April is National Garlic Month! We’re close to the end of April, but fear not: the North American garlic harvest lasts through July, and you can pick up the bulbs until Fall. Even after the green stalks wither and the bulbs are drier, your garlic will remain pungent for any months if you store it well.

The trick is to keep the fresh garlic in a well-ventilated, shady place away from steam and heat. Not by the stove, in other words. I place a tension pole in a shady spot in the laundry room, not close to the washer/dryer, and hang my year’s harvest from it by the stalks. I’ve also cut the stalks off and stored the garlic heads in wicker baskets, on a well-ventilated shelf.

Buy plump, firm bulbs wearing their sheath of papery outer skin. If it’s soft or shriveled, or feels light in the hand relative to its size, it’s not worth buying.

The little bulblets inside the stalks may be worth the trouble of extracting. Press the stalk and judge if the bulblet is big enough to bother with. Sometimes they are.

Now for peeling the cloves. One way is to crush a clove with the flat side of a knife. Just place the knife over the clove and bang your fist down on the knife, taking care to avoid the knife edge. This loosens the garlic skin and makes it easy to pull off. If you prefer to peel the cloves whole, pour hot water over them for a few seconds. The peels will come off with a little help from a paring knife.

A tip for crushing garlic: throw away the metal garlic crusher. You can reduce garlic to a paste on your chopping block in seconds by chopping the cloves coarsely, then scraping the bits with the edge of your knife. One less gadget to wash, and no time spent digging garlic out, blunting your knife in the process.

Where does American garlic come from?

Approximately 80% of the garlic consumed in the United States is imported from China. Prices have gone up with the current tariff war, but some pre-tariff produce may still be found. It won’t be fresh, though. You may find garlic imported from Spain, Argentina, Egypt, India, or Mexico in your grocery store.

California produces about 90% of American-grown garlic. Local garlic very much fresher and tastier than garlic imported from China, and here’s why you should prefer it.

A commenter on Reddit who goes by hamdunkcontest manages the garlic category for a fairly large industrial food ingredients company. These are his insights regarding what American garlic consumers can expect in 2027:

“Assuming the tariffs hold, for this year specifically, some amount of the demand will still be covered by Chinese garlic that was already imported into the US. The balance will likely be covered by Indian garlic.

“The US can’t feasibly cover their current demand with US-origin product. Even if we wanted to increase production, the land we’d use to increase acreage will also need to be considered for other crops that are also impacted by the tariffs.

“What we’ll instead likely see is a modest increase in US production for next year, with the balance of the gap being covered by: 1) Indian or other small tertiary sources, 2) demand being reduced by companies reformulating garlic out of recipes, and 3) Chinese garlic that is illegally dodging the tariffs, though things like falsifying the country of origin.”

It’s enough to make you uproot your lawn and plant garlic, isn’t it? Many in the US and Canada do.

Green Prophet’s editor, Karin Kloosterman, says that in her native Ontario, the local CSA brings the garlic harvest down to one July weekend when they announce that the garlic’s ready to pull. The news spreads around the community by word of mouth and that’s how home gardeners known when to start digging.

Here I go to the local open-air market and revel in the garlic abundance.

But I can’t hang around reveling too long, because the season is short, a month at the longest. I ensure a year’s supply of local garlic by buying a tad more than I’ll need, to account for some inevitable loss over the months.

Eating Garlic a Natural Medicine

People have been claiming health benefits from eating garlic for centuries. Today we include:

Eating a raw clove daily keeps your heart strong, as it reduces cholesterol and blood pressure, and prevents blood clots.

Garlic is known to be antibacterial and antifungal.

Raw garlic, freshly cut, works as a home-remedy antibiotic in a pinch. In other words, sliced raw garlic applied to an infected cut, scrape, or pimple will clear it up. Mashed cooked garlic also works. Obviously, a serious infection calls for standard medical help.

Is all this talk about garlic getting you hungry? We have some great garlicky recipes, like this vegan roasted cauliflower dish and creamy roasted garlic soup. I recommend the soup as a delicious pick-me-up for any time you’re tired and disheartened.

And if you’re not convinced that garlic is the answer to the world’s woes, try this decadent garlic bread recipe from the American food writer Ruth Reichl (taken from her Substack newsletter, La Briffe):

Make Decadent Garlic Bread

1 loaf sturdy French or Italian bread
1 stick sweet butter
1 head garlic
Zest from 1 lemon (optional)
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or chives (optional)

Begin by cutting the bread in half, lengthwise (a serrated knife helps). Preheat oven to 350⁰ F.

Peel and finely chop the garlic. Melt a stick of sweet butter, and add the garlic.

