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Popular Food Vegetarian Food
Jewish Dietary Laws (Kashrut)
Non Alcoholic Beverages Alcoholic Drinks
GENERAL INFORMATION
The food in Israel is as varied as the population living there. “Israeli cuisine” is a concept which is evolving from the many cooking traditions and the local raw materials. Most of Israel’s Jewish inhabitants are immigrants from eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and North Africa, who brought with them long-standing traditions of Jewish food that developed in the area where they lived, so that you can find couscous in Israel alongside gefilte fish.
Besides its being a country of immigrants, Israel is a Middle East country, part of whose inhabitants are Arabic, and their influence is felt in dishes such as humus, tehina and falafel, as well as in many rice dishes. Israel is also a western country, is influenced by world events, and spires to keep astride of all world changes and vogues, including culinary trends.
Although international hamburger and pizza chains thrive in Israel, the world race after the Mediterranean Basin diet and eating culture can be felt here. In recent years a thriving quality wine industry has developed along with olive oil manufacturers and quite a few small dairies that produce French-style cow and goat cheeses. Fish and seafood have also started playing a major part in the menus of local restaurants, as befits a country located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
In Israel, you can eat Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Arab and American food. You can eat in simple workers’ restaurants or in prestigious chef restaurants. Most of the restaurants and coffee houses in between the latter two offer a menu composed of dishes that have become popular with the local population over the years, and which is based on sandwiches, pastas, fish, vegetables and meat.
Like anywhere else in the world, it is advisable to use common-sense when choosing a place to eat, and to enter places that look clean and pleasant, and where there is a large turnover of diners. Many restaurants have a menu in English. In those that don’t, you’ll always find a waiter who speaks reasonable English and can explain the menu. Most restaurants and food stalls are open non-stop from the morning until the evening hours. Restaurants which are also bars remain open until the small hours of the night. In the major cities, especially in Tel Aviv, you can find something to eat at any hour of the day or night.
POPULAR FOOD
Falafel
Israel’s flagship dish comes from the Arab cuisine, and is to be had at almost every street corner. It is sold at quick-service stalls offering cheap food.
Falafel is round deep-fried balls of minced chick peas and spices. It is sold in pita bread, a kind of round flat bread pocket, together with fresh vegetables, tehina and humus, and sometimes also with potato chips. Pickled vegetables and hot sauces can also be added to the falafel and pita bread. Falafel, in spite of its being a street food, can also serve as a full, satisfying, nutritious meal.
Ask passers-by where you can find a place selling the best falafel, or simply choose a place which seems popular.
Shawarma
This street dish is shared by the Arab, Turkish and Greek cuisines. Shwarma is meat (sheep or turkey) that is slowly grilled on a rotating skewer. The outer layer of the meat is cut off, and served in pita bread or lafa (Iraqi pita bread which is rolled and wrapped around the dish), to which fresh vegetables, tehina, humus, and potato chips are added. Here, too, it is habitual to eat the dish with a variety of pickled vegetables.
Humus
Every humus-loving Israeli will tell you that the place where he regularly eats humus has the best humus in the world. Humus is an Arabic food made from chick peas, cooked and crushed into a puree together with raw tehina (sesame paste).
Humus is usually served with olive oil, spices and parsley, and sometimes also with a hard-boiled egg, ful (cooked broad beans) or other side-dishes. Humus is eaten together with pita bread, or as they say in Hebrew, a plate of humus “is wiped dry” with pita bread.
You can also find canned humus at the marketing chains. However, you can’t compare the industrialized product with the humus you’re served at the specialized popular restaurants, where the service is fast and business-like, without undue ceremony.
Breakfast
If you’re staying at a hotel where breakfast is served, be ready for a rich, varied buffet that will leave you satisfied for many hours. Most hotels serve a wide range of vegetables, salads, cheeses, eggs prepared in every possible way, fish, bread, fruit, yogurts, cakes, desserts, and more. Most of the hotels serve breakfast until 10:00 in the morning.
