Rundown of some of this week's food articles

Wow, it seems like food has been in the news a ton recently. There are a lot of great articles to talk about, in fact too many to go into in an in depth manner on one blog post. So, here's a summary of what I find to be some very interesting articles.

First, tonight is the airing of what should be a great documentary on the legendary Tel Aviv cafe, Cafe Cassit. While no longer in business, the Dizengoff St. cafe was a unique place where one could find govt. politicians, intellectuals, tv stars, singers, and the average joe all mingling and exchanging ideas in one place. Cafe Cassit has had no equal in this regard since its closing and there may never be as well.

An interesting argument from the NY Times Freakonomics blog about the effects of organic farming on carbon dioxide emissions and the environment in general. You'll be very surprised to see what scientists say about these farming practices.

In another farming related article, this one decidedly more Israel focused, the LA Times talks about designer food seeds. One Israeli company in particular, Hazera (meaning "the seed" in Hebrew), is one of the world's leaders in genetically engineered tomatoes and other kinds of vegetables. Hazera has tomato varieties with higher sugar contents, all sorts of colors, you name it. Israel is well known for its agro-technologies and Hazera is one of the industry leaders in the field of seed development.

Finally, a few events this week have lead to a renewed discussion about the humaneness of kosher slaughter. New Zealand became the fourth country in the world this week to outlaw kosher slaughter as they require cattle to be stunned before being killed, a practice not  allowed in the kosher slaughter rituals. Many people are up in arms, claiming there is religious discrimination in this law. However, many people are not (myself included). One other such person is Jonathan Safran Foer, a well known advocate for vegetarianism. With his latest book being set to be introduced in Israel this week he wrote an article for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz about the New Zealand kosher slaughter issue and the ethical issues regarding killing and eating animals in general.

I hope you all find the article as interesting as I do, and feel free to let me know what you think about any or all of them. Its also getting really hot in Tel Aviv. Painful Tel Aviv Summer Hot! So...I'm going to have to start making some dishes to cool off. The first things that come to mind are refreshing cocktails (mojitos and caipirinhas) and cold soups and salads. No meat for sure, and I'm sure Jonathan Safran Foer would be happy about that. I'll post some good summer recipes to help deal with the Tel Aviv heat shortly.

Rundown of some of this week's food articles

A Damn Good Sandwich

I hope everyone has a nice Shabbat dinner this week. Tonight Jodie and I had a heck of a good sandwich, and here's how we made it with some pictures.

Ingredients:
Challah roll
Red Onion
Avocado
Tomato
Rocket leaves
Parsley
Cilantro
Egg
Mayo - Hellmann's
Goat's Manchego Cheese
Lemon
Olive Oil
Salt Pepper

Instructions:
1. Slice the tomato and avocado
2. Carmelize the onion
3. Mix the rocket leaves with the parsley and cilantro. Drizzle with lemon juice, olive oil. Salt and pepper.
4. Fry the egg!
5. Toast the challah roll and spread some good mayo on each side. Layer with the avocado, tomato, onion, slices of  cheese, green's mixture and fried egg.
6. Enjoy a great sandwich!

Unfortunately, its all gone. Cool place mats made out of banana bark from Uganda though. 

Savor Israel

A Damn Good Sandwich

Everything Sabich

Sabich is one of the more popular streetfoods you can find in Israel, and it can be argued it's more "Israeli" than falafel or schwarma because its more unique to Israel than the latter. Sabich consists of fried eggplant, hardboiled egg, tomato, cucumber, hummus, tehina, and various spicy sauces. One of the spicy sauces (amba) is made from mango, cumin, turmeric, and a variety of other ingredients. While it may be used in other dishes, I have only seen it offered alongside Sabich. One thing I appreciate about sabich is that while the dish is vegetarian it is extremely filling, one of the strong points of falafel as well. You can order a sabich and have no remorse that you didn't opt for a schwarma instead.

Iraqi Jews are those credited with bringing sabich to the mainstream, as they would traditionally eat fried eggplant on Saturday morning. The etymological roots of sabich may come from this practice, as "sabah" means morning in Arabic. Others will argue that the name is actually an acronym of the foods that make up Sabich, and I'm sure there are multiple other explanations as well.

Throughout the country you can find many excellent sabich establishments, but in the Tel Aviv area there are four that I frequent. The most famous sabich in the city, and probably the country is Oved, actually located just east of Tel Aviv on Sirkin st. in Givatayim. Famous for its colorful creation of words specific to the process of ordering sabich, there are long lines pretty much any hour the place is open. For example, if you want to have a spicy red sauce all you have to do is say Hapoel, the name of one of the Tel Aviv's soccer team whose color is red. If you want the spicy mango sauce (amba) say Macabbi, the other Tel Aviv team whose color is yellow. Oved is a required experience for any Sabich lover or anyone interested in Israeli food in general, but its not the only option.

In the center of Tel Aviv there are three excellent places to get Sabich. Long lines are also prevalent at Sabich Frishman, at the corner of Frishman and Dizengoff St. Located in about a small of a location as possible, they always serve an excellent portion of Sabich. Right next door is Falafel Frishman, and while they offer good falafel, the much longer lines for sabich tell you which one people think is better. Just a few minutes away is Falafel Gabai on Bograshov street. The staff is extremely friendly and their variety of salads is very appealing and fairly unique. Gabai offers excellent falafel, soups, shakshouka, and other dishes, but I always go for their sabich. Finally, Hakosem, on the corner of Shlomo Hamelech and King George street offers another excellent sabich. Their staff is also very friendly, and when lines are long they are sure to pass you a ball of falafel to keep you satisfied while waiting. The food is great, and their very brightly colored chairs will cheer up anyone's day.

So next time your in line for falafel or schwarma, think about ordering a Sabich instead.

Everything Sabich