Slather the garlic butter onto the bread, cut side up, with a brush. Let it soak in. Use it all, and evenly spread the bits of garlic all over. Now is the time to salt it if you want to, and to sprinkle on the zest.

Bake the loaf, cut sides up, 15 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven and wait to take the final step just before serving.

Turn the heat up to broil. Add cheese, if using. Broil for about 2 minutes, watching carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn. Sprinkle with herbs just as it comes out of the broiler and serve immediately.

My note: include all the optional ingredients. It’s the best garlic bread you’ll ever eat.

Happy National Garlic Month!

Cook on – Recipes that feature garlic

Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup — Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup

The Ultimate Hummus Recipe — The Ultimate Hummus Recipe

Ful Medames and Musabaha Recipes — Ful Medames and Musabaha Recipes

Vegetarian Haricot Bean Stew Recipe — Vegetarian Haricot Bean Stew Recipe

Noodles and Lentils Recipe — Noodles and Lentils Recipe

Baba Ganoush Recipe — Baba Ganoush Recipe

Grilled Vegetables With A Middle Eastern Accent — Grilled Vegetables With A Middle Eastern Accent

Spinach and Cheese Bourekas Recipe — Spinach and Cheese Bourekas Recipe

Shakshuka, Tunisian Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce — Shakshuka, Tunisian Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce

Late-Summer Pickled Peppers — Late-Summer Pickled Peppers

The post April Is National Garlic Month appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Roman governors named the city Noviomagus. It was an important urban center and a key military and administrative hub on the northern border of the Roman Empire. The residents left thousands of everyday artifacts that archaeologist have been excavating and stashing into boxes for the past 70 years.

Researchers are now bringing these remnants of Roman material culture out of storage, in a project aiming to identify and catalog them for future study and preservation.

The 16,000 boxes ended up in the province of Gelderland nearly 20 years ago. The province recently allocated €8 million to inventory the contents of the boxes and repack them. It’s expected that it will take 6 years to sift through every box.

300 of the boxes have been opened. The objects inside are between 1,800 and 2,000 years old. They are things used in everyday life and that reveal a vivid picture of how people lived and interacted when Roman government held sway in Noviomagus (today’s Nijmegen). Several are considered “masterpieces” and are causing a lot of excitement among researchers and specialists.

Fine Roman tableware – intricately decorated cups and bowls – have survived the centuries. The clay pot with a human face sculpted onto it below served two purposes: it was a drinking vessel whose twisted nose and hard-boiled eyes promised a good time for the drinker.

Among the magical protective objects is a 20-centimeter/8-inch phallus carved from bone.

People have used phallic images since ancient times, to bring prosperity and avert bad luck. See our post on Iran’s phallic stones. This example is unusual in that it’s made of bone. Other Roman phalli were made of stone or metal.

As many other cultures did, the Romans used phallic images in hopes of increasing human and agricultural fertility, but also to deflect the evil eye, a powerful fear in the minds of ancient people. It still exists among some modern communities: see our post on the evil eye in the Middle East.

Mosiacs and wall paintings depicting gods, animals, and men in full erection were displayed in homes. Below you see an eye representing envy and malice being attacked by all sorts of creatures, a dagger, a trident – and the exaggerated penis of a man.

Phalli carved into clay plaques were set over front doors to prevent bad vibes from entering. Wind chimes featuring multiple metal phalli hung over shop doors in the belief that the  charm would protect owner from thieves and financial loss.

A woman might have worn a jeweled phallus in her hair, or a man a phallic pendant around his neck. There were even tiny phallic charms on bracelets meant to fasten on the wrists of newborns, and finger rings with engraved phalli so small that they could only have been meant to be worn by children.

Can we ever enter the minds of people so at home with the arts, international trade, high-level politics and governance – not to mention a military that conquered a large part of the world – yet who lived in superstitious fear of envy and ill-wishing every day? Researchers feel that those 16,000 boxes full of ancient Roman debris contain that possibility and that they will reveal much more about the Roman way of life than we’ve yet seen.

The post Hidden Archives Reveal Amazing Roman Artifacts appeared first on Green Prophet.

Think of truffles, a gourmet wild food. The European tuber commands astronomical prices because of its inimitable flavor, rarity, and difficult harvesting. Oregano-like za’atar herb and thorny akub (Gundelia tournefortii) are desired in the Middle East in the same way. Read our post on the delicious truffles that grow in the desert.

Akoub and za’atar grow wild in the arid hills of Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt), Syria, and Turkey. In Israel both za’atar and akoub are protected species. Both can be cultivated. Both may be collected from the wild for personal use, in moderate amounts. We even have a recipe for za’atar pesto from chef Moshe Basson.