The breakfast served at restaurants and coffee houses usually includes salad, two eggs prepared in the method of your choice, cheeses, bread, butter and jelly, together with coffee and a cold drink. In some coffee houses you can also get bacon, beans and other side-dishes. But these are not considered part of a traditional Israeli breakfast.
VEGETARIAN FOOD
The vegetarians among you can find food that suits you almost anywhere. Humus, falafel and pizza are the most accessible and cheapest possibilities. Most restaurants and cafes also serve vegetarian dishes such as pastas, sandwiches and quiches.
One of the advantages for tourists desiring to maintain a nutritious vegetarian diet is the large, varied salad portions served in Israeli cafes. You can also buy an abundance of cheap, fresh vegetables at the markets, and together with dishes from the prepared food stalls, you can have a full meal while wandering about them.
JEWISH DIETARY LAWS (KASHRUT)
Kosher food is food Jews are permitted to eat according to Jewish religious law. There are many kashrut laws, and their degree of observance varies according to the various streams of Judaism, and from person to person. To define them simply and as a whole, the Jewish dietary laws prohibit the eating of pork and other animals that do not chew the cud or have cloven feet. They also prohibit the eating of oysters and seafood, and forbid the eating of milk and meat products together.
Places offering kosher food usually display a kashrut certificate granted to them by the local rabbinate. Most hotels serve kosher food, as well as some restaurants. But there is no binding law, so if kashrut is important to you, you must check it out at each separate place where you dine. It is harder to find kosher restaurants in Tel Aviv, while in Jerusalem and other cities the vast majority of restaurants are kosher.
In the marketing chains, too, most of the products are kosher. They can be identified by a tag testifying to the fact that they are kosher.
NON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Warm Drinks
You can get every possible type of coffee in Israel. In the mornings, Israelis drink instant coffee with water and milk or black coffee (strong coffee made of ground coffee and water, to which sugar is added). In the cafes, you will find all the familiar types of coffee – cappuccino (known in Israel as café hafukh), espresso, and more. The coffee-drinking culture has developed a lot in Israel in recent years, with the opening of several large coffee chains that sell superb coffee together with light meals. You can also find all the familiar teas, in infusions or in small bags for preparing one cup.
Cold Drinks
You can find in Israel all the familiar light drinks – Coca Cola and the like, as well as many types of fruit drinks that are sold in bottles. In the cities, many stalls sell drinks made of fruit which is freshly squeezed on the spot, and which is always preferable to bottled drinks.
In the summer in particular, it is recommended to take advantage of the abundance of fruit in Israel, and to consume them in the form of a refreshing Smoothie.
Water
You can drink tap water. But, you will also find mineral water everywhere. It is important to make sure you drink a lot, especially when out walking and on hot days.
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
Although Israelis aren’t great drinkers, you will find all the familiar alcoholic drinks at the bars. In addition, you can buy alcoholic drinks at beverage stores and in the supermarkets, even though that way you miss the experience of sitting in a bar. The bars only open in the late evening hours, between 20:00 – 21:00, and Israelis tend to arrive only at 22:00. Consequently, evenings out last until the small hours of the night, a fact that should be taken into account when you go out drinking. Bars are open every day, but the main fun evenings are the weekends, from Thursday until Saturday.
The sale of alcoholic drinks is forbidden by law to people under the age of 18.
Beer
You will find many types of beer at the bars. Maccabi and Goldstar are local beers, alongside which you will find familiar beers from around the world. Beer is sold in bottles, and in 1/3 and 1/2-liter mugs. In the supermarkets, you can buy beer at a much lower price than in the bars.
Wine
In recent years, the Israeli wine industry has greatly developed, and with it local interest in wine-drinking. Boutique wineries have sprung up everywhere, and some of them produce excellent wine that is sold throughout the world. Wine fans can enjoy wine-tasting visits to wineries, where they can also witness the development of a successful new local industry.
Wine is sold in all restaurants, some of which have a large, varied wine menu. We recommend trying out the local wines, which are sold at reasonable prices. You can order a glass or bottle of wine of your choice at most restaurants.
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