The bluest blue-A little break in the Island of Crete

View of Mirabello Bay

The heat is on. Israeli summer this year went overboard. The sun is scorching and temperature rises as everything here seems to come to a boiling point. It is never easy nor peaceful in this corner of the world so a heat wave doesn't have any cooling effect.  This year's family vacation was in perfect timing. We all needed to get away for a little while and cool off. We spent 5 days in the lovely Greek island of Crete.  It is a short flight from here and yet feels like a different world. Although it's the same Mediterranean Sea we have at home, in Crete the views are different. 

The Island of Spinalonga

The Aegean Sea comes in shades of deep blue and turquoise and the water is crystal clear. Only the tiniest part of the Israeli coast line looks like this and it is under constant threat of disappearing under hotels built by greedy contractors. 

Tiny European cars

After a couple of days of just lazing by the poolside we hired a car and went to explore the island. Driving a ridiculously small automobile we went to lovely places like the Mirabello Bay ("the beautiful bay" really deserves its name), there we settled for a few hours in the picturesque village Plaka and ate a wonderful fish dinner.

Great food in Plaka

We took the boat to the former leper's colony Spinalonga which is now a huge tourist attraction. We went to see the remains of the amazing ancient Minoan Culture at The Palace of Malia. We even went to the beach, the sea was calm, clean sand and no jellyfish were lurking in the crystalline water. Perfect.

Although we had a wonderful time the effects of the economic calamity in Greece couldn't be ignored. Many places were closed for business even in the height of the season.  It was sad. I hope things will improve for the Greeks.

We spent 5 short days on Crete, a very short time that left us with a lot to see next time. 

Eating Sambusak at the edge of the world.

I've missed my blog. It has been a month since I last wrote here. All sorts of things happened in this month most of them not so good but I'm trying to make some sort of lemonade of the lemons handed to me. The life lesson I learned once more is that good health is everything. If you and your loved ones are healthy than all else is manageable. I've been to the far ends of Earth this past month and I'll share some of my impressions with you in my upcoming posts.

Sunday is market day in Nelson, New-Zealand, just behind the town's main road, in the parking lots. I wasn't in Nelson on a holiday, far from it. Not very pleasant circumstances led me to this part of the world but on that Sunday I allowed myself to relax a little and went exploring the town's market. It was beautiful and sunny, after a streak of  cloudy wet days, (the locals said it was a very unusual summer, too chilly and wet). The market was a collection of stalls: some selling fresh produce, some selling food and there were many garage sales that sold anything under the sun for example a used pair of pink bicycles only 25 NZ$. I endeavored tasting ethnic local food and bought a loaf of Maori bread. The bread resembles a doughnut as it is deep fried. I liked it very much, reminded me of the Tunisian fricassee that I usually eat in Ramle Shuk. 

Maori bread

As I munched on my steaming loaf I suddenly noticed a food stall with a name that rang familiar: "Melamed", not a common name in NZ. I approached the stall and happily noticed it sells all the foods I like best: Middle-Eastern delicacies like pitta with za'atar and sambusak (filled savory pastry). Since I was far from home missing it terribly it was both surprising and comforting meeting a fellow country woman that managed the food stand. We chatted a bit in Hebrew. Of course we bought za'ater pitta very happily. It was a bit of home after a week without any decent hummus or tahini salad.
It never cease to amaze me how one finds Israelis everywhere in the world. Even in the town of Nelson, NZ.

I've recently read a fellow blogger very different experience in NZ, check out "Eat like a girl" impressions.

Sambusack made in New-Zealand

A family heirloom

Have you met Señor Del Mundo?

If you speak Spanish or Ladino you might be appalled by this question that actually asks if you met your maker or in Hebrew "Adon Olam" aka God.  For years I heard my grandmother speak about this guy on many occurrences. I thought he was a friend of hers from abroad called Mister Delmundo. My Ladino improved as I grew up and I believe only when I got to school I finally realized who the mysterious Señor was.  I still think he's my grandmother's pal.