But traders illegally picking them for sale collect them by hundreds of kilos. Often they uproot the whole za’atar plant. With akoub, taking the edible flower head means no seed left for the next year. As a result, wild za’atar and akub are on the brink of extinction.

I myself grow za’atar in a container on my balcony; it’s a hardy Mediterranean herb that flourishes from year to year in the same spot. I bought the seedling from a plant nursery. I’ve also seen contraband sacks of the herb in Arab open-air markets.

But admittedly you need to be a farmer to grow akoub, because propagation is tricky, the season is short, and the sharp thorns surrounding the delicious leaves and flowers make harvesting hard.

When living in northern Israel, I’d buy fresh akoub from a Beduin vendor in the local open-air market. It was expensive because of the labor involved in harvesting – I’ve seen robed Beduin slowly walking over the hills, stooping to pry the akoub away from the earth with a knife, then stripping the thorns off the edible stems.

I cooked both the flower and the stem. And yes, it was delicious, with its artichoke-like flavor. But now I wonder where that delicious akoub came from, and if I’d contributed to its overharvesting.

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority in the Golan have confiscated hundreds of kilos of za’atar and akoub. Some were meant to be sold in local markets, but much of this illegal produce makes its way across the border to Jordan.

Yaron Maderchi, head of the Investigations Department at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, states that the fight against the illegal picking of wild plants is first and foremost a struggle to preserve them for future generations.

“We focus on strict enforcement against traders, not on picking for personal use,” said Maderchi. “There’s room for tradition and for responsible use of natural resources, but when picking is carried out on a commercial scale and without oversight, it leads to severe damage and even local extinction of species.”

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority noted that overpicking is driven mostly by financial incentives.

“Akoub is a highly sought-after product in the market, and illegal harvesting can generate profits of thousands of shekels per day,” said Oriya Vazana, a regional inspector in the central Golan for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

“Economic pressure leads people to enter these areas in large numbers,” said Vazana. “The entire market operates in cash, without oversight. Beyond the damage to the plant itself, we are also seeing collateral harm: cutting fences, opening gates, damage to grazing lands, and safety risks on roads. This is a complex issue that requires significant resources, manpower, and targeted enforcement throughout the short harvesting season.”

The plant has significant ecological importance, serving as a food source for pollinators and insects and contributing to biodiversity. Left unharvested, the flower head dries up and tumbles on the ground, dispersing seed.

About 240 kilos of akoub and 25 kilos of za’atar were seized by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority in the Golan, working with border police.

The post Saving Gourmet Wild Plants For The Future appeared first on Green Prophet.

Big, gnarly fava bean pods are in season right now, just as winter gives way from cool nights to bright, warm days. Heaps of the greens loved in the Middle East appear in the shouks (Arabic word for market): peas, string beans, asparagus, and for a short while, these fresh fava beans.

Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.

Fresh beans are peeled twice: once when when you slide them out of their pods, and again when you squish each bean out from its rubbery covering. True; a little extra work. But it’s a restful task, and the soup is wonderfully herby, and redolent of green Springtime.

The preparation time listed relates to fresh beans. Frozen beans won’t need the peeling.

You’ll notice that the recipe calls for a fair amount of cilantro, but you can easily swap parsley for it if you prefer.

Fava Bean Soup Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups fresh or frozen fava bean pods
1 large leek, well washed and sliced ​​into thin rings (about 2 cups)
2 celery stalks sliced
2 carrots, sliced thinly
2 zucchini, diced
2 large potatoes, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
A bunch of coarsely chopped cilantro (about a cup)
8 cups/2 liters water or more as needed

Pull the strings off each pod and open it along the slit to expose the green beans. Use your thumbnail or a small knife. Push the beans out. Make a small cut in each bean, along the black stripe on its side, and squish it free of its sheath.

If using frozen beans, skip this step.
Heat olive oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Add the leeks, celery, carrots, zucchini and potatoes. Add turmeric, salt and black pepper, stir and let the vegetables cook gently for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 8 cups of water, stir and bring to a boil. Cook, covered, for 45 minutes over medium heat until all the vegetables are tender.

Add the peeled fava beans, bring back to a boil and continue cooking for another 45 minutes. Check the soup once or twice: if necessary, add a little water.

Using a potato masher, mash the vegetables very coarsely.

Taste for seasoning and add a little more salt and pepper if needed.

Turn off the heat and add a bunch of finely chopped cilantro or parsley.
Serve right away, and enjoy.

