| I always think of Israeli food as being typical
Mediterranean dishes or Middle Eastern food.
How about falafel? Not too difficult to make from a mix,
goes well with salad, pita, and french fries, pretty
high in protein.
If you want to get more elaborate, you can make
skewered lamb or turkey, barbecued.
Personally I like humus or eggplant dishes, but I
suspect they would have limited appeal in the 8-10 year
old crowd.
Regards,
Arthur
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| 1. Falafel - fried balls made of ground chickpeas, tahini (sesame
paste), and seasonings.
Many of the larger US supermarkets carry mixes for falafel in the
import or Jewish food section. If they have the ability to heat food,
you could fry a batch of falafel balls and send them on a plate. Send
a plate of sliced pita bread to go with the falafel balls. I would
garnish the balls with chopped parsley and lemon slices. They are
usually made into a sandwich with tahini based dressing and salad, but
that's too messy for your needs.
2. Sesame dip and pita bread. I rather doubt the kiddos would go for
this, but its a possibility. You can buy Israeli mix and spread the
dip out on a plate. Drizzle olive oil on top, sprinkle with paprika,
and garnish with chopped parsley, black olives, and sliced lemon.
Provide a plate of sliced pita to scoop it up.
3. A safe bet is a chopped vegetable salad. Chop and mix together
ripe tomatos, cucumber, green onion, maybe some other vegs. Apply a
light vinaigrette dressing.
4. Yogurt is very popular in Israel. You could mix a batch of
fruit-flavored yogurt. The kiddos supposedly love that. The COOKS
notes file has a string with instructions for making your own fruit
flavorings. I don't know if fruit-flavored yogurt is common in Israel,
but the plain variety would not sell to your junior crowd.
5. Sephardic cheese turnovers are more work, but quite delicious.
Buy a frozen package of filo - the thin leaves of dough used to make
Greek spinach pie. Defrost according to package instructions and make
small triangular turnovers. The filling includes feta cheese, egg, and
cottage cheese. Brush them with butter and bake according to
instructions. They should be served warm if possible, otherwise at
room temperature.
6. Fresh fruit is a common dessert. You could make a fruit salad with
the fruits that are grown in Israel such as grapefruit and oranges.
Laura
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Shnitzel, which is a form of fried chicken without the bones is an
Israeli favorite as well.
...and Tahini (sesame sause described in previous response) is after
all made of Sesame Butter (with water and spices)..
A lot of Israeli mixes unfortunately have MSG in them...and its
almost as easy to grind a can of cooked chick peas, adding a
handfull of flour to keep it together, and spice it with Cumin,
Corriander, cardomin, and perhaps parsely and a bit of louisianna
hot sause...oh garlic powder (granualated), and deep frying...
Ashkenazi Jewish food is also eaten in Israel i.e. Mozza ball
chicken soup, Lotkas, etc. My grandmother who had such a retaurant
in Haifa used to make the best Turkey hamburgers one can imagine .
Hint: Garlic makes all food (except maybe tuna salad) taste good.
Daniella
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| I've never had any luck making felafel from the chickpeas - either it
comes out too gooey or else it is too crumbly and does not hold
together - so I buy the "Near Eastern" mix. I don't know about MSG,
but it is otherwise real tasty, and the texture is just right every
time. Aqt my house, we are very fond of chickpeas.
What I recall about food when I was in Israel was (apart from felafel
and various Arabic-type pastries) salads and fish and cheese, every day
for lunch and usually also for breakfast.
/Charlotte
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