My mother's mother was born on board of a ship sailing the Black Sea from Istanbul (than Constantinople) to Constanta in Romania. She was born to a Sephardic family that according to household myths were direct descendants of Jews deported from Spain.  She married an Ashkenazi from The Ukraine but never abandoned her Sephardic heritage and especially the food. She had a fascinating life story: born in the era of The Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires and living to see the fall of Communism, tiny cell phones and emails. I didn't know all this about as a child, I only knew her as my "safta". She lived with us and helped in my upbringing. She was a very important figure in my life and a major impact on my nutrition. In short, she spoiled me. She had her clever way to feed me stuff that otherwise I would not touch. For example in order to make me eat spinach and cheese she would bake an Inchusa. I loved inchusa, never refused a slice. Throughout my childhood and rebellious adolescence inchusa was the taste of comfort. Now my mother makes inchusa from time to time reminding us of my grandmother that is still very present in our lives although she passed away 15 years ago.

I ate inchusa all my life but only recently I've discovered its origins. This was thanks to my acquaintance with Gil Marks and his Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. There I discovered that Inchusa is a traditional Sephardic tart containing a sweet or savory filling. The name originates from the Spanish enchusa, an herb from the borage family that was primarily used in the tart but later replaced with spinach. The custard was originally baked without a crust. To prevent it from sticking to the baking pan some flour was mixed with oil and the thick spinach and egg mixture gratin was spread over the top and baked.

The Sephardic culture and the Ladino language are slowly disappearing though there are efforts of preservation; the number of Ladino speakers is dropping steadily. I don't speak it to my kids though I grew up on it, my grandmother spoke very little Hebrew. Recently I've met two lovely ladies that have Turkish grandmothers and are trying to keep their legacy through food, and cooking. Liz and Ariella made me realize that making my kids inchusa or other Sephardic foods is a way of keeping my Sephardic legacy.

I baked inchusa for the first time last week and it was a great success. I made the gluten-free version (something my grandmother never heard of). My middle child got a school project. She has to bring something to class for "show and tell". It needs to be related to our family history and to combine something of Jewish history. My brother suggested I'll bring an inchusa, which is our true family heirloom.

Inchusa

1/2kg spinach leaves without stem and washed, chopped.

150gr Feta cheese

3 eggs

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons of flour (corn mill for the gluten-free version)

2 tablespoons grated cheese (either cachkaval or parmesan)

Salt and pepper.

Heat the oven to 180 centigrade.

Oil and flour a 22cm round tin or Pyrex

Mix all the ingredients till the mixture is unified. Pour to the tin and bake till a crust is formed.  

A study in scarlet or is beet photogenic?

Beet ravioli: gluten-free

Less than a year ago all I knew about photography was how to click the little silver button and have the subject more or less in the middle of the frame. Each time a term such as "closing aperture" or "shutter speed" was used in my vicinity my eyes would glaze. Thanks to my best friend the talented Sarah Melamed (Foodbridge) I now see the world as one big photo op.  My latest craze is food photography and so I drive the whole household insane because they're not allowed to eat before I take a picture. I'm now studying diligently Helene Dujardin's "plate to pixel" and practice food styling and lighting.

 I was thrilled when my DH decided to buy beets for cooking. Beets have such a gorgeous color therefore must be very photogenic. I needed to find something to do with them and to form something eatable I can photograph. Again it was the DH that came up with the idea: beet ravioli. We had that dish a long time ago when we had only two kids, in a very luxurious restaurant. We didn't have the recipe of course but we recruited our memory and creativity.

Not a new nebula but an almost transparent slice of beet 

We used very few ingredients: beet, hard goat cheese such as a tomme de chevre, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and of course salt and pepper. The trickiest part is cutting the beet in thin slices that will form the ravioli. We used a mandolin slicer that does a beautiful job and is safe to use. Safety is an important issue when using this device, there're models out there that the term guillotine slicer describes them better. I must confess that all the pretty slicing was done by the DH while I simply chopped the cheese and walnuts. We marinated the beet slices in lemon juice and olive oil for half an hour and then proceeded to form the ravioli. Between two slices of beet we've put a chunk of cheese and chopped walnuts, trying to make it look like a closed pocket.

