Gallery The 2. 5 Best Things I Ate in Israel. Hummus from Abu Shukri JerusalemThis was hummus bowl 1 of my trip, and you never forget your first, right After a long morning of walking through ancient, sacred spaces in the old city of Jerusalem, we squeezed into this whats smaller than a hole in the wall for bowls of hummus. There were three varieties one came topped with toasty pine nuts, another with whole chickpeas, and another with fava beans, all with puddles of olive oil on top. Abu Shukri 6. 3 Al Wad Rd, Jerusalem mapFalafel from Abu Shukri JerusalemHummus may be the centerpiece of the Abu Shukri spread but it becomes a falafel feast when the crisp falafel fritters emerge from the fryer and are delivered to the table along with fiery red hot sauce, briny pickle slices, and fresh baked pita. Mutabak from Zalatimo JerusalemIt will take time and patience and some yelling at Google Maps to actually find Zalatimo tucked into a corner near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but once you do, youll be rewarded with mutabak. Lunch Menu at the Page Road Grill in Durham, NC North Carolina. Sweet beets temper fierce horseradish while adding bright color to a traditional Passover condiment. A downtown Minneapolis restaurant borrowing inspiration from many different cuisines to create delicious takes on American classics. In a food processor or blender, whirl garbanzos, 14 cup reserved liquid, cream cheese, lemon juice, green onions, 1 teaspoon horseradish, and salt until smooth. Horseradish information, including the secret ingredient in cocktail sauce, todays seafood recipe, chicken recipe and beef recipe. More about horseradish sauce. The pastry starts with a wad of filo dough that a guy tosses in the air, pizza style, then stretches out until its tissue paper thin. Filled with soft white cheese crumbles or nuts and fruitthere are only two options on Zalatimos menuits folded up like an envelope, then goes into an oven that looks like its been around since they opened in 1. Hot and crackly edged, the mutabak gets the powdered sugar shaker treatment. The Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi of Plenty cookbook fame actually visited this mutabak bakery for a BBC special on Jerusalem food. Eat25. Watch a clip here Zalatimo Bab Khan Al Zeit St. Old City, Jerusalem. Hummus is such an easy thing to make at home and it tastes much better than shop bought. Perfectly good hummus can be made using tinned chickpeas but if you have time. Tips on natural cures, nutrition, beauty, health, and fitness. White Cheese. Israelis love white cheese. Soft and salty, its usually just referred to as white cheese but if you want to get technical, you can call it Bulgarit, which simply means Bulgarian look for Bulgarian feta outside of Israel. Usually made from a combination of cows, sheeps and sometimes goats milk, the cheese is pretty similar to feta but has a less crumbly consistency. The firmer the Bulgarit, the higher the fat content. BFD545900000578-4102006-image-m-37_1483975203184.jpg' alt='Horseradish Hummus' title='Horseradish Hummus' />Hummus may be the centerpiece of the Abu Shukri spread but it becomes a falafel feast when the crisp falafel fritters emerge from the fryer and are delivered to the. Hummus. 10. garbanzo beans, roasted garlic, tahini served with flatbread, banana peppers, green olives, pickled red onions. Khachapuri JerusalemAcross the street from the Mahane Yehuda market, theres a standing room only Khachapuri Restaurant that bakes different types of khachapuri, the Georgian cheese bread. This boat shaped one called Adjaruli Khachapuri, named after the Adjara region of Georgia, was my favorite. You have to wait 2. The yeast dough gets baked with Georgian cheese, a few pats of butter, and eggs cracked in the middle. Pull apart the browned bread edges and dunk them back in the salty, cheesy, buttery, yolky center. They make other dough pockets too with cheese, spinach, potatoes and various fillings. Khachapuri Restaurant 5 Hashikma St, Jerusalem mapCottage Cheese. Cottage cheese in Israel makes any other cottage cheese note the quotes from anywhere else in the world look like a sorry impostor. Its not treated as a Must Lose 1. Pounds food in Israel. So much brighter and fresher tasting with plump curds and a good, wholesome dairy taste, it was like tasting cottage cheese for the first time. Many Salads, Pickles, Olives from Haj Kahil JaffaOne of my most memorable meals in Israel. Really. Wow. So many small bowls filled with vibrant salads shared family style tomatoes and salty cheese cubes, cauliflower with tahini, marinated eggplant, tabouleh, pickled carrots, okra, and oily green olives. You still have a shoulder of lamb coming, the waiter warned us. But I could have filled up and did on just these gorgeous salads. Haj Kahil 1. 