Love fava beans and want another recipe? Try this fava bean Iranian salad

The post Fresh Fava Bean Soup, A Vegan Springtime Recipe appeared first on Green Prophet.

In this Ozempic age, a person may diet themselves down unattractive gauntness. Hip dips, bony shoulders, withered hands; not to mention drooping breasts and flat buttocks: a sad list of body parts needing plumping up to look good again.

“Personal fat banking” is a solution. A person set on losing a lot of weight can have their own fat harvested ahead of time via liposuction and later reinjected into any part of the body that needs a smooth contour. Expensive, but it can be done. Read here about plastic surgery’s environnmental impact.

But what happens when there’s no personal fat left to harvest?

Well, turn to fat harvested from dead people instead. Cadaver fat returns the bounce to the breasts just as efficiently as your own fat. As much as five kilos of fat may be harvested from a corpse. Certified agencies use male and female cadavers from 18-71 years old. The commercial name for processed human fat is Alloclae.

Cosmetic surgeons call it “regenerative medicine. ” Their websites may refer to “donated tissue,” if they mention the fat’s origins at all. To squeamish patients, they soothingly explain that AlloClae is part of a “biologic revolution.” It encourages the patient’s own cells to migrate into the donor matrix, rebuilding tissue.

That sounds so much more scientific, even sort of natural, doesn’t it? It sort of takes the uncomfortable dissonance away, unless you remember that the fat injected into your living body came from a dead person who never consented to its commercial use.

There is no proof that any donor, while living, gave informed consent for companies to make money off their remains; the remains they nobly donated to research and science, not for someone to fill out their bikini.

In fact, it’s not entirely clear if family members who agreed to donate their dear departed’s body are aware that someone may exploit it for sale. The original donors or their families typically do not profit.

Who’s making money from human fat in 2026?

The first parties are companies are known as “body brokers,” officially called non-transplant tissue banks. They acquire, dissect, and sell human bodies and body parts for medical research and education. They are intermediaries between the recently deceased and commercial buyers, such as medical device companies, military researchers, and private surgical training programs.

Tissue banks generate substantial revenue by “parting out” a single body; for instance, a head can fetch roughly $1,000, while a torso might be sold for several thousand dollars. A single corpse can generate up to $10,000 in total sales.

In the United States, no central registry for body brokers exists. Legitimate companies identify themselves as non-transplant tissue banks. If you look it up, you’ll find The American Association of Tissue Banks. They list accredited non-transplant anatomical donation organizations.

Biotech companies buy human fat from body brokers, then process and sterilize it. The finished product, Alloclae, is considered a legal and safe, FDA-compliant human cell and tissue product. It doesn’t technically have to be “approved” or “cleared” by the FDA, per the agency’s web site.

But unlike the organ transplant system, which is strictly regulated by the federal government, this industry operates with significantly less oversight.

Tiger Aesthetics, a subsidiary of the Tiger BioScience company, is the biggest processor of human fat in the USA . They claim that Alloclae, cleansed by detergents, is purified down to DNA residues that may provoke immunogenic response.

And so it may be. The process is still new enough that we don’t have long-term studies on possible secondary effects in patients injected with Alloclae.

The processed human fat is then sold on to specialized clinics and plastic surgeons. Those clinics and surgeons earn big fees for plumping up body parts of the rich and the vain. How much? It depends. Scanning the websites of several clinics, I saw quotes between US$5000 to US$7000 per syringe.

Dr. Sachin M. Shridharani offers the procedure at his Manhattan clinic, Luxurgery. Interviewed by The New York Post, he said that the procedures typically start at $10,000, with costs increase depending on the scope of treatment.

“If you want a full breast augmentation, hip dip and some buttock treatment and you have to use hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cc’s of AlloClae, well, that’s going to cost tens of thousands of dollars.”

What you get for your money

Traditional fillers come in 1cc syringes, while AlloClae is packaged in much larger 12.5cc and 25cc sizes. This makes it a unique middle ground for “micro-augmentations” – fixing hip dips, “scooped-out” breasts, or post-liposuction dents that are too big for standard fillers but not large enough to justify surgery.

But the effects don’t last forever. While some claim that the “donated” fat is a sort of scaffolding for the patient’s own body to build up tissue, more often the lovely rounded effect wears away and dissolves after 18 months at longest.
Now that can’t be bad for business.

It gets darker.

Brokers frequently target low-income families by offering “free cremation” in exchange for the donation. In effect, the family agrees to sell their relative’s fat to pay for funeral costs. Some funeral directors maintain partnerships with body brokers to provide low-cost burials or cremations for poor families.

