Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious

Tenho dois livros de Michael Solomonov, e adoro a forma que ele escreve e conta um pouco da história que envolve as receitas e os locais de onde elas surgiram. Receitas de fácil execução e bem ilustradas, oque é ótimo, pois sabemos como o prato deveria ser na hora de montá-los. Um dos meus livros favoritos.

Beschädigt angekommen!!! Keine Zeit es zurückzusenden weil Geburtstagsgeschenk!

I bought this to plan a trip to Israel because it not only provides the history of Israeli cuisine, but also the best places to find those dishes across the country. The narrative comes from personal experience and the recipes traverse the worldwide heritage that has become the everyday diet of the diaspora. As the Introduction says, “The vast majority of Israelis are only a few generations removed from a completely different life, in a completely different place”. The recipes all look delicious and authentic. There's substitutions for ingredients difficult to source. I'm off to buy the ingredients for the the spice blends and looking forward to many happy meals with good food. It is an American publication, so imperial measures and cups. Easy to convert from cups if you don't have the measures. Just search on google, lots of sites provide the conversion.

Israeli Soul is a large hefty book full of the type of food that I would request for my last meal. Or for every meal. Honestly, if I had to choose a dish to eat every day for the rest of my life it would be Shwarma with all the accoutrements. So this book was a must-have for me. The backbone of this book is an Israeli Soul Food Odyssey through numerous restaurants and markets featured along with many wonderful photographs and recipes (for travelers, addresses are provided) in Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Lod, Jerusalem, Akko, Ein al-Assad, Hadera, Haifa, Hod HaSharon, Kfar Saba, Kardur, Laalot Tarshiha, Ramla, Umm al-Fahm, Tzfat AND Philadelphia! US resources are provided, La Boite, Kalustyans, and Soom Foods. Chapter Headings are split into four main categories, with each secondary category its own chapter. In the hand, At the Table, From the Bakery, From the icebox IN THE HAND: Falafel, Pita Bread, Sabitch (Pita Sandwiches), Druze Mountain Bread, Jerusalem Grill, Schnitzel AT THE TABLE: Hummus, Salads, Ashkenazi (pickled and cured), Soups, Stews, Stuffed, Grilling FROM THE BAKERY: Savory, Sweet FROM THE ICEBOX: Drinks and Cold Treats Ok. So lets talk about some of the recipes (with some quick pics from the book) I have long wanted to make my own Falafel from scratch but never seemed to get around to it. Relying instead on dry mixes (Frontiers is pretty good by the way) Israeli Soul has not one, but three recipes for falafel. Along with 4 Tehina (sauce) recipes. I may never buy dried mix again! Next, a pita bread recipe is provided with lots of step by step photos on making it. Now we have mastered Falafel and Pita, we have the Sabitch chapter, which includes recipes for all the things you would want to stuff in a pita. Eggplant (3 ways) eggs, sauces, mushrooms, latkes. Next we have Shawarma (oh yeah!) It is assumed that you don’t have a vertical roasting spit (I wish) so alternative cooking methods are provided for Lamb Shoulder (oven roasted) Chicken Thigh (poached and seared) Turkey Paillard (seared) Cauliflower Shawarma (brined and oven roasted) along with some sides. Druze Mountain Bread a simple flatbread recipe which is made over an upsidedown wok! Next we have the Jerusalem Grill chapter and pilaf. The schnitzel chapter includes chicken and also zucchini versions. I am looking forward to trying the zucchini which is spiced with Hawaij spice blend (recipes for all spice blends are provided) Next up is the all important hummus chapter. Recipes are provided for a 5 minute hummus “we believe 5 minute hummus to be a medium step forward for mankind” Included are recipes for no less than 24 recipes for hummus toppings that serve 4 as a salad, side dish or condiment (I could happily make a meal of these) Toppings include Saffron Braised Chicken, Avocado and Peanut Harissa, Carrots with Dukkah, Crispy Oyster Mushrooms, Ground Beef seasoned with Turkish Coffee the list goes on! Next up salads 17 in total. Ie. Radish and Zucchini with Mint and Nigella Seeds, Egg Salad, Fattoush, Squash Salad along with tabouli, beet salad etc. Ashkenazi – pickled green tomatoes, cucumbers, mackeral, cured trout, whitefish dip etc Soups, Stews, Stuffed – 14 recipes for satisfying mains ie. Lamb Shank Siniya, Vegetable Tagine, Brisket with Black Eyed Peas, Chicken Wrapped in Chard, Stuffed Eggplant Grilling – Arabic Style Kebabs, Romanian Kebabs, Bulgarian Kebabs, Merquez Kebabs, Grilled Tuna etc Bakery Savory – Some fascinating breads that are entirely new to me. Kubaneh, Jachnun, Malawach along with filling recipes. Stuffed Borekas with many fillings provided with no less than 16 step by step photographs and much more. Bakery Sweet – Malabi (a sweet milky pudding) Rugelach, Labneh Tart with Raspberries, Pistachio Cake, Sesame Brittle and more. Drinks and Cold Treats – Syrups for Soda such as Watermelon Lime, Tarragon Grapefruit, Pomegranate Mint etc. Tehina Shakes such as Turkish Coffee with Hazelnut Halva, Coconut Whip etc. Ice pops such as Banana Date, Strawberry Labneh etc. Ok after writing this, I would give my kingdom for a Lamb Shoulder Shawarma! (you saw the photo, right?) Oh, and maybe a Tehina Shake and some pistachio cake…. It all sounds incredible to me! To start with, the second I receive my Soom Tahini from Amazon, I will make the five minute Hummus and report back. Watch this space! UPDATE: We have been happily eating the Lamb Shoulder Shawarma all week! Along with the Harissa Tehena and Hummus and (I mixed it up a little and served it with a Ottolenghi Couscous tabouli with roasted tomatoes) and flatbread (I confess I purchased them) and a yoghurt cucumber garlic sauce I whizzed up (1 clove garlic, half a telegraph cucumber without seeds, juice from half a lemon, parsley, mint, salt and pepper and green yoghurt whizzed in blender) On the THIRD day, my husband texted me and said "I can't wait to eat that lamb again tonight" lol Be warned we eat a lot and this lasted us for three dinners and my husbands lunch sandwhich on the fourth day (he has texted me today about how happy he is about that too) I have never found a recipe that achieves that spit roasted shaved lamb shawarma meat - and I have tried a few. This one is probably the best to date. I would probably double the spices next time (but not the salt) as we like amped up flavors. But all in all this ones a keeper and I will have fun playing with it. We also tried the Chicken Shnitzel (actually thats why the food did us for so many meals, I made the chicken too, haha we are greedy people) The second batch I doubled the spice mix that goes in the egg. We preferred that. My son who is very fussy, even reiterated the next day how good it was - and he never does that! The Hummus recipe had more Tehini in than any version I have ever made - and we liked the creaminess better (I did purchase Soom Tehini for the first time for this recipe and it is as good as they say). Again I might boost the cumin a little and I like lemon in my Hummas so will play with this recipe. maybe its just me, so perhaps try all the recipes as written before boosting every single flavor component on my advice. I made the Tehina as written but decided it needed a heap more lemon juice but then some strange liquifaction type reaction occured and the sauce ended up as a spreadable solid (more like butter). Not sure why the extra lemon did that, so maybe follow the recipe unless you want Tehina butter! The flavor WAS good and my husband said he would use it instead of mayo but I am still not sure why the lemon thickened up the Tehina SO much. I will need to look into that. Anyhow, some great recipes tried and tested and it was Israeli Soul Food Week at our house and everyone was happy!

This is more a good read than a cookbook, but interesting.