Can something as healthy as this be so delicious? The rainy, Middle-Eastern winters bring out the best cabbage-family vegetables. I love to visit the open-air market between showers, choosing snowy cauliflower and dark-green broccoli for a quick vegetarian main dish. Cooked to tender-crispness by the recipe below, these superfoods retain their snap and lively flavor. […]
Water shortages don’t bode well for agriculture in the Middle East, but a new rice variety developed in India could change all that! Lack of water is a serious problem in the Middle East. It is felt in Egypt, where even the fertile valley of old can no longer feed a growing nation, in Gulf […]
Aquaculture, especially in ponds, may help preserve ocean fish species Catching wild fish in the sea is now threatening to deplete many fish species from the world’s seas and oceans, including illegal tuna fishing in the Mediterranean Sea. With world population figures now topping 7 billion, an increasing demand is being made for fresh fish […]
If your tap gushes water laced with fluoride, you’re taking a powerful drug with every sip. Imagine a stranger pressing you to drink a clear liquid with no special odor, color, or taste. “Just drink, it’s good for you,” he insists. What would you do? Refuse it, probably. And if the stranger were to become […]
Is the eco-friendly food movement getting even more complicated, or are ecotarians simplifying matters? The green movement is riddled with a lot of food ideologies. When it comes to food, there are a lot of environmental issues to consider: locavores protest the pollution stemming from the transport of food from far away, vegetarians (and vegawarians) […]
If the meat's zabiha - slaughtered according to Islamic law - is it always halal? Yes, there is a difference. Zaufishan explains how the ethics in Muslims' meat-eating religion, embraces animal welfare, organic living and vegetarianism.
You may be eating a dead person’s hair in your commercially-baked bread. Watch out for L-cysteine if you’re queasy. It’s name is inconspicuous enough, not something that would make the average consumer squirm as they read the ingredients label on a loaf of bread. The problem isn’t what L-cysteine does – it’s a non-essential amino […]
A specialty of the Middle East, stuffed zukes are favorites with young and old. In a Tel Aviv supermarket, I watched a mother soothing her tired, hungry little boy. “Just another few minutes, and then we’ll go to Grandmother’s house for lunch!” The little boy sniffled, looked up, and asked, “Are there going to be […]
The City of the Dead in Cairo isn’t known for its fertile soil, but Liveinslums is working to change that with an awesome mini urban farming initiative. Although everybody seems to understand that population growth is exploding, and that space – particularly in cities – comes at a premium, the extent of our vulnerability to […]
Eating only whites or buying Eggbeaters? Read more on the nutrients and benefits of whole eggs. (Above is Green Prophet’s editor Karin Kloosterman a few years back in her family’s chicken coop.) Eggs have been slandered, persecuted, and vilified for the last 50 years. However, in spite of their bad rap, eggs are a highly […]
Polio, a crippling virus which lingers in polluted water sources is not a dead virus, says an Israeli researcher. It is in Israel, Gaza and Egypt. But some current vaccines may be deadly. I know women in Israel who were unsure about vaccinating their kids against polio. The nurse practitioners there said that polio is […]
Now that you’ve bought some argan oil, what are you going to do with it? Argan oil has an intense, nutty flavor (we’re speaking of the roasted, food-grade variety) and a really high price. Two reasons to use it sparingly in cooking. Think of it as a flavoring, and then let your culinary imagination take […]
A Middle Eastern flavor that refuses to go out of style – sheep’s tail fat. Some vegetable species thrive in harsh, arid conditions and still produce oil, like argan trees. And some animal species survive the desert by storing fat around their bodies, like camels. And like Awassi sheep, bred to store fat in their […]
Nah, nobody does that goat thing anymore… Our recent post about Israeli argan oil caused a few ripples over the Internet. While we now know that the old-fashioned “goat” treatment of the fruit is no longer used in Morocco except as a tourist attraction, we’ve also learned much about the success of growing the tree […]
Much of Morocco’s argan oil still comes from nuts excreted by goats. The fabulously expensive oil is now produced in Israel – without goat droppings. Ever get the feeling that you’re barking up the wrong tree? Well, this goat up a tree is bleating with joy at his favorite nosh: argan nuts. As Karin revealed […]
Maimonides, a Jewish scholar, prescribed tahini almost 1,000 years ago. It’s a calcium food for vegans. When my friend Elia consulted her doctor complaining of debilitating pain in some of her joints, she was surprised to hear him suggest tahini (or tahina) paste rather than prescribing a pill. He explained that this cure came to […]
Call me Olivias de Maurico: This Syrian olive tree is loaded with fruit, most of which will fall to the ground, unpicked. The autumn olive harvest is still in full swing, and those of you who are now enjoying picking and preserving this ancient Middle Eastern fruit are surely aware that this year’s crop is […]
A traditional Arabic dish of ancient origins, mouth-watering Maklubah (maqlub, maqlube) is a gala menu all by itself. “Maklubah” means “upside-down” in Arabic, and this dish must be stood on its head to deserve the name. A Turkish translation of the 13th-century Baghdad Cookery Book has a recipe for Maklubah, but I’m sure that people knew […]
Smooth and heavy – a guide to choosing the best raw olives for pickling at home. There’s nothing like the sensation of running your fingers through a heap of smooth, heavy, fresh olives. And now is the season. Open markets of the Middle East display stands heaped with the green and purple fruit, perfect for […]
Rising meat demand, rising risks in the Middle East: antibiotics, meat glue and global warming. World meat consumption is on the rise and this is despite increase awareness of the health risks of eating refrozen meat sold as “freshly cut”, and the dangers of eating an enzyme called transglutaminase otherwise known as “meat glue”. A […]
Even though it seems like the earth couldn’t possibly handle 10 billion people, an article published in Nature shows that it is possible to feed them all. Read on for five handy tips. So, all this worrying about the burgeoning population was for nought? We don’t need to be concerned that we are rapidly reaching […]
A sustainable T.R.E.E. grows in Aspen, where children learn about real food. As a child, Israeli-born Eden Vardy wanted to know where his food came from. And since he grew up in Aspen, Colorado, his food generally came from a supermarket and was probably transported from far away. As he grew older and learned more […]
October offers a variety of short-season delicacies. Look for olives, dates, and beans. Each month brings forward new fruit or vegetables to charm the eye and palate, while the previous month’s stars fade away. October’s specialties are plentiful, and good for locovores looking to make good on the harvest. Read below for the best of […]
Miriam suggests dishes to suit meals before and after the Big Fast of Yom Kippur. This coming Friday night a Jewish Shabbat and Yom Kippur holiday occur together. While I look forward to a day of prayer and meditation, a day offline and a day of cleaner air, I confess I don’t relish the thought of […]
These big, savory meatballs satisfy big hungers. Certain dishes are considered working-man’s lunches in the Middle East. They’re foods you find in small shuk restaurants or roadside eateries. Eggy shakshoukah (recipe here), mulukhiyah soup (recipe here), the classic lentil/rice combination, majadra. The favored meat in the Middle East is lamb and it’s most often prepared […]