Investigations have uncovered instances of families being misled about how bodies would be used, as well as cases of improper handling, such as dismemberment with power tools or the sale of remains to gruesome “exhibits.”

Makes you wonder if any low-income cremations were empty coffins, while the deceased’s body was sold to independent body brokers.

Human Remains, The Newest Cosmetic

Science has given us many medical uses for bits and pieces of the human body. Lives are saved by heart, kidney, liver donations; parts of eyes, of skin, and more. These procedures come from a place of value for human life and dignity.

And maybe you know someone who’s had cosmetic surgery, or had it yourself. Why not; if surgery enhances a person’s appearance, makes them feel more confident and secure, and they can afford it, more power to them.

But would you get yourself injected with Alloclae?

The post The Next New Cosmetic: Human Fat Known as Alloclae appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Purim holiday is coming up next week: this year, 2026, it occurs from the evening of March 2nd until the evening of March 3rd. (In Jerusalem, where Shushan Purim is celebrated, the festival takes place on the following day, from March 3rd to March 4th.) Read about Purim and building a good society here.

There’s feasting at home on the night and the next day, and to make sure everyone gets good things to eat, families send out packages of treats to friends and neighbors. Traditional goodies are hamentaschen, and other treats like our chocolate nut clusters .

Now here’s another treat for sending around: a delicate nut-filled Moroccan pastry called Haman’s Fingers. It’s a sweet take on savory Moroccan cigars.

Haman’s Fingers
Yield: 20 rolled pastries

Pastry Ingredients
2 cups whole walnuts
2 cups whole almonds
½ cup sugar syrup (recipe below)
1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cardamom
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp kosher salt
15 sheets of frozen phyllo pastry, thawed overnight in the refrigerator
1 stick (½ cup) melted butter

Syrup Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 tsp orange blossom water or 1 tbsp lemon juice
Zest of 1 orange

Directions

Remove the phyllo dough from the freezer to the fridge the night before starting. 2 hours before starting, remove the package from the fridge to room temperature. When ready to start, open the package and cover the phyllo with a damp towel or plastic wrap, to prevent drying out.

Make the syrup:
Bring water and sugar to a boil. Reduce the heat to a steady simmer and cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until syrup has reduced to about ⅔ cup. Add orange blossom water or lemon juice and orange zest. Set aside to cool.

Prepare the filling:
Place the walnuts and almonds in a food processor. Pulse until the texture resembles coarse crumbs, with some chunks.
Add ½ cup of the sugar syrup and the cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, salt, and optional orange blossom water. Pulse another couple of times until mixture comes together. Don’t overwork the filling; you don’t want a smooth paste, bu a mixture with some texture.

Roll the pastry:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
Place a sheet of baking parchment on your work surface. Melt the butter (30 seconds in the microwave should do it) and set it aside to cool.
Place 1 sheet of phyllo on the baking parchment. Brush with melted butter. Place a second sheet over it, brush with butter. Do the same with a third sheet, finishing with brushed butter.
Roll the filling into a tube shape on a clean surface. Place it half an inch from the edge of the phyllo layers, on the long side. Carefully roll up the dough. Slice it into 4 pieces.
Transfer the cigars to the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining phyllo and filling.

Glaze the fingers:
Brush the finished cigars with more butter and then brush generously with syrup. There will be some syrup left for a final glazing.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and while still hot, brush with additional syrup to glaze.
Trim any filling that oozed out of the “fingers” off with a knife.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.

Recipe and photo via Chabad.org

The post Haman’s Fingers, A Moroccan Purim Specialty appeared first on Green Prophet.

When you hear “jujube,” you might first think of the chewy, retro gumdrop candy with its brilliant red, yellow and green colors. But “jujube” started as English for sidr, the tree considered holy in Islam.

In the Koran it’s written that on the Day of Judgment the faithful, will dwell in Paradise “Among thorn-less sidr trees and clustered plantains, and spreading shade, and water gushing, and plentiful fruit.”

Perhaps because of this, sidr leaves are said to have magical, mystical properties.

We’ve noted the multiple medicinal qualities of the sidr fruit and mentioned the potential of the tree to hold off desertification.

Every year, one evening at mid-Ramadan, the tree shakes. The names on the leaves that fall are of those who will die in the coming year.

The sidr tree in black magic

Then there’s the intriguing use of sidr leaves as protection from black magic and the evil eye. We described what the evil eye is. Basically, it’s ill-wishing someone from feelings of envy, rivalry, and hatred.

Jealousy exists in the human heart; it can’t be shrugged off. Mature people recognize and try to overcome it; if we can’t exactly turn the other cheek, at least we hopefully move on to a healthier way of coping than secretly ill-wishing someone.

