Luscious fresh figs still linger in our summer markets. Enjoy these simple ways of eating them while they last. Figs are fruit so evocative of summer that just looking at a picture of them brings back vacation time – or just a summertime kitchen with the sun streaming through the window. Figs, with their mildly honeyed […]
Tunisian flavors come together deliciously in a salad of charred, chopped vegetables.
With a solar cooker, you can set a pot down outside and come back later to find lunch ready. We’ve only just begun harnessing the non-stop, 800 trillion-watt light bulbs’ worth of energy that sweeps our planet. The move towards solar energy is growing. In large areas of China, India, Africa, North America and the […]
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 […]
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 […]
Homey, comforting and light, these crepes of 1000 holes make a delicious start to a Ramadan iftar (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 […]
This refreshing soup fits the menu perfectly when temperatures soar and you want a diet without meat: A quick historical note is in place here. The Jewish month of Av begins on a dark note. The preceding three weeks in Tammuz see a slowdown of joyful activities, as Jews remember the breach of Jerusalem’s defences […]
Rich spices and heavy wintertime comfort food: this is what often springs to mind when people think of recipes from the Middle East and North Africa. But with temperatures in parts of the region rising to 50 degrees Celsius in the shade, who wants to eat rich dishes that end in a food coma? Not […]
Hamutal goes strawberry picking and shows us how to can our jam like a locavore
What’s vegewarian? It means reducing the amount of meat you eat every week, celebrating delicious food and sustainability with vegetable-based dishes. This week we bring you Ruz Bukhari, a traditional and well-loved Arabic dish. Pilgrims from Uzbekistan brought Ruz Bukhari with them long ago, as they traveled to Mecca and Medina. We’re sure they traveled […]
This olive oil and lemon-based potato salad brings bright flavors to your mezze. Traditional mezze appetizers tend to based on vegetables. In our hot, dry climate, it makes sense to put many small dishes of piquant salads on the table at the start of a meal. You can count on them to waken a languishing […]
Enjoy a delicious dairy dessert on Shavuot (but don’t count the calories). Shavuot, the Jewish festival that celebrates receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai, has always been associated with having a dairy meal. The origins of the custom go back to antiquity, and there are several explanations for it. Some hold that milk symbolizes the […]
Herbel is a wheat soup that dish reminds Moroccans of breakfasts during Aid El Fitr and Eid El Adha. A recipe that has probably crossed the centuries.
Celebrate springtime in the Middle East with these aromatic stuffed artichokes. Fresh artichokes are all over Middle Eastern markets now. Lovers of the edible thistle enjoy scraping the steamed, seasoned leaves with their teeth and never mind getting melted butter or vinaigrette all over their fingers. But there are many refined ways of filling artichokes, […]