ruler to sign a peace treaty with Israel, told BBC television that he was becoming "a little impa- tient and a little concerned" with the pace of the peace process. Jordan's prime minister, Ab- del Karim Kabariti, was more ex- plicit. "We wanted so much to believe in Netanyahu," he lamented to the Tel Aviv daily Ma'ariv. "We gave him the ben- efit of the doubt. But as time ri passes, we are very frustrated. You hear positive things from Mr. Netanyahu, but on the ground the results are negative. "When we met him before the elections, he was adamant that only the Likud could attain peace. So we thought he had everything planned in his head, that he had a well-formulated strategy. But now we are asking ourselves whether he has any strategy at all." And in Cairo, President Mu- barak has been even cooler, re- fusing to meet Mr. Netanyahu, pointedly telling Israeli ques- tioners that he cannot force Egyptian businessmen to trade with the Jewish state, with which a peace treaty was signed 17 years ago, or to order the Egypt- ian media to stop being nasty to its leaders. ❑ 4 Seasons Fireplace Barbecue after CHANUKA SALE PETERSON WOODLAND OAK GOLDEN OAK $97999 REF. $385. $0 999 REF. $420$33 99 iEr m.• W024" WO -20" 10 INCLUDES: logs, burner, pan, embers cinders, grate, & SAFETY PILOT CONTROL ALL SIZES & STYLES OF GAS LOGS ON SALE MI; FIREPLACE TOOLS SETS & LOG BASKETS •ALL AN EXTRA 20% OFF WITH THIS AD ~ i The Sufgania Wars 11 III Traditional Chanukah jelly doughnuts are threatened by competition. LARRY DERFNER ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT N rj o matter how sophisticated Israel gets, no matter how many exotic types of cuisine Israelis have become fa- miliar with, during Chanukah they dutifully eat sufganiot — per- haps the least exotic, least so- phisticated food there is. The sufgania, or jelly donut, is as ubiquitous over Chanukah in Israel as matzah is during Passover. Sufganiot, the plural, have no religious significance, but virtually all Israelis — secular and religious — eat the things, just as virtually all Israelis light candles every night of the holiday. They are part of the country's civil reli- gion. And sufganiot are not steeped in tradition. In fact, they became the rage just before the late-1980s, an era when the country was ba- sically a backwater for consumers. So what is a sufgania? It's soft, sweet, greasy and crude —just a blob of deep-fried dough, glazed and covered with powdered sug- ar, with a clot of jam — straw- berry being the classic flavor — squirted into the middle. They start arriving in corner grocery stores a couple of weeks before Chanukah. And to be honest, an Israeli sufgania needs to be on the stale side. As part of the holiday ritual, the prime minister will almost certainly be filmed for the televi- sion news eating a sufgania; it comes with the job. ATV crew will visit a bakery and show the suf- ganiot floating in oil, then being injected with jam, and the re- porter will sign off by biting one. Hotel chefs will compete in a suf- gania bake-off. The variety of sufganiot has widened a bit over the years; to- day some bakeries sell them with a few different flavored fillings and toppings. They usually cost around a dollar — being grossly overpriced, they are all the more Israeli. Ya'acov Weiss, working in the Soya bakery on King George Street — the city's bakery row — since his father opened it in 1965, said the sufgania tradition was brought to Israel from eastern Eu- rope. "Sure I like them," he said. `They're sweet, and they fill you up." However, there is a new threat to the sufgania. Ifs called Dunkin' Donuts. The American franchise opened branches in Tel Aviv and Ra'anana a few months ago. In line at the Tel Aviv shop, Ronald Elitzur, 27, said he doesn't like the taste of sufganiot, but eats them anyway at Chanukah. "It's a tradition," he said. "You can appreciate the taste of a suf- gania more if you're eating it while Will the modern Dunkin' Donuts usurp the semi- modern Chanukah sufganiyot? you're lighting the menorah. The sufgania is for eight days a year. The rest of the year, I'll take Dunkin' Donuts." Mordy Schlesinger, manager of the branch, says Dunkin' Donuts and sufganiot can coexist commercially during Chanukah. "People will eat them both," he said, adding that while he much prefers his own product, he, too, eats sufganiot for the sake of tra- dition "But," he adds, "I buy them only at a couple of places where I know they make them fresh every day. I want to suffer as lit- tle as possible." ❑ RAINBOW FIREPLACE DOOR FOR YOUR NEW FIREPLACE BRING IN MODEL # OF UNIT & BRAND- MAJESTIC, SUPERIOR, & MORE 36"FRoms24646 42"FRoms28046 4 Seasons Fireplace & Barbecue (810)855-0303 installation available . 30903 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD (in THE PLAZA between 13 & 14 Mile by TJ Maxx &THE GAP) HOURS: Monday-Thursday 10 am-9 pm Friday 10 am-4:00 pm SATURDAY EVENING 7pm -9pm SUNDAY 10AM - 6PM CASUAL FURNISHINGS OUTDOOR & INDOOR FURNITURE & ACCESSORIES 6465 Dixie Hwy., Clarkston • 625-3322 • SALE ENDS 12-19-96 Additions Kitchens • Bathrooms Remodeling PREFERRED BUILDING CO. 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