Those of you who know me know that I am a big fan of food. I know, most people like to eat, but I go beyond eating to really enjoy a variety of food experiences. I like fine dining and all of its strange rules. I like food at the ballpark and all of its simplicity. I like trying new recipes and I love cooking without a recipe and seeing what I can come up with.
With all of that said, it probably comes as no surprise that on my recent trip to the Holy Land I paid attention to the food. At it should also come as no surprise that when I had the chance to eat fish by the Sea of Galilee I jumped at it. After all, this is the very food that Jesus served to his disciples after the resurrection (see John 21). I wasn't very artistic with my picture (above) I wish I would have put the potato in a better place, but alas I can say I've eaten fish by the Sea of Galilee, just as Jesus Disciples did.
In other food related news about the Holy Land, it was wonderful to enjoy the Meditaranean diet. Our tour guide, Naim, shared with us the secret to a long healthy life ... "eat a few olives in the morning and a teaspoon of Olive Oil in the morning." Well, I wasn't going to disagree with him so I enjoyed some Olive Oil on bread in the morning and tried a few of the many varieties of olives that were laid out for us.
We were fed well while we were there (especially when we were at the International Center of Bethlehem Guest House). Dinner generally started with a soup (most often a broth or consome' of some variety) then a generous portion of meat and vegetables and often rice. May I add that they do some amazing things with rice. It's not the simple rice or rice with broth and seasonings that we get here in the U.S. They add things in to the rice like raisins and nuts. At first I would think "that doesn't sound real tasty" but they have a wonderful formula for adding just enough of something different to the rice to make it quite enjoyable. We ate chicken in a variety of fashions, we ate lamb (oh, how I enjoyed the lamb), we ate fish. All the while I ate these things I thought, "my doctor would be proud, the preparation on these dishes is so healthy" (of course most of my tour mates came away after about 4 days saying, "I just want a greasy hamburger or a steak" ... I'll leave the arterty-clogging for them and take the healthy food, myself.)
Breakfast might have been the most interesting experience while I was in the Holy Land. First of all, much like Europe and Australia, they did not serve orange juice as I know orange juice. I would describe what was served to us more as "Tang meets Orange Juice" it wasn't quite as sweet and syrupy as Sunny D, but it didn't strike me as being made from real oranges. I realize, I am spoiled by Tropicana Pure Premium, and yes, I drank my share of the "orange juice" but I was glad to get home and enjoy my glass of pulpy orange juice in the morning. There was always a pot of hot water in the morning giving us the chance to drink tea or coffee (instant coffee that is) I rarely imbibed in the hot beverages, as is my usual nature. In Bethlehem breakfast always included warm pita bread (yum), a foccacia type herb bread, varieties of cheeses, meat, olives, cucumbers, and hard boiled eggs. They also had this fabulous "spread" that was explained to us as "cream-cream" it tasted like a combination of yogurt and cream cheese with the consistency of sour cream. It was excellent! (I found the cream-cream at breakfast everywhere that we were). In Jerusalem we encountered most of the items we found in Bethlehem (though instead of pitas and foccacia-type bread, it was whole-wheat sandwich slices and these biscuit-hard-roll things that were quite tasty) then added scrambled eggs each morning and get this ... hot dogs! I never thought I would be excited to see hot dogs for breakfast, but I thought I would give them a try ... and they were quite good. The hot dogs were cut into bite-size pieces and sauteed with onions. I think the quote of the trip regarding food was "the hot dogs are surprisingly good."
When it came to lunch we didn't get to enjoy the local fare as much as I would have liked. Often our travels kept us out of the city at noontime thus limiting our options for eating. We often ate at "kibbutzs" which are Jewish collective settlements which often have a cafeteria. They did have a nice salad bar there, but the other entrees were less than exciting ... usually some version of what the U.S. south would call a "meat and three" where you get a meat entree (beef kabob, chicken, fish, schnitzel) and three side dishes (usually two vegetables and a starch). We did have the occassion to try some, of what I would call, more local fare a few times. Falafels! what an interesting food. Basically a combination of mashed chick peas and herbs and spices made into a ball, fried in olive oil and put inside a pita with "salad" ... quite enjoyable. Then there was the schwerma ... I would call it the Holy Land version of the gyro ... meat (which I found out is not always lamb, it can be chicken or beef) made into a "meatloaf" then grilled on the spit (much like gyro meat is) then sliced off thinly and put in a pita with "salad" ... quite tasty. We stopped at a bakery one day where we were offered breads that were baked with a variety of items in the middle (spinach, cheese, meat, mashed potato) the best thing about the bakery experience was the price ... a sandwich and drink for $1.50 U.S.dollars! Amazing!
On the bus between our various points we were often sharing snacks and treats that we picked-up various places. We had baklaava, which I quite enjoyed. We had nuts (almonds primarily). We had dried fruit. Now, here is a topic all its own, but let me just say I have never eaten as much dried fruit as I did when I was in the Holy Land. They dry everything and most of it is pretty good. I did stay away from the dried papaya and dried pineapple since my experience in the past has been that those items are really just sugar (and those that ate it in the Holy Land made the same comment about it). The one thing that surprised me were the dates! I had never really eaten dried dates by themselves (in things, yes ... alone, no). Interesting texture, chewy, sticky, kinda like a carmel ... and relatively tasty. The downside is the pit in the middle. Overall though, I couldn't eat a lot of them, just too much concentrated sweetness for my taste. Though, Naim told us that if you eat 5 dates, you don't have to eat again for 12 hours! I guess that would be helpful if you're stuck somewhere where you don't have much food, but happened to bring some dates along!
I can't say I really found any food that offended me while I was there (unlike Western Europe where they insist on leaving the head on shrimp and serving tripe) and much of it I found quite tasty and worth heading back for. If I would have had a bit more spending money, I would have come back with a collection of spices from the Holy Land. On my final day there, I ventured through some of the shops and came upon a spice shop. Tables and Tables of spices. Some mixed for various uses, others just the spice. Oh, I was in heaven. A brief chat with the shop owner about the use of some of the spices (and my fellow travelers with me making purchases, so I didn't feel guilty about not making purchases).
I wouldn't say I ate my way through the Holy Land, but I did indeed enjoy each culinary stop along the way.