DH hand modeling how to close the ravioli

On top of the raviolis we sprinkled a bit of kosher salt and balsamic vinegar. The fun part was styling the whole thing, it was rather amusing since not me nor is the DH professional, so improvisation was the key to the photo session. When I finished taking the pictures we just ate the lot. They turned out great.

salad

The rest of the beet was cut julienne style and tossed into a salad with the cheese leftovers, walnuts, chopped parsley, dill, olive oil and lemon juice. We served the salad to my parents at the Shabbath dinner, and they admitted it was the first time they had ever ate raw beet. My mom liked it but my dad diplomatically said he preferred to eat it as borscht.

crocuses blooming in the Judean Hills. 

Though winter is stalling and the days are still mostly sunny and clear, some flowers start to bloom after the long dry summer. We found not very far from where we live, in an archeological site dating to the days of King David, these carpets of crocuses. Sheer beauty. 

          

The fountain of beer

Some of the beer taps in Maayan Habira

It was a lovely day at the beginning of May and we planned a great touristy experience in the old city of Akko. It didn't happen. Somehow the whole day went haywire. The traffic was horrible and the prospects of getting to Akko in a reasonable hour went up in exhaust pipe smoke.  We changed our destination and drove to Haifa instead, the northern port city where my dear husband grew up. There were five of us: my DH, "The Three Musketeers"-his three old pals since junior high and me. It was a special occasion since our gang member currently living in Zurich came to visit the homeland. We found it was quite a challenge to be tourists in our own country, at my DH and pals hometown. Finding something new and exciting in the mundane and familiar is not easy.

The Bahai temple in Haifa

Dedicated to our attempt to have a touristic experience we went to the prettiest part of Haifa: The Bahai Temple and Gardens on the slopes of the Carmel Mountain. We all knew in our hearts that the important bit is the lunch that will follow, so we spent very little time among the groomed flower beds. It was clear to us all that we will have hummus for lunch at one of Haifa's famous establishments. But like any plan we made that day this too wasn't going to happen.

A view to the Bahai Gardens, Haifa

The day was getting hotter as Israeli spring usually turns and we were getting thirsty. My DH had a brilliant idea. Why won't we have a beer at the local tavern "Ma'ayan Habira" (The Beer Fountain)? We all agreed especially since we've never been there. Ma'ayan Habira is one of those mythological establishments that exist for decades. It is not a fashionable bar or some trendy restaurant. Strangely enough, though we've been to Haifa countless times I've never been to the place though my DH promised to take me there ever since we started dating.

The entrance to the restaurant

I was pretty shocked when I saw the restaurant's neighborhood. Downtown Haifa is not very aesthetic or eye pleasing. But once you enter the place the atmosphere transforms. "Just one beer and we'll be off to have hummus" we agreed. We sat at the table only to leave two hours later slightly tipsy but in a very good mood. We had to try at least 4 kinds from the 16 types of draft beer the place serves. Of course that all this drinking couldn't be endured on empty stomach, some of the local specialties had to be ordered. We ended up having Eastern European delicacies such as chopped liver, and warm kostitza (a type of smoked ham) alongside pints of Belgian and English beers. There was lots of beer therefore lots of laughter. The hummus was completely forgotten. We ended the feast with Bavarian Creme, a type of pudding that was extremely popular here in the Seventies. 

Some of the food we had: beer, bread (the basics of life), kostitza, chopped liver and Bavarian Creme. 

Ma'ayan Habira was established in 1950 by Nachum Meir (his portraits decorate the restaurant's' walls).

Nachum Meir's portrait.

At first it was a sausage factory. It became a restaurant in 1962 and since then serves and prepares the same type of food. The restaurant is run by Meir's children and grand-children. Their draft beers include among others Belgian ales like Leff (Blond or Brun), English Newcastle brown ale, wheat beers like Hoegaarden and the Israeli made Goldstar, Heineken, and many more.

The bill: served on pieces of cardboard and handwritten. 

The restaurant is a rare institution in Israel where few restaurants survive more than 5 years. The food is simple but tasty, the beer flows like from a bursting fountain so chances are that any visit to the place will leave you feeling happier than you got in.

