Travel: Puerto Rico's Jewish
History, Female Rabbi

'This Week's focus:

Food

•

Israelis seek. out
local stores With
Israeli products.

Israelis find ways
to satisf y
their cravings
for their
native cuisine,

AMY MINDELL
Special to The Jewish News

or transplanted Israelis, authentic Mid-
dle Eastern food can be as provocative
as a Proustian madeleine.
Many pine for elusive Israeli fare like
fresh Mediterranean seafood, real Yemenite fid (a
sort of chickpea stew), exotic fruits, meat cooked
on a mangal (wood-fueled BBQ).
While some Israeli treats can be found around
town, anyone who has lived in Israel, or even vis-
ited, knows that Israeli culinary habits are not
always easy to replicate in the United States.
Like salad for breakfast. Israelis thrive on their
traditional wake-up meal, while Americans

abroad can find it a challenge to choke down
tomatoes and cucumbers at eight o'clock in the
morning.
Or the traditional Israeli midmorning snack of
lachmania, a long, fresh roll stuffed with a variety
of fillings. One popular option is the omelet lach-
mania, often as not served cold. Thick slabs of
salty "Bulgarian" cheese is another popular filling.
Then there's the coffee. While the bottomless
coffee cup has not caught on in Israeli cafes, no
self-respecting Israeli would go a day without toss-
ing back several mugs of nes, the ubiquitous
instant coffee. And for leisure time, many Israelis
favor Turkish coffee, finely ground, laced with
cardamom and loaded with sugar that is meant to
be boiled in a finjan, or small pot. Taster's Choice