Israeli cuisine

Israeli cuisine is a very diverse cuisine consisting of local dishes as well as foods brought to Israel by immigrants from around the world. Some elements of Arab cuisine such as falafel and hummus have become synonymous with Israeli cuisine. The question of whether there is a distinctive Israeli cuisine has thus been a source of debate.

One of the few foods considered to be a unique culinary contribution is ptitim, which is sometimes referred to by chefs as "Israeli couscous." Another is a peanut-flavored snack food known as Bamba.

Israeli-Mizrahi cuisine

Couscous

Israeli-Mizrahi cuisine features grilled meats, puff pastries (sweet and savory), rice dishes, stuffed vegetables, pita breads and salads. There are many similarities to Arab cuisine.

• Salads - A wide variety of salads, or meze, is often set out on the table before the main course. Hummus, tahini (known in Israel as techina), matbucha red pepper salad, Moroccan carrot salad, a finely diced tomato and cucumber salad (known by non-natives as Israeli salad and by Israelis as salat aravi, or Arab salad), coleslaw and various eggplant salads are common. A liver-flavored egglplant salad invented during the Austerity period is still a popular dish.
• Spicy dips - Skhug brought to Israel by Yemenite Jews, Harissa brought by Tunisian and North African Jews, and Pilpelchuma brought by Libyan Jews, are different hot sauces made from chili peppers and garlic.
• Amba - Indian and Iraqi Jews introduced amba, a pickled mango sauce that is spooned over shwarma and felafel.
• Labneh - A soft white cheese with a slightly sour taste derived from the Arab kitchen.
• Pita - Sometimes called the national bread of Israel, pita is a soft, round bread that can be halved and stuffed with felafel, salads or various meats. Bits of pita can be torn off and used to scoop up creamy spreads like hummus or eggplant salad. Schnitzel, or steak in pita are said to be an Israeli invention. Lafa is a flat pita that is rolled up with a felafel or shwarma filling.
• Shakshouka - A spicy egg and tomato dish from North Africa.
• Fried snacks such as felafel, kubbeh, Moroccan cigars and pastelim (spicy fried pastries) hail from various Middle Eastern countries.
• Soups Bean soup and lentil soup are Mizrahi favorites.
• Pastries - Bourekas brought to Israel by Jews from Turkey and the Balkans are very popular. Malawach and the Jachnun were introduced by the Yemenite Jews.
• Sandwiches - Sabich is an Iraqi pita sandwich stuffed with eggplant, hard boiled eggs and techina. Fricassee is a fried roll stuffed with tuna, cooked potatoes and matbucha brought from Tunisia.
• Grilled meat - Kebab and shashlik are popular, as is Jerusalem mixed grill.
• Shwarma came to Israel from Turkey and the Ottoman Empire. Traditionally it was made from lamb but in Israel turkey is more common.
• Fish - Fried, grilled and baked fish is often served whole, with the head intact. Hraime (חריימה), fish baked in hot pepper sauce, is served in many Mizrahi households in honor of Shabbat.

Falafel balls

• Hummus, chips and salad - The most common accompaniments to food served in a pita. The addition of french fries seems to be exclusive to Israel.
• Mujadara - A popular rice and lentil dish derived from Arab and Lebanese cuisine (known in Israel as "mejadra")
• Desserts - Baklava is a sweet Turkish pastry often served as dessert, along with small cups of Turkish coffee, in Middle Eastern restaurants.
• Halva - This Turkish sweet, made from techina and sugar, is popular in Israel and used to make original desserts like halva parfait.
• Black Coffee - Sometimes served with Cardamom.

Ethnic foods

Schnizel

Many ethnic dishes have been incorporated in Israeli cuisine.

• East European dishes include chicken soup, schnitzel and chopped liver, Gefilte fish and Kugel. "Jerusalem Kugel" made with caramelized sugar and spiced with black pepper is a speciality of Ashkenazi Jews in Jerusalem. The first Israeli patisseries were opened by Ashkenazi Jews, who popularized cakes and pastries popular in central Europe, such as Sabrina and strudel. Holiday pastries in Israel are the Sufganiya, eaten on Hanukkah and the Hamantash, eaten on Purim.
• North African dishes popular in Israel include couscous, mafrum, shakshouka, Matbucha, Moroccan carrot salad and Chraime.
• Balkan foods incorporated in Israeli cuisine are bourekas, yoghurt and taramosalata.
• Yemenite foods are jachnun, malawach, skhug and kubane.
• Iraqi dishes include amba, variouis types of Kubbeh, Sambusac, sabich and pickled vegetables.

Chamin

Chamin is a traditional Sabbath dish prepared by Jews all over the world in countless variations. The basic ingredients are meat and beans or rice simmered overnight on a hotplate or placed in a slow oven before lighting the candles on Friday night.

• Cholent - East European Shabbat stew usually containing chunks of meat, potatoes, onions, barley and beans.
• Schina - Chamin of the Morocco Jews.
• Tebit - Chamin of chicken and rice of the Iraqi Jews.

Israeli cuisine on Passover

The laws of the holiday of Passover add further dietary restrictions. Restaurants in Israel have come up with creative alternatives using potato starch and other non-standard ingredients to create pasta, hamburger buns, pizza, and other fast foods in kosher-for-Passover versions.

Krembo marshmallow treats

Israeli snack foods

"Krembo" (Hebrew: קרמבו) is very popular in Israel, especially in the winter as an alternative to ice-cream. It comes wrapped in colorful aluminum foil, and consists of a round biscuit base covered with a dollop of marshmallow cream coated in chocolate.

See also

• Jewish cuisine
• Cuisine of the Sephardic Jews