Maayan Habira

4^th Nathanzon Street, Haifa

Open Sun-Thu 9:00-17:00, Tuesday open till 24:00.

  

Memories of maple

Maple trees and maple syrup from Canada

One of my favorite childhood books was Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods. I liked many books in the "Little House" series but the first book had a certain charm that made me read it so many times that at some point I knew whole bits and paragraphs by heart. For an Israeli kid growing up in the city under the harsh Mediterranean sun, the descriptions of endless woods and melting snow were utterly dreamlike. Above all I preferred the chapter "Sugar Snow" I think it still has a magical ring to it. In this episode little Laura's Grandpa and Pa are producing maple syrup.  

I loved the depiction of the way Grandpa hammers the wooden troughs into the trees and the sap flows and fills the buckets. I didn't even know what real maple syrup tasted like till I was a grown-up. In my childhood, maple syrup was artificially flavored simple sugar goo. I know people my age that think to this day that the fake syrup tastes better than the real thing, maybe because it was what they grew-up on. My kids, on the other hand when given the bogus maple, were outraged and claimed it to be disgusting. They've grown up on organic maple syrup imported from Vermont.

Last August in our voyage to Canada, it was clear to me I'll come back with lots of maple syrup. I knew I wouldn’t meet Grandpa as he drill into trees but I thought I might have a chance of seeing something similar to what I imagined so many years ago. When we stayed at the small island of Ile d'Orleans in Quebec I finally saw maple groves. I thought it was beautiful. These days the trees have plastic tubes where the sap pours. But a lot of the process is still as it was 150 years ago, as you can see in the following link:

When we got back home with something like 3 liters of maple syrup we immediately put them to good use.  For example in this salmon entrée, that was the star of our Rosh-Hashana meal.

   

Maple mustard grilled salmon

Ingredients:

4 salmon fillets about 170gr each

1/2 cup (125ml) maple syrup

1/2 cup good quality mustard

Salt and pepper.

Season the fillets with salt and pepper.

Whisk the maple and mustard together in a bowl. Place the salmon in the bowl and marinate for at least 2 hours or even over-night.

Pre-heat a heavy pan, preferably cast iron place the fillets in the pan and braise them 5 minutes on one side and a little less on the other.

Serve at once.

Salmon served with Israeli couscous 

My travel log: The best breakfast in Newfoundland

Tablelands trail

 We woke up early that day, packed all our suitcases and many bags, managed somehow to cram everything into our already battered hired car and hit the road. We planned to have breakfast at the restaurant next to our room, but it was firmly shut and "opened at nine", as the note on the door said. It was Saturday morning. Although we were a bit hungry, we couldn't stay. Our mission of the day was to get our eldest girl to Lomond Camp Ground on the south part of Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland. There she joined my friend Sarah and her adventurous family for a day of hiking: sixteen km of the Green Garden trail. 

We thought that 16km were too much for our three years old to walk and too much for his dad to carry him on his shoulders. Therefore we needed to devise other plans for the day. After bidding farewell to our daughter our next mission had to be food. My younger daughter already expressed her apprehension and a dire need for some carbohydrates. We didn't find any restaurants or eateries driving around this remote part of the park dotted with little fishing villages, but we found a nice picnic spot. A little clearing in the forest, scattered with a few benches.

There in the middle of nowhere, my DH demonstrated once more what a capable cook he is and made us the best breakfast we had on our entire journey through Canada. Mushrooms were cut, cheese and eggs beaten, bread was toasted, Canadian bacon sizzled, using only the little propane camping burner purchased 2 weeks earlier at a local Walmart and a 10 dollar pan.  Who needs restaurants when you have such a cook at home? For dessert my chef of a husband took some bananas, sugar, and a bit of rum and voila: Banana Flambé in the middle of the forest. Even the squirrels came down of the trees to see what's cooking.  We were lucky with the unpredictable weather of Newfoundland and had a lovely day with only light drizzle and fog.  

The rest of the day was dedicated to exploring the nature and amazing scenery of the Tablelands Mountains, Trout River and the lovely picturesque town of Woody Point. I am no poet so I lack the words to describe those views; I let my camera speak for me.

