Food in Israel

One of the exciting things about traveling is tasting the local food. Being there for 10 days, we had plenty of time to try it all.  To generalize, the food in Jerusalem seemed fairly similar to the food we had in Turkey.  They use lots of vegetables, meat on skewers, olives, and of course, hummus.  Tel Aviv offered a huge variety of restaurants, plus little shops selling a lot of similar food to what we saw in Jerusalem.  One problem I always run into when traveling is that when I'm looking for food, I can't seem to find the type of place I want.  When I'm full, I run into places and think, "I'd love to eat there!"  But I survived that small dilemma. 

The most important food to know in Israel is the Schawarma.  (Similar to a "doner" in Turkey).  It's meat (lamb, chicken, turkey) cooked all day on a spit, then shaved off into a wrap along with hummus, cucumber, and lettuce.   It's the most common 'fast food' and you find them at holes in the wall as well as sit-down restaurants. Since I love sandwiches in general, I could eat these all day.  

After the Shawarma, it's important to realize that Israeli breakfasts are very different from our eggs and bacon in the States.  It's more like a salad and sandwich bar.  Staples include: lunch meats, cheese, fish, several pickled vegetables, salad, eggs, fresh vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, tomato, bell peppers), hummus, yogurt, etc.  The hotel we stayed in the first week offered a free breakfast buffet, so I actually grew pretty accustomed to those foods in the morning.  (after all, I love sandwiches, even for breakfast apparently). Hyrum stuck with the more recognizable breakfast foods they put out like boiled eggs and toast/jam.  Vegetables in the morning was a bit appalling to him. I wish I got a picture of what I was eating, but I never remembered until it was all gone!

Another common food was falafal - fried balls made from chick peas and usually eaten in a pita sandwich.  I loved them... Hyrum not so much. (Maybe I'm just not a picky eater and he is!)  When we were walking through the streets in Bethlehem we saw sign advertising 5 shekel falafal sandwiches.  That's less than $1.50.  So we stopped in, and ended up buying lemonade that cost more than the rest of the meal.  I love cheap, delicious food!

 Although... you have to be careful what you eat!  Fortunately, we never got sick, but I did get grossed out one afternoon when we were walking behind this bread seller.  We took a picture because we thought it was cool how they carry large trays of food on their heads.  But shortly after snapping the shot, one of the pieces of bread fell off.  He bent over, picked it up, and threw it back on.  Uhh... some things I'd rather just not know about.

The sweets we encountered were also similar to what we saw in Turkey-- they had baklava and Turkish delight, both of which I indulged in.  (Again, Hyrum is not a fan... weird!)  But for the most part, our 'desserts' consisted of Popsicles and ice cream to help combat the heat.  During a 20 minute walk, I could go through two.  (I take that back, I could go through more, but lets just say I stopped myself at 2).  

At the Sea of Galilee, we ate at a restaurant serving "St. Peter's Fish".  Clever, right?  Similar to how it's served in Colombia, it came out with the whole head in tact.  Glad it was on Hyrum's plate and not mine.  

In Tel Aviv we were surrounded by restaurant choices.  We ate burgers and pizza.  (Nothing crazy).

 But also some traditional Israeli food.  I had some kind of bean soup with lime that was delicious-- served with a huge plate of rice and pitas.

 Another place we found was literally "home cooking".  You pointed at containers of food they'd prepared that morning and they served it out for you.   This was couscous, falafal, and veggies.  (Most meals come with a small bowl of pickled vegetables that you can eat while you wait for your main dish to arrive.)

 One night we were so tired we just ran to McDonalds, which was across the street from the hotel.  Unfortunately, McDonalds is always expensive outside the US, so a burger and fries (okay, and a strawberry shake) cost us a small fortune.  

Let's just say we compensated by eating at this place... we were walking through a huge street market, and noticed this little hole in the wall down one of the alley ways.  It was tiny.  (In the picture below, you can see 75% of the restaurant.)  Just a guy and a stove, plus two bar stools.  I think we only paid a few dollars for a chicken sandwich (schawarma), fries and a coke.  I was slightly worried about sanitation, but basically just closed my eyes and enjoyed the food.  It was delicious.  (And similar to in Turkey with some of the doners, this guy put french fries inside the sandwich.)  When we finished with our fries, the guy refilled it for free.  

We actually went back a few days later for lunch, but were sad to see it was closed.  

And lastly, this was Hyrum's favorite meal, at a trendy little place called Cafe Xoho. If I remember correctly it was some combination of beans, rice, and vegetables. I got a fancy sandwich and salad.     

This all makes me hungry for lunch, and makes me wish that I could walk into my kitchen and have delicious food prepared for me!  And just for the record: no, I didn't gain a lot of weight on this trip.  Even though I was eating and enjoying everything all the walking did me some good. :)  [The weight gain came after the trip!]