2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
In Jewish homes, wherever they are in the world, all traditions are associated with the table. Family and religious holidays, joys and sorrows - everything is consecrated around the table.
The importance of food
Whether they are religious or not, Jews attach great importance to food and it is a tradition for them to eat together. They like to break bread with family and friends and enjoy a variety of delicious dishes. The fact that Israel is inhabited by Jews from all over the world means that Israeli cuisine is an interesting mix of dishes - borsch and pancakes from Russia, chicken with apricots from Morocco, not forgetting the influence of their Arab neighbors. These factors combine to produce wonderful and varied dishes.
Small snacks and buffet
In Israel, one cannot stay hungry. You can buy boreca on the street or enjoy a wonderful cold buffet when you visit - then, even at the end of the evening, as well as at the beginning, the table is bent by dishes.
Products
The Jewish religion unites people who have lived among different peoples, so it is no wonder that Israeli cuisine uses products typical of other countries. Europe and the Middle East have imported as many ingredients as the locals. But there are some things that are more pronounced in the diet of the people of Israel. Local fruits and vegetables, as opposed to meat, are a staple, while cereals, neglected in other countries, are used in many original ways.
Fresh fruit
Many citrus fruits grow in Israel and all are used in cooking. Pickles and canned food are popular - not only as a side dish to savory dishes, but also as stand-alone dishes. Canned lemons enhance the taste of some savory dishes, while canned peaches and apricots give a fresh taste to chicken dishes.
Legumes and seeds
Chickpeas are very popular. It is the main product in hummus - a creamy sauce served with pieces of raw vegetables and cakes. Hummus is also served with spicy falafel balls, as well as many soups and main dishes. Tahini is a sauce made from sesame seed paste. It is used in many places - as a sauce for melting, in salad dressings and with falafels. Its consistency varies depending on the purpose. Porridge is the common name for cereals, widely used for sweet and savory pastries.
Cheese
Yellow cheese comes from the cuisine of Sephardic Jews from Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria, but is quite common in Israel. Italian cottage cheese is also well received by Jews. When young and immature, it is used in desserts or eaten for breakfast. Once ripe and hardened, grated and added to various dishes.
Techniques and tips
Many of the techniques in Israeli cuisine are inherited from the old Jewish traditions. Religious holidays and festivals, adherence to biblical laws, and evolving customs determine the methods used.
In Jewish cuisine, there are restrictions on what can and cannot be eaten. Allowed food is called kosher, and forbidden - trif. Kosher meat comes from animals that have been ritually killed. This category includes beef, lamb, goat and poultry. Foods of dairy and meat origin should not be cooked and consumed at the same time.
Festivals and holidays
The various holidays that fill the Jewish religious calendar are celebrated with a variety of culinary magic. Shabbat, which lasts from sunset on Friday to Saturday night, is celebrated with three main dishes of meat, poultry or fish, bread hall and cake for Shabbat - light. Since no work should be done during the Shabbat, the food is prepared in advance or cooked over a low heat from Friday to Saturday. Bread and dairy products are served on Shavuot when the harvest was originally celebrated. This festival is associated with eating pancakes (stuffed pancakes).
Sweet foods, such as gingerbread and almond bread, are eaten on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The most important event in the Jewish calendar, however, is the Passover - it is reminiscent of the former deliverance from Egyptian slavery. Because people then hurried to escape to save themselves, the bread did not have time to rise. That is why on this feast there is unleavened bread on the table - maca, charose and khremslah.
Eating habbits
Breakfast is plentiful - salads, cheese, eggs, bread and jam. Eat a little at eleven o'clock, followed by lunch - the main meal, consisting of hors d'oeuvres, soup, main course with side dishes and dessert.
Afternoon coffee gives a person the opportunity to indulge in sweets, and the tendency to small snacks is satisfied by a light late dinner. It can consist of hummus, falafel, bread and shakshuka - eggs with tomato and pepper sauce. In Israel, eating is respected at all times. There are falafel stalls in villages all over Israel, where customers fill their cakes with spicy balls and a variety of salads.
Making a hall
Hall is a ritual bread that is eaten on Shabbat and on major holidays. The tradition is centuries old, dating back to the time of the diaspora - the expulsion of Jews from their homeland. Traditionally, two loaves of bread are made to honor the amount of food collected by Jewish nomads on Friday. The two loaves mean they have enough bread for the weekend and will not break the law of not working on the Sabbath. The breads are varied and different techniques are used in their preparation.
Triple hall
Roll out the dough for the hall into three cylinders, 30-40 cm long. Pinch their ends together and knit them, transferring first the right piece over the middle, and then the left over the new middle piece. Knit completely and pinch the ends.
Quadruple hall
The technique for preparing the quadruple hall is more complicated, but here we offer you the easiest method. Pinch the edges, run the right piece under the two middle ones and on what is exactly to the right of it. Then transfer the left piece below the new two middle ones and above what is exactly to the left of it. Knit so completely and pinch the ends so that they do not unravel.
Other forms
Round loaves, double knots, miniature loaves for children, animal loaves - all this can be made from the pliable dough for the hall. This is one of the foods that Jews will always like.
Recommended:
Characteristic Features Of Israeli Cuisine
Israeli cuisine is extremely interesting and cannot be placed within any limits. To get acquainted with it, we must study every aspect of it - from its origin to modern and traditional habits. Israel is a Mediterranean country created in an area surrounded only by Arabs.
Mexican Cuisine: Plenty Of Products And Flavors
Provincial cuisine in Mexico has been using techniques and tools since the conquest of the country in 1521, although few grind corn and spices with volcanic stones because the food processor is faster. But beans, for example, are cooked every day in beautiful colored clay pots.
Greek Cuisine - A Wealth Of Recipes And Flavors
When you hear Greek cuisine What is the first thing you think of? I remember three things - Greek salad, olive oil and olives. However, this is not all that Greek cuisine has to offer. It is rich in many flavors. In it we can find both recipes for delicious Mediterranean food and a wide variety of Balkan food included in its recipes.
Iraqi Cuisine: The Magic Of Flavors And Aromas
Having already taken you on a culinary journey to Ethiopia and Estonia, I will now take you to Iraq. This country does not have a very good reputation and is not often a preferred tourist destination, but it is the cradle of ancient peoples and great civilizations - Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonians, hidden between the rich and fertile lands along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Monstera - A Mix Of Exotic Flavors
If you are an avid fan of fruits and vegetables, but you often hear about new and unknown to you, do not be surprised - the world is full of surprises. Here we will introduce you to a fruit that, however, is more likely to be known by lovers of ornamental plants than by an amateur cook.
