Israel: Food and Recipes

Located on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, the food of Israel is a mixture of food from various ethnic groups. This place remains to be the world’s only Jewish state. The current types of food found in Israel show influences from different cultures. One can find different tastes for the food of Israel, from spicy hot to the sweet kinds! Today, there remains to be a debate about the original cuisine of Israel. This cuisine is also varied due to the addition of local ingredients. One can also notice the importance of fish in the food of Israel. Israeli cuisine also shows similarities to Arab cuisine. Here, we can take a look at some interesting recipes from Israel, which shall reveal the secret about their very diverse styles of cooking.

Israeli Recipes:

Delicious Salad Recipe:
Ingredients
Cucumbers (3)
Tomatoes (3)
Salt
Green/red pepper (1)
Lemon juice
Green onions (3)
Olive oil
Zaatar (hyssop spice)

Preparation
First, you would need to chop all the vegetables into small pieces. Just before you serve lunch or dinner, season these ingredients with some olive oil, salt, few drops of the lemon juice and zaatar.

Easy Falafel Recipe:
Ingredients
Dried chickpeas (1 cup)
Onion - chopped (about 1 cup)
Salt (1 teaspoon)
Cloves of garlic (4)
Cumin (1 teaspoon)
Vegetable oil
Chopped tomato
Diced onion
Baking powder (1 teaspoon)
Flour (4-6 tablespoons)
Diced green bell pepper
Dried hot red pepper (1/2-1 teaspoon)
Tahina sauce
Pita bread
Finely chopped fresh parsley (2 tablespoons)
Finely chopped fresh cilantro (2 tablespoons)

Preparation
Place the chickpeas with cold water in a large bowl and soak them overnight. Once soaked, place these uncooked chickpeas with the onions in the food processor. Now, add the hot pepper, parsley, garlic, and cilantro as well. Sprinkle some salt on this. Process these ingredients till they blend well. Now, add around 4 tablespoons of flour with some pulse. Sprinkle in some amount of baking powder. Add the flour to get the desired consistency so that it can be rolled into a small ball. Place this in a bowl, cover the same and refrigerate it for a few hours. You then need to mould the chickpea mixture into tiny balls.

Heat some amount of oil for frying in a deep pot. Then add one of the balls to check for the consistency. If it crumbles soon enough, it means you only need to add more flour. Once you get the desired result, fry all the other balls till they turn a shade of golden brown. Stuff these falafel balls into half pita bread. Add the green pepper, chopped tomatoes, onion as well as the turnips. Sprinkle with tahina sauce.

Honey Cake Recipe:
Ingredients
Baking soda (1 teaspoon)
Sifted flour (3 1/2 cups)
Salt (1/4 teaspoon)
Eggs (4)
Sugar (3/4 cup)
Vegetable oil (4 teaspoons)
Baking powder (1 1/2 teaspoon)
Nuts/walnuts/almonds (1 1/2 cup)
Dark honey (2 cups)
Brewed coffee (1/2 cup)

Optional Ingredients
Cinnamon (1/2 teaspoon)
Nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon)
Ginger (1/2 teaspoon)
Powdered cloves (1/8 teaspoon)

Preparation
Sift the following ingredients together – baking soda, cloves, baking powder, flour, ginger, salt and nutmeg. Beat the eggs and add the sugar to it while doing so. Allow the mixture to turn thick. Meanwhile, beat the honey and coffee in oil and add the flour mixture with some nuts as well.

Meanwhile, grease a baking pan (11X16X4) and use some aluminum foil to line the same. To prepare 2 small sized cakes, you can use two 9-inch pans. Pour the batter into the pans and bake the same at 325 degrees F. Bake for 1-½ hours for the large cake and around 50 minutes for the small cakes. Once baked, let it cool down on the cake rack and once cooled, remove from pan.