seemed to exist a sort of controlled chaos consisting of pedestrians, carts, wagons, cars and gaggles of tourists...and somehow it worked.

First we stopped for some Turkish coffee, delightfully powerful and fragrant with cardamom.  

 We passed a pastry shop and offerings of many kinds of spices, some shaped into pyramids.

 Our lunch options in the Muslim quarter were somewhat limited given that it was the holy month of Ramadan in which a day-long fast is observed, however we managed to find a place that was open for the business of feeding tourists.

As usual we were presented with an array of sides and salads to start, this time Israeli salad, green salad, green tahina, cucumber and yogurt salad and a salsa of sorts.

For my main course I ordered kebabs:  ground, seasoned lamb mixed with parsley and molded around a skewer and grilled in the back of the restaurant by two young boys who served us.  And some french fries. (?)

 At long last I was taken to the most sacred spot in the Old City...the halva guy (can you see the light shining down above the halva???)  Pictured is my host standing next to what is indeed the best halva I have ever had.  I brought a few chunks home and will be very sad when it has disappeared.

As it was quite hot, we stopped for an iced cappuccino.  I can't say enough about Israel and coffee, they really know how to do it.  The one pictured here was so creamy and foamy, very cold and the flavor was strong.  I've never had anything close to the iced coffee concoctions that I sampled on the trip back here in the US.  I think we should take some lessons...

We stopped to see the Western Wall, I purchased some Turkish coffee to take back home and thus our pilgrimage to the Old City for halva and coffee was complete.  

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Later that afternoon we strolled through the neighborhood known as the German Colony and stopped into Cafe Marzipan on Rachel Imanu St. for some out-of-this-world rugelach.  

 

However, my absolute favorite item that I ate on the entire trip turned out to be this exquisite little pastry on the right.  It was savory, flaky, topped with caraway and sesame...the cheese seemed to be a part of the dough and so it was so perfectly balanced--not too rich and not too light, just incredible.  

And I have no idea what it's called!!!

Jaffa

Sunday we took a bus from Jerusalem to Jaffa and wandered around the old city there.  The narrow stone streets and old buildings contrasted with the expansive views of the Mediterranean and Tel Aviv to the north.

For lunch we stopped at Noa, a restaurant in the Glass Alley area near the center of Old Jaffa.  

To start, pickled cabbage and a basket of very fresh bread was brought out with pesto for dipping and what tasted and looked to me like butter from grass-fed milk, as the color was very yellow and the flavor excellent.

Then a rather amazing salad made with a wide array of veggies and served with fresh feta cheese on the side

and a very interesting bulgar dish with tomato cream sauce, topped with peanuts and parsley.  

Our main courses (not pictured, I'll blame it on walking around in the intense heat, overwhelming hunger and general absentmindedness) were grey mullet with rice and sweet potato ravioli in a sage butter, both very good.

I did, however, remember to shoot dessert...a sweet little thing named Mozart who was made up of white chocolate mousse and caramelized crumbly goodness. 

Pardes Hanna to Caesarea to Nes Ziona

After the jachnoon on Saturday we drove to Pardes Hanna to visit my host's grandmother.  She lives in a house that used to be part of a large citrus orchard and there are still quite a few trees in the yard.  Mangos, lychees, pomegranates, lemons and oranges though the only ripe fruits at the time were the lychees.

I'm pretty sure the above fruit is an annona, or custard fruit.  It appeared to be immature, but I had the pleasure of eating these in Costa Rica years ago and it looks pretty similar

Pomegranate trees are everywhere in Israel--even in Jerusalem in the parks.

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After Pardes Hanna we stopped at a Mizrahi restaruant for a quick lunch.  Of course, eating in Israel is never exactly quick, especially when 9 mazza (small plates) of hummus, salad, 2 types of cabbage, pickles, corn salad, tabouleh and eggplant are brought before you even order the meal.  Wait, isn't this the meal?!

We did order lamb, but by the time we were through with all of the appetizers, it was a bit anti-climactic.

We drove to Caesarea, a beautiful beach with an aqueduct leading out to the sea that was built by Herod the Great in 37 to 4 BC to bring water from the southern side of Mount Carmel, 10km to the northeast.  The aqueduct was added onto and rebuilt several times over the following 1200 years.

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Later that evening we visited friends in Nes Ziona and had a lovely dinner of homemade mini-pizzas and salad.  Dessert was the highlight, a homemade malabi (custard) ice cream flavored with rose (my favorite!)

Eating In

After our trip to the North and our trek through the shuk for edibles, we had the yearnings for and the makings of a breakfast at home.  The view from the terrace and the sun so hot at 11am saw us enjoying an array of sweet and savory delights.

Olives, tomatoes,  lychees, mango, passion fruit (picked at a friend's house), dense bread, cheese spread, coffee, tea and yogurts.  The yogurts we bought were different from the those available in the US.  Israel is known for its proclivity for dairy products, which definitely came through in the texture and flavor of the various styles of yogurts we ate.  

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Later that day, we walked to the heart of the Rechavia neighborhood to a restaurant called From Aza (Gaza) to Berlin to get hummus for our family dinner later that evening.  We took a moment to try Kubbeh soup, something I had never heard of.  

It was sweet and sour, a rich broth and dumplings stuffed with what reminded me of pot roast, but was more pungent, flavorful and somewhat sour.  It was surprisingly good!

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That evening I tried my hand at replicating the eggpant and nana salad we had feasted on at Goat With the Wind.  It came out great...I roasted the eggplant with olive oil, pine nuts, salt and garlic in a baking dish and garnished it with nana, parsley and green onions when it was done.  

Our dinner included grilled chicken, kebabs, hummus with fava, Israeli salad, green tahina (tahini) and pita.  It was a delightful meal with four, little under-3-year-olds keeping us on our toes.

In the evening we took a stroll around some of the parks in the neighborhood and I cut a few sprigs of the ubiquitous rosemary to make some herbal tea with nana and lemon for drinking cold the next day.

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The next morning we ventured upstairs to have breakfast with the family.  My host's sister-in-law made jachnoon, a Yemenite bread that is traditionally eaten on Shabbat morning

with grated tomatoes.  

It was quite interesting and I must admit I was apprehensive at first glance...but once I had a taste, I enjoyed it.

Beit Jann

On the evening of our second day in the North, we drove through twisty mountain roads with spectacular views to a village called Beit Jann.  Beit Jann is one of the highest inhabited villages in the country and is home primarily to the Druze people, known for their hospitality.  

When we arrived at the entrance to the village on the top of a mountain, as usual we didn't exactly know where we were supposed to go. So we gave our hosts a call and they informed us that it would be impossible to give us directions as there are no real posted street signs in Beit Jann, so they told us to wait at the top of the mountain and they would drive out so we could follow them back to their house/restaurant.  After traversing some of the steepest, narrowest roads I've seen, we made it to their home and were seated upstairs in the restaurant portion of the house.

What followed was an overwhelmingly delicious array of 16 mazza (small plates)...various beans, grains, spices, spreads, salads, veggies, lamb, chicken each one a different sensual experience.

I think the above photo speaks to the intensity of the meal and the experience of attempting to devour everything on the table because it was all so good...and of course we failed!  But given the amount of food, I think we did alright.  

Thankfully, desert was simple and light:  watermelon and sweet, sweet cherries accompanied by a light nana tea.