There are two good reasons for cooking with turmeric. The first one is that the spice’s attractive yellow color and pungent flavor satisfy the sense of having eaten real food. The second, as folk wisdom has always known, is that it’s good for you. Our previous post on turmeric vs. arthritis offers a wide view […]
In Israel and well all over the western east, avocado season has arrived. Plump, green avocados are grown from the north of Israel down to Jaffa in the center, all the way to agricultural communities in the southern Negev, such as Neot Semadar.
As earthy as tahini is (or as we say in the Middle East, techinah) the semi-solid paste brightens up with lemon, garlic, herbs and spices. It's great as a dip, but here are some new and surprising ways to eat tehini.
33 exotic Moroccan recipes from the women who make and cook with argan oil. The argan tree is a Berber identity icon, and production of its oil is traditionally a woman’s job. But as with many folkways, interest in argan began to dwindle. It’s a finicky process with low yield. Unless marketed wisely, it’s hardly […]
Author of the hugely popular cookbook Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi teamed up with co-chef Sami Tamimi to produce a cookbook that will dazzle, inspire, and satisfy your senses. Both men were born the same year in Jerusalem; Ottolenghi in the western Jewish side and Tamimi in Arab east Jerusalem. They never met until they were in […]
Old beers, new drinks. Fired by the taste of heritage beers, Lost Tribes Brew founders have developed beers and wines that resurrect traditional brews, which they claim identify some of Israel’s ten lost tribes. Five childhood friends from New York – Itzkowitz, Allan Farago, Ari Smith, Andrew Septimus and Rabbi Harry Rozenberg – flew to […]
Dates and goat’s cheese, a classic Middle Eastern combination that works as an appetizer, nosh, or dessert. Stately date palms grace many streets in the Middle East, giving the landscape an unforgettable silhouette. In Israel, municipalities prune their date palms and give out the big, rustling leaves gratis to those who like to roof their […]
From vegetarian recipes to cutting out plastic, Arwa puts together a Green Iftar Guide to make your Ramadan a little more eco-friendly Ramadan is a time of reflection, spiritual re-focus and self-improvement. It’s a time to look back on the person you are, the way you live your life and to think about bad habits […]
Making your raw, home-grown eggs safe for mayonnaise is easy. If you raise your own chickens and have plenty of healthy eggs, like chickens our editor Karin raises, there’s little to fear from salmonella. But for those of us bringing eggs home from the supermarket, that fear may creep into the fun of cooking. True, chances […]
Ever wonder what to do with eggplants? Read on for some Middle Eastern eggplant ideas. At the start of the month, markets didn’t have much new. Everything in February’s post still applied. Newcomers like strawberries were still expensive and not sweet yet. Now, seasonal produce is on the upward swing towards summer’s abundance and those […]
Cook stinging nettles and wild mallows that you forage.
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 […]
In spite of some climate differences, most Middle Eastern countries raise the same crops. Don’t think that it means little choice, though. The huge variety of local fresh fruit and vegetables here, and their bright flavors, astound Westerners who have forgotten how a tomato or a green bean should taste. Real superfoods (see our article […]
Chefs without borders: now anyone can cook for the crowds. What if we told you that there is a way, if you’re as industrious as the Dutch founders of a website called Tweetjemee, to buy meals from your neighbors? Frankly, if such a service existed I’d harass Miriam every day for her spinach and mushroom […]
The 8-day Jewish holiday of Hanukah starts tonight. Is there a connect with climate change?