Trout River

The lighthouse at Woody Point, Gros Morne National Park

Our Canada voyage in short: Landing in Montreal and spending a few days exploring the city, from there driving to the Mauricie National Park and further to Quebec City; a 1000km drive with only one stop on the way brought us to North Sydney where we took the ferry to Newfoundland. After 10 days we took the ferry back and stayed 2 days on Cape Breton, Nova-Scotia. Drove from there to Prince Edward Island, after 5 days on the island we got back to New-Brunswick's Fundy Bay area. All the way back to Montreal via Grand Falls, NB and Ile d'Orleans ,Quebec. We took the train to Toronto, and there we boarded the plane back home, to hot Israel. 

My travel log: The oldest city market in North America

Hello all, after five adventurous weeks travelling in East Canada, I'm back. I have so many photos and I've seen, heard, ate and done so much that I'm still overwhelmed. Not to mention the jetlag that made me feel like my head is full of maple syrup. At first I didn't know where to begin. I have so much to tell about so many things: gluten-free travelling, eating and travelling abroad with kids, Atlantic Canada cuisine, and so much more. The past week I sat in front of the computer staring at the photos we took and couldn't write a single word. So I decided I'll just start somewhere, and I chose to start with the day we spent at the city market of Saint John, New Brunswick. In the following weeks I'll add more posts to my Canada Travel Log from time to time.

Truth be told, I didn't consider a stop at the city of Saint John, we planned to hike around the Fundy Bay area and then drive back all the way to Quebec City. But after reading in my Canada guide book about St. John's city market, I changed my mind. Saint John is situated at the mouth of the St. John River on the Fundy Bay and it is the largest city in the Province of New Brunswick. Arriving the city from the Fundy Bay National Park region, we were greeted by a beautiful, warm sunny day which was quite refreshing after three days of fog and rain. We got to the market just before lunch time and it was already very crowded. The atmosphere was very lively and vibrant and although the market space is relatively small; it is packed with everything you can think of: from fresh produce to Chinese grocery, from ham sandwiches to lobsters, I found it quite charming. I bought cherry, scallions and a pair of silver earing made by a local artist. There is great emphasis on locally grown products.

The Saint John City Market is the oldest continuing farmer's market in Canada, with a charter dating from 1785 and it was completed in 1876. The current market building has a unique roof structure that resembles an inverted ship's keel. According to Wikipedia some of the businesses in the market have been operating continuously there for more than 100 years. The market was designated a National Historic Site of Canada 25 years ago.

Naturally sea food and fish are very prominent in the market, and among the lobsters, clams, fish and crab I found a curious plant sold as a delicacy. 

Dulse (seaweed)

Dulse is dry seaweed, a red alga actually named Palmaria palmate, and it is a good source of minerals and vitamins compared with other vegetables since it contains all trace elements. Dulse is commonly used in Ireland, Iceland, Atlantic Canada and the Northeast United States both as food and medicine. It is also used in cooking because its properties are similar to those of a flavour-enhancer such as MSG. Fresh dulse can be eaten directly off the rocks before sun-drying. Sun-dried dulse is eaten as is or is ground to flakes or a powder. It can also be pan fried quickly into chips, baked in the oven or simply microwaved briefly. I've stumbled upon this site,http://www.theseaweedman.com/recipes/dulse if you're in the area and got some dulse. Unfortunately we didn't buy any, so I can't attest to the taste and quality of dulse. It doesn't look very inviting. Maybe next time.

We decided to join the crowd and have our lunch at the market. Simple yet very tasty fish and chips and a salmon sandwich ended our lovely time at the market. The kids satisfied their sweet tooth with maple toffee lollipops and we were back on the road. Driving  300km to Grand Falls, NB but that is another story that will be told some other time.

Our Canada voyage in short: Landing in Montreal and spending a few days exploring the city, from there driving to the Mauricie National Park and further to Quebec City; a 1000km drive with only one stop on the way brought us to North Sydney where we took the ferry to Newfoundland. After 10 days we took the ferry back and stayed 2 days on Cape Breton, Nova-Scotia. Drove from there to Prince Edward Island, after 5 days on the island we got back to New-Brunswick's Fundy Bay area. All the way back to Montreal via Grand Falls, NB and Ile d'Orleans ,Quebec. We took the train to Toronto, and there we boarded the plane back home, to hot Israel. 

