Getting started

We had to ask the waitress again to make sure we heard correctly. Yes, the cookies were made from chocolate and Kalamata olives! Okay – I get it – the whole salty/sweet thing of which I’m generally a fan. The cookies were the finale to a multi-course meal at 1868 in Jerusalem where France meets Israel by way of what struck me as sort of new American cuisine. And exactly the kind of experience I was hoping to have during my time in Jerusalem.

So it seemed there was no better way for me to document the six months I’m spending in Israel with my family by blogging about the food I am eating, the food I am shopping for, and the food I’m preparing.  ‘Especially since I keep kosher but I consider myself a foodie, what better place to start blogging about food than in Israel where I can walk into almost any restaurant or store and order what I please.  Sometimes, this will mean writing about great restaurants or experiences eating out (although don’t look for me to do straight-up restaurant reviews, merely my experiences in them); other times it will be about the markets and stores I’m shopping in as we explore our way through the country, sometimes it will be about interesting food trends I’m seeing here in Israel, and other times it will be about hospitality and preparing meals at home for friends old and new – albeit with new spices and ingredients, new twists and some shared recipes. And hopefully when I return, I’ll have an even larger cooking repertoire and lots of new ideas to entertain with at home. 

Upcoming things I’ll blog about  – Mahane Yehuda (the revived Jerusalem open air market) which makes shopping about as fun as it can get; “American” grocery stores; the new Shabbat take-out trend; hotel breakfasts; excellent shchnitzel, dairy restaurants (why oh why – can’t we get something akin to these at home in Washington?); spices; iced coffee vs. cold coffee; bagel stores (Sammy, 6, will be contributing on this one), oh – and am I forgetting meat?  Well, I have declared a moratorium on cooking meat in our apartment except for on Shabbat, but only because my husband and older son (Steve and Jake, 8) can walk into a million kosher restaurants and order as Jake likes to call it – “meat on the bone” – so I’ll be writing about those places too. Back to 1868 in Jerusalem. It wasn’t our first choice in restaurant that evening – we were supposed to meet our friends Shalom and Abby Lipner at the rooftop of the Mamilla Hotel, but we were laughed off when we hadn’t made a reservation. And despite nearby 1868 being recognized as fine dining by numerous travel sites and reviews – the emptiness of the restaurant made us suspicious when we walked in at 8pm on a Thursday evening (which is the big going out night given the whole Shabbat scene in Jerusalem). But hey – it was our first evening out sans kids since we got to Israel and we were there to enjoy.  So when the waitress delivered an amouse bouche of a delicious chicken liver pate with good bread, we were happy. I got happier still with my appetizer of “fish and chips” – three expertly deep fried bites of grouper, each on a freshly made potato chip, accompanied by a bright preserved lemon aioli. And while the lamb I ordered (a combo of chops and shoulder pieces) was too salty for my taste, the veal entrecote* steak [see note] in a wine demi-glace, which both husband Steve and Shalom had, was really great. Abby opted for the chicken breast which was nice looking but I was too busy eating Steve’s steak. And desserts didn’t disappoint either – I ordered a mille-feuille, which was layers of crisp phyllo pastry interspersed with a parve pistachio cream and fresh figs. Most excellent – I’d go back for that alone.

And the chocolate and Kalamata olive cookies – they were actually pretty good. Perhaps I’ll ask for the recipe. Check back soon for more thoughts on eating, shopping and cooking in Israel. And feel to share yours as well or recommend places for me to try while I’m here.

* A brief note about “Veal Entrecote”: We couldn’t figure out when we first sat down to look at the restaurant offerings, why there wasn’t a beef dish on the menu. As it turns out, “veal” is not the same in Israel  – it is not milk-fed and it not kept in a small dark place before only a few months before slaughter. I now wonder if the whole milk-fed thing is about kashrut too – I’ll have to look into that one. But basically, veal is just young cow and it’s why we’re seeing so much veal on menus in a variety of places – and no so much beef.