Eating Like an Israeli

We've been in Israel now for about a month and a half and have had enough time to sample a wide variety of traditional Israeli dishes.  In this post I outline a few of the dishes I particularly like for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Breakfast
Most days for breakfast I eat hummus and toast or crackers, but my hands down favorite Israeli breakfast is shakshuka.  I've had shakshuka twice while in Israel, but I would happily eat it every week.  Shakshuka is a thick stew of tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers cooked on the stove.  A few minutes before finishing a divot is carved out in the stew and an egg cracked into it.  The egg cooks to desired doneness (over medium for me) in the stew.  It's delicious, and I will be sure to make it when I go home to the states.

Some shakshuka I had at a restaurant in Tel Aviv.

Lunch
My favorite lunch in Israel has to be the sabich sandwich.  Originally an Iraqi dish, this sandwich of sautéed eggplant, hard boiled egg, and sour pickles on bread hits all the right flavor sensors.  It's savory, salty, and everything but sweet.  It also makes for a quick lunch that is attainable at any Aroma Cafe, which are easily found by following arrows under a giant coffee cup at many intersections.

Dinner
Probably my favorite dinner in Israel is going out to an Israeli-style steakhouse.  These steakhouses are reminiscent of family-style dinning in the US.  Everyone pays the same fee ($5-$10) for which a endless parade of small salads and laffa (a fire baked flat bread) are brought to the table.  The salads keep coming until you say no more.  In addition, patrons can purchase grilled meats (like filet minion or the ever present kebab).  As a vegetarian, I stick to the salads which is more than enough for a filling meal.

An array of salads at an Israeli steakhouse in Eilat.