I know, it’s oxymoron to call it shakshuka because shakshuka is always made with eggs but it does taste like shakshuka. We, Israelis, often eat our shakshuka with tahini so the combination of cooked tomatoes and tahini is what makes it…
Most of the Moroccan Jews I know, including my mother and siblings, would never ever make any Shabbat or holiday dishes on a weekday, and vice versa. My mother, for example, would never make matbucha, a spicy tomato jam, or…
You can’t write a post about matbucha (Moroccan cooked salad) without writing about Yeruham. The cooked salad and the small town in the Negev Desert of Israel go together. The aroma of tomatoes cooking with garlic and peppers being charred over an open flame…
Yesterday was a fucking, terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. It’s started with a blood test (I hate blood tests, they make me insanely paranoid). It continued with a call to Cigna, our health insurance. I don’t know what is worse, the part that…
When we lived in New York and Los Angeles we always had access to excellent authentic Asian food but when we lived in Tel Aviv and Mallorca it was available but not as good (except for one Chinese restaurant in…
Sabich is an Israeli street food, pita stuffed with potatoes, eggplant, hard-boiled egg, salads and tahini sauce. The first thing I want to eat when I land in my holy land. I wanted to create a version that will appeal…
I’m handing the stage to my dear mother-in-law, who introduced me to this beautiful grain fourteen years ago. Thank you, Estee! I appreciate your help. I love every word you wrote. An on-going, exasperating controversy about Quinoa is how to say it. Most…
We eat salads on a daily basis (most Israelis do). Most days it’s a simple green salad, then some days more complex salads. There are many types of leafy greens and endless variations of leafy green salads. Leo and Alex’s…
My cousin Diane is married to Avi, who is from Jerusalem and is an excellent cook. Avi makes the best shakshuka. Last month, when we were visiting in Israel, we stayed with them and he made shakshuka for breakfast. I already published a quick recipe…
It’s much easier to stick a tray of chicken and potatoes into the oven or throw a bunch of vegetables and beans into pot than to prepare a bunch of mezzes. But a table covered with small and colorful plates…
Recently I discovered that not only I can cook I can also draw. It’s so fun and relaxing. I wish I had more time for my new hobby. Anyway, it was very flattering and exciting to discover that other people beside my…
My mother makes the best pizza. She is not even Italian. Her pizza has Middle Eastern flavors. Instead of using tomato sauce she uses fresh sliced tomatoes (the beefy kind, such as Roma). After she covers the dough with tomatoes and mozzarella, she…
It’s strange to cook for one when you used to cook for two, four, or more. This week I am home alone. Hallelujah! My husband is in New York and the boys are in school. I was content eating my…
I always forget how much I love hummus and how easy it is to make until I make it. Here in Los Angeles, unlike in Israel, there are not a lot of hummusiyot, restaurants that sell only hummus. In Tel…
There was a single, short period when I completely lost interest in cooking. It was exactly three years ago, when my youngest sister, Inbar, passed away at the age of 27. When she left, my joy of cooking and baking left with her. Like everyone…
Kale is very nutritious but I won’t use the word superfood because I’m allergic to it. As much as it is healthy I wouldn’t have eaten it if I didn’t like it’s earthy flavor. Me and the millions of aphids…
Rice bowl is basically a salad on a bed of rice. You can make your rice bowl very basic or extravagant. I like them simple, but for my husband, the more things, the merrier. I can live on rice bowls.…
This is Jewish Moroccan (Sephardic) version of Tortilla Española. It’s called El-machamer. My mother used to make it all the time. The spinach and sweet potato is my spin on it.
This is one of many salads that my mother makes every Friday noon for Friday night, Shabbat dinner. In Moroccan, they’re called salades, though they’re more like mezzes than salads. This salad/mezze is my second favorite after matbucha, a cooked…
First of all, thank you for supporting me and my humble blog! I love getting your feedback, so please continue to do so. Feel free to request recipes and ideas for easy simple dishes. Second, can you believe that the first…