8 Raziel Street, Jaffa 6. Fried Haloumi from Haj Kahil JaffaFried cheese can be really good or really bad. This was transcendentally good. The kind of good where you have to close your eyes and eventually you stop hearing words around you, and you enter a blissed out state of fried cheese elation. The golden brown fried shell was still crackly crisp, darker around the edges, and the salty haloumi center wasnt squeaky or too chewy, but more like medium firm tofu. Kanafeh from Haj Kahil JaffaUnderneath all those wispy pastry shreds theres a soft white cheese base. The whole thing is soaked in a sweet syrup and topped with pistachio bits. Crisp on top, soft and creamy underneath, with the sweet nuttiness mingled throughout. Kanafeh, you may look like a birds nest but you taste so much better than birds nest ever could. Pomegranate Juice from Haj Kahil JaffaTart and juicy, this chilled glass of fresh pomegranate juice was lip smackingly refreshing. Though I pity the person who had to remove all the pomegranate seeds that sounds a little cumbersome. Ika Chocolates Tel AvivChocolatier Ika Sarah Cohen is like the young, blonde marine biologist turned Willy Wonka of Israel. She was named a World Finalist at the International Chocolate Awards in London this year, and you can see why. Trained by the best confectioners in ParisMichel Chaudun, Jean Charles Rochoux, and Jacques GeninIka opened her own chocolate boutique in 2. Theyre all my babies, she said of the 2. The coffee cardamom bonbon is nicely spiced and gives you a bit of a coffee buzz. The coconut chocolate was another favorite, even for an anti coconut companion of mine. Ika Chocolate 1. Yad Haruzim Street, Tel Aviv mapChallah from the Bakery in Bnei Brak. Just east of Tel Aviv, the Bnei Brak neighborhood is inhabited by orthodox Jews. Visit on Thursday night and everyones running around and preparing for Shabbat. Prime time for challah baking. We saw them speed braiding 1. Israeli Salads A huge bowl of diced, crunchy vegetables cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers. Its commonly part of the breakfast spread, then reappears all day. Carpaccio from Salon Tel AvivOnly open two nights a week Wednesday and Thursday, Salon is one of the most talked about restaurants in Tel Aviv. Chef Eyal Shani can be found in the open kitchen, slicing up ruby red tomatoes. Order the carpaccio and itll arrive with a pounding presentation. BAM BAM BAM. After some intense BAMming, it becomes the thinnest, most tongue melty carpaccio. Then at some point in the night, Salon turns into one big dance party. As the music cranks up, waiters start dropping plates. People are dancing on chairs and somehow the kitchen team is still laser focused on whatever theyre preparing. Salon 8 Maavar Yabuk, Tel Aviv map 0. Breakfast from Manta Ray Tel AvivBreakfast in Israel is the best, and if you really want the full experiencea spread of salads, shakshouka, fish, breadsand a view overlooking the Tel Aviv beach to boot, then get yourself to Manta Ray. Manta Ray Alma Beach, Tel Aviv mantaray. Shakshuka I would start every morning with shakshuka if I could. Usually served in the same pan in which its cooked, the eggs are cracked straight into the tomato sauce. The best part the side of bread to swipe up that glorious, garlicky, tomatoey shakshuka swamp. Egg in Challah Toast from Cordelia JaffaChallah bread with an egg in the middle. Poke the yolk and watch it ooze. Oh, and also the toast was pan fried in bone marrow. Cordelia 3. 0 Yefet Street, Jaffa. Masabacha from Abu Hassan JaffaMasabacha is a bowl of warm chickpeassome remain whole, some smashedin tahini with olive oil, chopped herbs, and spices. Abu Hassan is a popular Jaffa joint, always packed, especially in the morning when everyone piles in for a hummus breakfast. They usually sell out by noontime. With each bowl you get a pita and a plate of raw onions for scooping. Thats how I really judge a girlif she can handle the raw onion scoopers, said my buddy Amit. Abu Hassan 1. 4 Shivtei Yisrael Street, Jaffa. Shawarma from Shawarma Bino JaffaTheres an all shakshuka restaurant in Jaffa called, appropriately, Dr. Shakshuka. The doctor himself is Bino Gabso, and he also runs a shawarma stand next door. This is the real deal Turkish shawarma made from 1.