Guest post at Food Wanderings

When I first begun to write my blog, I thought that writing is a lonely vocation, that still may be true but blogging turned out to be a great way to socialize and meet many new people. Among the many food bloggers I've encountered through the web the past months, Shullie Madnick from Food Wanderings turned out to be one of my preferred ones. I like her use of fresh ingredients, uncomplicated yet tasty recipes and above all lovely writing and photography. I was really delighted when Shullie asked me to write a guest post for a series of articles about Israel. So please check out Food Wandering blog, and come with to my weekly shopping at Ramle market.

Refreshing summer flavors

Disclosure: The writer was a guest of the Sofia restaurant at the Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem.

It was a regular Israeli hot and humid summer day. We were early. My best friend (famous food blogger Foodbridge) and I had arrived to the Inbal hotel almost an hour too soon. We looked at the swimming pool longingly and wished we had brought bathing suits. We also felt very sorry for the hotel staff, all dressed formally in suits while we wore our best T-shirt and capris for the day.  We were invited to a blogger event and formal introduction of the new menu of the Sofia restaurant. Because of our early arrival we had a chance to wonder around the hotel prior to the bloggers' event. It turned out to be a gem of a hotel: combining the beautiful view of the old city with all the modern comforts and pampering. 

Chef Moti Buchbut

Then it was time, we were called back to the restaurant and the tastings began. There weren't many of us bloggers at the lavishly arranged table. In addition to Foodbridge and me, there was  Ariella Fixler-Alon from the Hebrew food blog "Cooking to the rhythm of Salsa", Shira Zwebner from Hipstermom blog, two managers from the hotel and a PR agent. Now our T-shirts seemed very inappropriate.

On the spot made brioche bread

We began the meal with brioche bread that was freshly baked and tapenade spread.  The restaurants' chef, Moti Buchbut came and explained every dish as it reached our table. The Red Tuna Carpaccio was served, and we were extremely impressed and not for the last time. The fish was marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, seasoned only in sea salt. It was a perfect starter, fresh, delicate and very tasty.

Tuna carpaccio 

Next we were served onion soup based on red wine that had a rich taste followed by a very unusual green salad. The salad was extremely fresh, the lettuce crisp and juicy but the unique ingredient was the sauce: a combination of olive oil, and Passion fruit puree that contributed a tangy yet rich flavor to what is generally considered a mundane dish.  We had also sampled pasta with tomato sauce (Pasta A La Pomodoro) that was tasty but not thrilling.

Onion soup

Green salad

Spaghetti pomodoro

The "piece de resistance" was next. This is a dish that in my opinion is worth hiring a baby sitter, getting dressed and driving to this restaurant.  The Asian Sea Bass (Barramundi) served on a bed of mushroom risotto and topped with scales made from potatoes. It was ingenious combination of flavors, textures and the beauty of an impressionist painting. 

Barramundi fish on a bed of  mushroom risotto

 In addition we tasted two more fish courses: one of sea bream and the other of trout- both were exceptional in flavor and presentation.

Marinated trout fillet with potato and mushrooms

Sea brim on toasted brioche with yellow bell peppers sauce

We were so stuffed that we couldn't believe we will handle the dessert. But the deep fried chocolate filled ravioli was irresistible.  We licked our fingers literally. 

Not a space ship, chocolate filled raviolli

The whole experience was unforgettable. I personally loved the Chef's tendency towards fresh, lemony, tangy tastes and the combination of extremely fresh ingredients in a beautiful presentation. There is a tendency ( I had it too) to look at Kosher and especially Dairy Kosher restaurants as unsophisticated, a no match to regular chef restaurants. Chef Moti Buchbut and his staff at the Sofia restaurant prove that one can cook Kosher Haute Cuisine, you just need the enthusiasm and creativity.

Sofia restaurant – Kosher (not open on Saturday) at the Inbal Hotel , Liberty Bell Park, 3 Jabotinsky Street, Jerusalem,  Israel.

Views of the Old City from Inbal Hotel