In Islamic culture, and in cultures who have lived in close quarters with Moslems, the evil eye is feared as one would fear a physical threat. In speaking of another’s child or property, it’s polite to raise one’s hand, palm outward, and say “hamsah” several times – to show there’s nothing to fear – all one’s intentions are good.

Women are especially susceptible to the suggestion of an evil eye. A pretty girl. A married woman wanting to conceive. A protective mother.

Men may fear that their success in business may cause envy, or that their virility will be impaired by witchcraft. Women are especially susceptible to the suggestion of an evil eye. A pretty girl. A married woman wanting to conceive. A protective mother.

To ward off the evil eye, a person may wear an amulet bracelet.

Or hang a five-fingered “hamsah” on the office or home wall. See our post on the evil eye and how to avoid it.

But for a person needing stronger protection, there’s another, more intimate way to deal with witchcraft and the evil eye: bathing with sidr-infused water. This is also said to expel demons.

On the positive side, the sidr tree may host the spirit of a saint. Far from pagan, pre-Islamic tree worship, the tree itself isn’t a holy object; rather, the holiness of a saint whose custom it was to sit in its shade has been transferred to the tree. For this reason, it’s considered lucky to sit or sleep under a sidr tree.

There’s a Moslem legend about a sidr tree (also known in English as a lote tree) that grows in Paradise. On its leaves are etched the names of all humans. Every year, one evening at mid-Ramadan, the tree shakes. The names on the leaves that fall are of those who will die in the coming year.

It follows that sidr once served to purify the dead. In Iran, Iraq, India, and southwestern Saudi Arabia, deceased Muslims were washed water infused with sidr leaves. The custom has apparently faded out in most countries.

A magic holy sidr bath to deflect the evil eye?

It needs 7 powdered sidr leaves stirred into a bucket of warm water. The hadith of the Prophet Muhammad allows to repeat healing prayers and verses from the Koran to increase the water’s potency. 5 grams, or 1 tablespoon of sidr powder equals 7 leaves.

Take the bucket of warm sidr water into the shower and pour it all over. It’s ok to rinse off the powder residue. Then step out of the shower, freshly immune to other people’s bad vibes.

The post Jujube, the sidr tree of medicine and magic appeared first on Green Prophet.

It’s late winter, almost spring in the Mediterranean, and the time to harvest wild greens is now. In a week or two, the best will be gone to seed, gotten leggy and tough, or infested with bugs.

I went out foraging for nettles, my favorite wild edible. I was aiming to make nettles dumplings, or as they’d be known in Italy, malfatti. See our other 5 ways to eat iron-rich nettles. And here we show inventive ways to make dumlings.

Malfatti means “badly formed,” and these dumplings, quickly shaped in the hand, have an awkward, rough look. Traditionally, spinach is the leafy ingredient, and the malfatti come out white speckled with green. These, based on nettles, are a rich, dark green.

I found this recipe in the late Leda Meredith’s book, “The Forager’s Feast.”

When I mention harvesting nettles to people who don’t forage, I get plenty of rolled eyes and the usual question: “Don’t you get stung, picking them?”

I do get stung. In my first years of picking nettles, I found that wearing gloves and taking scissors along was the way to deal with them.

Snip the stems and holding them with the scissor blades, put them down, all facing one way. That makes them easier to handle when rinsing them and hanging them up to dry.

But that was years ago. I pick nettles with bare hands now, and while I feel the sting, I don’t mind it anymore. Remember, all the sting goes away in the cooking. If you’re new to eating nettles and curious about their flavor, I’ll say that they don’t taste like spinach.

All wild greens are described as tasting like spinach, but the truth is that each has its distinctive taste, as with artichokes and lettuce, which are botanically related but taste nothing like each other. Nettles’s taste is dark, if you like, and a little salty; a little like seaweed.

This is how I learned to make delicious green malfatti. Like the ancient recipes that start, “First go out and catch a rabbit,” you need 4 ounces of raw, rinsed nettles that you went out and picked yourself.

Nettles Malfatti Recipe

Serves 2 as a main dish; 3-4 as a hot appetizer or side dish

Ingredients:

4 oz. – a tightly packed 1/2-cup of raw nettle leaves – stripped from the stems. My note: ignore any seeds present; they’re also excellent nutrition when young and green.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped finely
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or more if liked
1/2 cup cup flour for rolling the malfatti in
About 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup grated extra Parmesan for saucing the malfatti

Instructions:

Blanch the nettles. Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil.

Drop the nettles in and cook for 3 minutes. I set the timer on my phone to avoid over-cooking. You’re only blanching the greens here.

