INSIDE:
Robinson Scholar
Is Announced

86

The Bar, Speeddating
And Softball

87

Doctors Win Local,
National Honors . . . . 88

ISRAELI FLAVORS

paragus with tahini
yogurt dressing.

0

Some simple, special tastes of the Middle East.

7

ANNABEL COHEN -
Special to the Jewish News

here's Jewish food and
there's Israeli food.
Jewish food is the food
of our heritage, foods rich
in our own families' traditions. They
can consist of dishes made special
because of religious ritual ingredients,
such as matzah, challah, haroset.
Jewish foods are also the fare that
has come to symbolize a culture —
blintzes, bagels, latkes. These are the
foods even non-Jews associate with

,

modern American Jewry.
Israeli food is the food of Israel.
These are foods native to the geogra-
phy of the land. Dishes made with cit-
rus, olives, nuts. The-reality of this
type of food is that if borders meant
nothing, one would be hard pressed to
distinguish between the food of
Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and others. The
few distinguishing factors are often the
result of a land's terrain and proximity
to a body of water. Coastal cities his-
torically have had access to more vari-
eties of fish than those in interior
areas. In grassy areas, meat has been

more popular than fish.
But, for the entire last century Jews
made aliyah to an ancient homeland.
Culinarily, that means that many of
those who changed countries brought
their most recent food traditions as
well.
Polish, Russian, Persian, French,
American and other food tastes all
became a part of this new Israeli
lifestyle. A fusion of flavors resulted.
It seems there's everything in Israel
now — Chinese food, hamburgers,
pizza, sushi, fusion cooking.
When American Jews visited Israel

20, 30, 40 years ago, the food seemed
very different from the food of the
United States. The Middle Eastern
and Mediterranean flavors were exotic.
The combinations of olives with fish
and chicken cooked with unusual
grains and dried fruits were delicious,
but didn't remind Jews of European
descent of the foods they grew up
with.
Now that Israel is 53, American
Jews embrace the flavors associated
with ancient Israel's arid and coastal
environment.
The tart lemon paired with parsley din

5/25
2001

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