Israel is an exotic country. It is unusual and unconventional in most aspects. At the same time, Israel is perfectly logical and ordered on its own. This applies to everything - culture, traditions, customs and even the kitchen.
Israel is a Mediterranean nation. Founded in an area surrounded only by Arab peoples, its citizens are mostly Jews, that came mainly from Europe, but also others that came from neighboring Arab nations. There are even black Jews from Ethiopia, as well as 20% Arabs. Due to this melting pot, it is quite unsuitable to use the term "Israeli cuisine". Here you will find the cuisine of the entire world in one spot.
The main requirement for Israeli food is for it to be "kosher". This means not to mix dairy and meat products. And if you want to make a sandwich with meat, one of the most delightful spices other than vegetables, is hummus. Hummus in general is added to almost all dishes in the country.
Hummus
Ingredients: 2/3 cup of dried chickpeas or 1 1/5 cups of canned chickpeas, 2 tablespoons of sesame tahini, the juice of half a lemon, 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt.
Preparation: Mix the ingredients well and the sauce is ready for use. Black pepper, paprika, garlic, cayenne pepper can also be added to it.
One of the most popular Israeli specialties for eating on the go are falafel and shawarma. Falafel is a doughy pocket, stuffed with chickpea meatballs and salad, while shawarma is roasted meat and hummus, wrapped in a flat pita.
One of the major specialties in Israeli cuisine is pashtida. It is similar to French quiche.
Pashtida
Ingredients:
For the dough: 1 cup of flour, 1/2 a packet of baking powder, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of yoghurt, 2/5 cup of melted margarine.
For the stuffing: 7 oz of mushrooms (canned), 1 onion head, 1 packet of cream cheese, 2 eggs.
Preparation: Knead a dough from the eggs, yoghurt, margarine and flour with baking powder. Fry the onion head along with the mushrooms, then leave them to cool. Once this happens, add 2 eggs and the cream cheese. Place the dough in a greased tray and place the stuffing in the middle. Bake in a moderate oven.
For those of you that are fans of sweets, the Israelis have a confectionary specialty as well.
Rugelach
Ingredients: 2 cups of flour type 500, 1 pinch of salt, 1 cup of cow butter, 8 oz of cream cheese, 1/5 cup of sour cream, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of powdered cinnamon, 1 cup of ground walnuts, 1 cup of raisins.
Preparation: Cut the butter into small pieces. Beat the flour, salt, butter, cream cheese and sour cream together. Distribute the mixture into 4 equal parts. Cover them with foil and cool for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, walnuts and raisins.
Roll out each part of dough flat, while leaving the others in the refrigerator until it is their turn. Sprinkle with sugar and nuts on top. Press the dough gently. Using a pizza knife or other sharp knife, cut each circle into 12 pieces.
Roll up each one like a croissant and bake in a preheated oven until ready. Do this with each dough piece. Once ready, the rugelach is left to cool on a cooking grid.
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