Have ready a bowl of cold water. Remove the blanched nettles from the hot water with tongs or a slotted spoon and immediately drop them in the cold water. Let them sit for a minute or so or until cool.

Drain the nettles in a colander or sieve, and squeeze as much liquid out of them as possible by pushing them hard against the side of the colander. Do this over a bowl, to catch that dark-green juice. It’s tasty and sky-high full of nutrients. You can add it to soups or green smoothies later.

Coarsely chop the wad of squeezed-out nettles.

Empty the pot you boiled the nettles in. Pour the olive oil in and set it over medium heat to warm. (Leda’s tip for reducing the washing up by one pot).

Cook the onion in the oil until soft and translucent, stirring, 4-5 minutes.

Using the knife blade of a food processor, blend the onions and nettles together with the salt and pepper, eggs, breadcrumbs, and cheese until you have a coarse paste.

Scoop the nettles mixture into a bowl, cover it, and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. I’ve let it mature as long as 24 hours.

Set a large pot of lightly salted water to boil.

Either flour a surface like a baking sheet with the 1/2-cup flour, or dump the flour into a wide bowl. Either way, flour your hands. You’ll need to flour your hands again at intervals.

Pinch off a generous tablespoon of the chilled dough and roll into a torpedo shape. Some prefer a nice round dumpling like a mazah ball; your choice. In either case, your palms will be green.

Roll each malfatti in the flour and set it aside on a floured surface while rolling the rest. If your bowl is wide enough, just place them around the inside and roll the rest of the malfatti in the flour heap in the center of the bowl.

Gently lower the malfatti into the water, which by now should be boiling. Don’t crowd the dumplings; they swell and need room to move. You’ll know they’re close to done when they rise and bob around. Cook them 4-5 minutes, no longer or they’ll break apart. You may need to do this in 2 batches.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the cooked malfatti to a platter or serving bowl.

Gently pour melted butter over the malfatti, and sprinkle with the extra grated Parmesan. Serve right away.

Some take malfatti to another level by baking them, cooked as described above, in a bechamel or a tomato sauce for 15 minutes at 350° F – 175°C. Sprinkle with more cheese before serving.

The post Make nettle dumplings, also known as nettles malfatti appeared first on Green Prophet.

Farm To Table Israel is transforming the traditional dining experience into a hands-on journey.

“People want to see and experience where the food comes from,” says Farm To Table owner Yakir Knafo. “I like to introduce guests to the small, ‘romantic’ farms where they get a personal feel for connection to the land.”

And you can hardly get more personal with the land than pulling carrots out of the ground yourself; carrots that you’ll watch a chef cook a little while later for lunch. Or standing under a tree peeling a juicy orange you plucked off a branch a second ago.

An hour in the field is followed two hours of a 7-course meal filled with the genuine flavors of Israeli food. It might be cooked then and there on the farm, to be eaten in the open air. Or you might head back to the Alhambra deli in Jaffa, where Farm To Table Israel guests feast at a communal table. You’ll enjoy a meal that’s as much about storytelling and community as it is about fresh, local flavors, and where every ingredient comes from local sources – even the salt.

Culinary tours include visits to an olive oil press, followed by a meal where every dish features a different local olive oil; or to a vineyard and boutique winery that shows how Israeli wines have gained international recognition. Or a group may visit one of the local dairies. A tour of an apiary and honey tastings in the works for the near future.

Each tour ends with a meal freshly cooked by Yakir and chef Aviel Elbaz, with the participation of any guests who like to cook. There’s a story behind every dish, even behind every ingredient. Guests leave the table enriched with history, a sense of connection with the land, and naturally, the lingering wellbeing that’s the gift of a delectable meal shared with friends.

Related: Ada’s home-roasted coffee in Jaffa

And that’s just one of the culinary experiences offered by Farm To Table Israel. Groups can also book hands-on cooking workshops for groups of friends and for business groups on a day out. Workshop themes include pickling and fermentation, seasonal cooking, and making pasta. Yakir told us that they will create a workshop focused on a special theme too, if requested.

Then there’s Alhambra, the Jaffa base for Farm To Table’s culinary workshops. It’s a café by day and wine bar by night, as well as a delicatessen offering Israeli gourmet specialties.

All of this was born of Yakir and Aviel’s vision to make food the connection between people and the land. Yakir has an enormous love of nature, the farmer, and the goodness of Israel’s sustainable foods. His enthusiasm overflows in spontaneous talk as visitors harvest, cook, and eat together.

