Feeding the Masses

Between my two brothers in law (whom I love), there are 11 children. Meals are equal parts logistics and manners, and I don't know what they did, but the kids behave and it works like a machine. Food is stick to your ribs and simple: pita with hummous, kebab, and dogs. French fries (hand cut and fried) stuffed in there, too. And yes, that's what a kilogram of hummous looks like.

Once and Future Sandwich

Whosoever Pulleth This Knife...

A Yemenite flatbread with the unfortunate sounding name of 'galoob'. One of my kids wanted a sandwich, and this was the last piece, so I cut it in half as shown. Culturally, this is roughly the equivalent of laterally bisecting a pancake> I got some funny looks.

chicken dance

My brother in law Yishay, shochet (religious slaughterer), teaching a protege to sharpen the knife for sharpening chickens, running a fingernail up the edge to make sure it's perfectly smooth. He says even a tiny nick prevents a smooth cut, and a novice can expect to spend up to an hour a day sharpening to God's standard. Yishay said that for an upcoming job interview, he has to slaughter 12 chickens in 60 seconds... I can't imagine.

Spices and Olives, Shuk Karmel

My favorite open air market in Tel Aviv. Two really pretty displays from a couple of weeks ago. Notice the merchant smoking a butt in the upper left of the olive picture. Very Israeli.

Meanwhile, back in the states

Pan Fried Noodles with Shrimp. A bit of effort, but one of those nights I just hadda have it. Hadda. Noodles fried and waiting for the stir fry, final dish waiting for chili paste, and a portrait of the artist with a mouthful of shrimp tails. Wife: you like wierd comfort food for a Jewish guy.

Shk'dei Marak Three Ways

These are tiny soup croutons made from flour, oil, and salt, and they are yummy. Always the butt of 'have some soup with your soup almonds' or 'why do I bother making soup? You can't even taste it under all those croutons'.

Pictured three ways: out of hand, glommed onto a knife full of hummous (a most unorthodox presentation, result of a late night snack binge), and as nature intended, in my mother-in-law's vegetable soup.

Shk'dei: Almonds. Marak: Soup. Often called 'soup mandel' in English, from the Yiddish 'mandel', almond.

Mitz Americai!

My essential Israeli comfort food: Falafel from Sabino's Steakhouse, and a bottle of coke with real sugar, not HFCS, and that funky Israeli label. Sabino's is a two minute walk from my in-laws, and I refer to Coke as 'America Juice' (mitz Americai) whenever Israelis are in earshot.