It is very unusual to find a dinner or breakfast table in Israel that doesn’t include a smattering of meat and/or dairy products to choose from (depending on whether or not the family keeps kosher), which is why the revelation that tens of thousands of Israelis have embraced veganism in the last year is nothing […]
Try something a little different than plain-old tomato sauce on your pasta. Try tahini! On my first night CouchSurfing in Haifa, Israel, in the cozy apartment of a young married couple, the three of us sat down, along with a local friend, at the table on the balcony to eat dinner – which, surprisingly, the […]
Rosé wine is gaining global popularity. Did you know that the Middle East with its long history of wine-making is producing some great rosés of its own? The summer heat is upon us and if you’ve been smart you’re perfecting those non-cook recipes to beat the heat. If you like a glass of wine here […]
World food prices soared over 6 percent in July according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. Prices are continuing to rise, and food security is already a constant threat in the West Bank and Gaza. The Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem estimates that over half the households in Gaza are food insecure, and […]
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, landed on Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He continued on to Uganda and Kenya, where he will inaugurate two Israeli-cooperation projects in agriculture and health. According to Gil Haskel, Israel’s ambassador to Uganda, the Jewish state is interested in strengthening agricultural cooperation and collaboration with Uganda. Agriculture and water are […]
A team of British researchers devised a calculator that weighs you against the world. Did Olympic fever catch you? Itching to get sporty and lean? Before jumping into a new exercise routine, of course respect that classic disclaimer: first consult your doctor, who will check your weight and height and calculate your body mass. Green Prophet’s brought […]
Do pregnant women who are fasting during the Holy Islamic month of Ramadan have a greater chance of experiencing a pre-term birth? A new study by Lebanese researchers rules out the half-day fast as cause for an earlier than expected birth. With Ramadan continuing until Friday, pregnant Muslim everywhere want to know if it’s safe […]
Why grow apples in Lebanon when hashish and cannabis is hundreds of times more lucrative? An overview of Lebanon’s unsustainable drug business in the Bekaa Valley. Escalating clashes between armed tribesmen trying to protect their cannabis fields and the Lebanese armed forces are pushing Lebanon to readdress the long-standing issue of cannabis cultivation in the […]
Supported by the women’s group Karama, families in Bethlehem’s Dheisheh refugee camp have begun growing fresh food on their rooftops Cramped conditions in the Dheisheh refugee camp of Bethlehem mean that any space – nevermind green space – is difficult to come by. The streets are narrow, families live in small homes and parks and […]
Yemen isn’t as hot as Saudi, but the temperatures this Ramadan have been high enough to make waiting out the long daylight hours without food and drink very, very hard. But that’s not the worst of the country’s troubles. Such spirutally-motivated hunger and thirst would be bearable if families had some nice dates and juice […]
Need to put a good meal together but it’s too hot to cook? Here’s an easy menu for those hot-weather meals. Knowing that hot days are still ahead, the wise cook organizes a plan for dishes that take only minutes to prepare, yet satisfy those fickle summer appetites. First, take a look in your refrigerator. […]
We continuously shine a bright light on the issue of food waste during Ramadan and have provided tips for keeping it down, but throwing away perfectly good food is not something that only happens during the holy month or in the MENA region. It is a global phenomenon. Even though roughly 925 million people throughout […]
An epidural could be the key to reducing PTSD in new mothers Before I gave birth, I was sure it would be all-natural. For the sake of my baby, and my back, I decided to not take an epidural. The tune changed when the contractions attacked me like a lion, giving me no-where to run. […]
Kelly learns to cook like a local (vegetarian) Jordanian at Beit Sitti in Amman. For all those tourists in Amman who want to gain authentic Arabic cooking experience to bring back home and impress their dinner guests, or for the local Jordanian who wants to throw a unique rooftop party in the area, Beit Sitti, […]
Look at any Israeli dining table and the humble tomato is usually there front and center, diced into a cucumber salad or sliced in big wedges drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil. No one knows fresh tomatoes like the Israelis. It makes sense, then, that the Israeli company LycoRed should corner the market for […]
Called polo in Syria, try this refreshing Middle East mint lemonade to beat the heat. Like our cooling vegan cold almond milk and Turkish aryan yogurt drink, this herbal lemonade cools the body and soothes heated spirits.And it’s not only good, it’s good for you. Mint is packed with vitamin C, which helps you withstand […]
Nearly seven percent of adolescent Iraqis have smoked shisha, and more than three percent have smoked tobacco, raising concerns among health officials about future diseases that could arise as a result. This was one of the findings of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey carried out recently by Iraq’s Ministry of Health. Shisha, also known as […]
Hey’Ya: Arab Women in Sport: Sisters Brigitte and Marian Lacombe celebrate Arab female athletes at London’s Sotheby’s Gallery. Last December, Qatar Museums Authority commissioned Brigitte Lacombe, a French photographer known mainly for her work with the film industry, to snap over 70 sportswomen from 20 Arab countries – some with Olympic potential. The project was […]
Last Saturday, ten chefs from Jordan cooked up the world’s largest falafel. Jordan joined the Guinness Book of World Records this week for the world’s biggest falafel. The super culinary feat was witnessed by a Guinness official who confirmed the falafel as “the world’s largest”. Fame was fleeting for the phenomenal falafel, weighing in […]
It’s hard to convince a sushi lover that the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna doesn’t exist for them alone. I know this because I used to eat the robust pink flesh with abandon in my pre-vegetarian days. And if the wasabi didn’t make my eyes tear up, there wasn’t enough of it mixed in with my heart-exploding sodium-drenched […]
Gilad Millo, head of business development at Amiran Kenya and former Israeli diplomat, seeks to make farming attractive to Kenyan youth by proving it can be a profitable, professional business. Working together with the Kenya Red Cross Society, they have equipped over 1000 schools with modern agribusiness supplies. According to Millo, today the average smallholder farmer in […]
It’s counter-intuitive, but food consumption soars during the month of Ramadan fasting. Jordanian households spent nearly $150 million on food during the first three days of Ramadan this year, according to the Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC). Khalil Haj Tawfiq, from the JCC food sector, told The Jordan Times that over the past few years Ramadan […]
Homey, comforting and light, these crepes of 1000 holes make a delicious start to a Ramadan Iiftar (break-fast) meal. As Arwa pointed out, what a body wants after a day’s fast is light, nutritious food (see Arwa’s list of links to our favorite Iftar recipes). Carbs and something sweet suit the bill, giving that initial, […]
From pest to the palate? Try cooking some jellyfish with a “flip flop” texture. Nice try, but there are no culinary awards for stir-fried jellyfish just yet. Still, if you want to cook it, here’s a method from the Israeli food blog Ptitim (Hebrew), written by a cook who goes only by “Gal.” With all […]
As I write this it’s the fourth straight day of triple-digit temps in Amman, Jordan: just walking the dogs deserves a bronze medal. But Amman air is bone-dry. Add in Emirati humidity and you’ll quickly relate to the chubby Gulf children who choose cable TV over a bike ride. Turns out not everyone is the […]