Jaffa, close to Tel Aviv, is the mixed Jewish-Arab neighborhood where Alhambra operates, and where Yakir lives with his family. He interacts comfortably with close-by Arab businesses:

“We live together, after all. I get fish from Ibrahim, orange juice from Salem, and kitchen equipment from Abu Avram. We respect each other,” he says. His voice softens as he says that seaside Jaffa is very much like the Moroccan port town of Essaouira, where his grandfather was chief rabbi.

Alhambra is kosher under rabbinical supervision, dairy/fish. The partners offer cooking workshops there, but a group may also book a workshop near home.

::Farm To Table
::Deli Alhambra 
30 Jerusalem Blvd., Tel Aviv
+972 523 255 370

Traveling to Jaffa in the near future?

Read our green guide to Jaffa

The post Farm To Table Israel Connects People To The Land appeared first on Green Prophet.

The extreme weather threatening the US and parts of Europe has already downed electricity for thousands of people and made it hard to access supplies. Be smart; be prepared. Build a family emergency kit to get you and your household through at least 72 hours without normal services, as comfortably and safely as possible.

Make a list of things each family member regularly uses and can’t do without. For instance, a baby will need diapers, many changes of clothes, moist towelettes and specific food. Anyone depending on medications should have seven days’ supply stored away. Feminine hygiene products, entertainment items, pet supplies – each person or pet has unique needs.

Discuss it with your family. They’ll remind you of things you may not have thought of. Make sure you have these things, then store them in an accessible place.

If you can, make up an individual box or package for each person, and put it where they can easily find it.

Now let’s look at an all-purpose list of indispensable supplies. Below is the Red Cross list, with our comments in parenthesis:

• Water: one gallon per person, per day: 3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home. (We bought water purification tablets and used them to store tap water in tightly closed buckets. But plain non-perfumed bleach will also serve to sanitize water. Find instructions here.
• Food: non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items: 3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home. (Store foods that your family likes. And a manual can opener)
• Flashlight (or two)
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio
• Extra batteries for flashlight and radio
• First aid kit (Things to have in the first-aid kit )
• Medications (7-day supply) and medical items
• Multi-purpose tool
• Sanitation and personal hygiene items (toilet paper, feminine hygiene products. Baby wipes can be used in a pinch for personal hygiene when no running water available. Also, shops that sell adult diapers often sell full-body moist towels; worth having for hygiene and comfort.)
• Copies of personal documents: medication list and pertinent medical information, proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies (plus marriage/divorce documents, bank account information). Put these documents in sealed, waterproof bags and keep them in a getaway suitcase in case of evacuation. Here is FEMA’s guide to safeguarding critical documents and valuables.
• Cell phone with chargers (and a portable power bank)
• Family and emergency contact information (put these names and numbers on everyone’s phones. Plus keep a paper copy taped to the refrigerator.)
• Extra cash
• Emergency blankets or sleeping bags
• Map(s) of the area

Depending on the types of disasters that are common where you live, also consider adding these things to your kit:

• Whistle (to call for help)
• N95 or surgical masks
• Matches
• Rain gear
• Towels
  Work gloves
• Tools/supplies for securing your home
• Extra clothing, hat and sturdy shoes
• Plastic sheeting
• Duct tape
• Scissors
• Household liquid bleach
• Entertainment (and comfort) items
• Two-way radios
• Extra set of car keys and house keys (give a set to a trusted neighbor or friend)

We add:

• Moist antiseptic towels to sanitize areas.
• A portable solar-powered or hand-crank lantern, to avoid tripping in the dark.
• Several long-burning candles for comforting light; assuming that it’s safe to have fire burning.
• Two or three cigarette lighters. A cigarette lighter supplies fire many more times than a box of matches.

If the suppy list seems too long to deal with, the Red Cross sells emergency kits of all sizes on their site. But we recommend building your own kit that suits your particular needs.

Other notes:

Wash and dry all the laundry in the hamper, and don’t let more accumulate. If the power goes down or water stops running in the pipes, you’ll at least have clean changes of clothes. This is important not only for hygiene but for mental health: having to live in dirty clothes makes stress worse.

If it seems likely that running water might stop, improvise a toilet made from a tall, sturdy metal bucket, strong plastic bags to line it, and a tight lid. You can also order a portable toilet online.

If you wonder where to store the emergency supplies, stash the boxes or suitcases in unused spaces. Under a table. Under beds; under the sofa. On top of closets, or under a sink. In the space under the stairs. Out on the patio; in the garage – always assuming it’s safe to go outside. Put decorative items away and use the space for emergency storage. It might feel crowded, but you’ll restore order after the emergency.

The important thing is to stay safe and be prepared.

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