For those of you who don’t know or who have never been to Israel, not everything Israeli is Jewish and not everything Jewish is Israeli. Einstein was Jewish but not Israeli, and Druze laffa is not Jewish but very Israeli—as…
Before I tell you about this easy and refreshing salad I want you to know where I stand about what happened in my country on the 7th of October. I was in London visiting friends when the Hamas horrific massacre…
Do you write a journal? I do. I write almost everyday. I write almost every day. Why? For different reasons. Partially because I want to leave something behind for my family. Perhaps my offspring would be as curious about their…
I loooove all pastries equally. However, I have a particular weakness for savory stuffed pastries. Pastries that have the letters “BRK” in the name, like burek and burekas. Pastries that, when you bite into their flaky dough, make a delicious…
Throwing away the beet tops is like tossing a gorgeous strand of human hair instead of donating it. What a weird analogy. It’s a shame not to cook those flavorful Swiss chard-like leaves. Particularly when organic and intact. They are…
These are Turkish sesame bagels, also known as simit, are made with all-purpose flour and yogurt. But I was curious what would happen if I substituted the two with gluten-free flours and vegan yogurt instead. If the recipe is here,…
These Spanish cookies (tortas de aceite y anís) are the delicate sisters of my grandmother’s anise cookies. They taste very similar, but the Iberian cookies are flaky and dissolve in the mouth. Whereas the Moroccan anise cookies are more rustic…
It’s been a while since I posted anything. As some of you know – from my Instagram stories – we moved, again. This time not too far though. To a close-by neighborhood that has a better public high school. I…
Summer, you’re hot, toasty, sweaty, smelly, exhausting, Yet, I miss you in the winter and welcome you with open arms in the spring. You and this refreshing and light cauliflower dish. This recipe works also with labneh or lemony tahini.
Although I grew up in Israel and was familiar with tahini, the first time I had tahini as a dip, rather than as the sauce that moistens your falafel, was when I moved to New York in 1997. My friend-sister,…
Here are a few things I learned about the history of lentils with my commentary:
According to Wikipedia, Baba Ganoush is a Levantine dish. According to me, it’s Shabbat at my mother’s. She has been making it every Friday for Shabbat dinner since I was a kid. Some people make their baba G with tahini…
When you have some 1 or more fresh or wrinkly jalapeños that you’re not sure what to do with, make this Yemenite chimichurri. It would last for a month and you can use it during the week on avocado or…
The aroma of burnt peppers always reminds me of home, my mother’s house in the Negev, the desert of Israel. Every Friday noon my mother burns, directly on the flames, green hot peppers for Matbucha, spicy cooked tomato salad and…
A non-israeli friend of friends made this dish for Fourth of July, while we were visiting them in Montana. She told me that if she had known that we were Israeli, she would have made something else. I am glad…
Most bread recipes normally take 1-2 hours to proof, this dough needs only 30-50 minutes. Another convenient fact is the number of ingredients; 2, flour and yeast. I adopted the recipe from Musa Dagdeviren’s magnificent cookbook The Turkish Cookbook .…
I usually make this when I have leftovers of basmati rice. If you don’t have rice leftovers, it takes 12 minutes to cook basmati (but make sure you wash it thoroughly). You can make it with one type or bunch…
I made this dish for lunch with friends and served it with hummus, tahini and burnt peppers and everybody loved it, except for my son, Leo, who doesn’t know yet how much he loves eggplants. Alex, my younger son, who…
My mother taught me how to cook but my father taught me to improvise, not to stick to the script, not to let anything stop me from cooking. Even if I’m missing some ingredients. You can always make a dish…
In this recipe, I make hummus with parsnips instead of chickpeas. This makes it a great alternative for people who cannot eat legumes. However, this dip would appeal to anyone who appreciates earthy and unique flavors. Parsnips and turnips are…