By Jeanette Friedman

When preparing for an outdoor spring or summer event, or even a fancy indoor feast, no festive occasion is complete without at least a few Mediterranean/Israeli dishes that are deliciously fragrant, loaded with za’atar, cumin, marjoram, oregano and other aromatic herbs and spices that take you to the fragrant market places, the beaches, mountains, resorts and camp sites of the Holy Land.

In addition to the herbs and spices, essential ingredients for cooking, grilling or baking Middle Eastern dishes include, where required, butter or olive oil, garlic, lemons, tamarind, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, honey, date syrup, yogurt and rose water.

This unique cuisine, like the Jewish people, is a global Jewish fusion and has a history based on its people’s travels through history. It’s a great way to spend a summer night, telling stories, munching on Moroccan cigars, finger foods and other succulent treats. Get your grills ready, marinate those kabobs, put them on the grate and fill the space with the aroma of Israel at its best.

A typical Israeli/Middle Eastern meal begins with Mezza, a selection of appetizers or small dishes of finger foods accompanied by different dipping sauces, and anise-flavored liqueurs or a selection of wines. Popular dishes include Kebabs (often marinated with garlic, lemon and spices, then grilled), Bamia (lamb, okra and tomato stew), Quzi (lamb with rice, almonds, raisins and spices), Falafel (fried chickpea patties served with salad in pita), Kubbah (minced meat ground with bulghur or rice and spices). There myriad grilled meats, sweet and savory puff pastries, rice dishes, stuffed vegetables, pita breads and salads to choose from.

For dessert, there are so many choices, it can boggle the mind. The professional bakers who came to Israel from Europe brought with them the finest pastry techniques that are visible in the thousands of cafes that line Israeli streets. But there are also the Middle Eastern favorites like baklava and halvah, treats made with dates, figs, apricots and other dried fruits and nuts. The old fashioned cinnamon babke now has halvah fillings, too. The best beverage to go with these treats would be a tiny cup of Turkish coffee or a glass of mint tea to put a perfect ending on your celebratory, gustatory adventure.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing more important to Israelis and other Middle Eastern residents than preparing and serving fabulous food to their guests. Imagine a wonderful Morrocan style tent filled with a wonderful buffet, colorful and bright, with each dish presented as its own special jewel, each dish carrying traces of every culture, ethnic group, country, tradition and religion touched by the Jewish people. Celebrate your hospitality by providing your guests with great food, good talk a glass of tea, a cup of rich coffee, or a flute of Israeli Champagne.

A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISRAELI CUISINE

Israeli/Middle Eastern cooking is based on basic Mesopotamian cuisine, the first fusion cuisine, now about 10,000 years old. The recipes they used in the temples back then are the world’s first cookbooks—inscribed on the walls of ancient ruins in Iraq. Millennia later, Greek and Roman culture heavily influenced cuisine in first century Palestine. Elaborate meals included fish and meat dishes prepared with olives, vegetables prepared in different ways—stuffed, grilled, pickled—and the meal, accompanied by alcoholic beverages, was topped off with tart or sweet fruits.

At that time, Jerusalem was a center of the spice trade, a resting place and market for merchants marching across Mesopotamia from Europe to Africa, across ancient Israel’s fertile lands—lands loaded with olive and citrus orchards, vineyards and wheat fields, the air scented with the spices and herbs they brought from exotic lands. The seven species mentioned in the Bible—olives, figs, dates, pomegranates, wheat, barley and grapes—were the staples of the ancient Israeli diet, and still are today.

Fast forward to the 1880’s, to the Old Yishuv, where the food culture was dominated by Sephardi cuisine based on recipes that evolved when the community’s ancestors—the Jews of Spain—were expelled and settled in the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire. There they adapted local food culture to their kosher kitchens. About fifty years later, Hasidic Jews came to Eretz Yisroel, with Ashkenazi cooking that developed new iterations—like the sweet and hot Yerushalmi noodle kugel.

Chalutzniks (Zionist pioneers) rejected the fat-filled dishes of their native Poland and Russia, and planted eggplant, chickpeas (the key ingredient in hummus, which has been called the Israeli equivalent of peanut butter or ketchup), zucchini, peppers and other healthy crops. The first Hebrew cookbook was published by the Women’s International Zionist Organization in the early ‘30s, and asked cooks to be locavores—to use locally grown vegetables, herbs and spices.

This same book also standardized what has become known as “The Israeli Breakfast”—with its huge selection of fresh fruit and vegetable salads, cheese selections, cereals, eggs, breads and beverages—the kind of breakfast/brunch spread that North Jerseyans love to present when they are celebrating, indoors or out. The centerpiece is the classic Israeli salad made with finely chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, sprinkled with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil. Variations include the addition of diced bell peppers, scallions, sliced radish, fennel, chopped parsley, and fresh herbs.

When Jews from Morocco Yemen, Iraq, Kurdistan and Turkey arrived in Israel after 1948, they staffed Israel’s professional kitchens and wielded great influence on shaping Israeli palates. Balkan and Turkish immigrants brought kubbeh, bourekas, yogurt dishes and sauces to the Holy Land. In times of rationing, these cooks were experts in creating vegetable liver from eggplants and using turkey instead of veal and lamb in schnitzel and kabobs—recipes that are still in popular use.

IMA Restaurant
445 Cedar Lane
Teaneck
201-357-5790 / 201-357-5789
Ofira
www.imarestaurant.com
info@imarestaurant.com
Glatt. OU with RCBC approval
Platter Catering. Drop off or pick up.

Ima’s Restaurant on Cedar Lane is a direct descendant of one of the most famous eateries in Jerusalem, with one branch in Machane Yehuda and the other in Nahla’ot, opposite Sacher Park. Ofira in Teaneck follows her Kurdish/Jewish mom’s recipes and takes pride in presenting the best of traditional Middle Eastern food. First courses include a modest meze (selection of appetizers) of fresh hummus and babaghanoush (eggplant dip), stuffed grape leaves, pickled vegetables and wonderful kubeh (seasoned ground meat deep fried in a jacket of bulgur wheat).There’s a wonderful selection of stuffed vegetables, and tangy kubeh soups full of dumplings. Entrée choices include shashlik, chicken or a Jerusalem mixed grill with majadra (rice and lentils) on the side. There’s matbucha, beet salad and white bean soup with a tomato base. Maamul is the perfect sugar coated treat to end your meal and have with your mint tea. They’re homemade cookies filled with dates, coconut, walnuts, cranberries, apricot jam, and sesame seeds.

Sababa Grill
456 Cedar Lane
Teaneck, NJ 07666-1711
(201) 530-0808
Fax: 201-692-9111
Danny Mizrahi
dansababa@gmail.com

http://sababagrill.com

Glatt. RCBC

Sababa Grill, located in the heart of Teaneck, NJ, has been serving quality Israeli-Ashkenazi cuisine to area residents since 2005. Everything is cooked fresh to order. Experience authentic Israeli food, from schwarma to schnitzel and delectable homemade salads. There’s friendly service in the newly-renovated dining room, and proprietor Danny promises full service catering, from the most elegant events to the local pool party. There’s also drop-off and pick up platter catering, and services for all occasions, including kiddush, business meetings, organizational lunches, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Pidyoney HaBen, Yahrtzeits, sweet sixteens and other events worth of delicious Israeli-American cuisine.

There’s kubeh, finger cigars with dips, grilled veggies, hummus, Moroccan eggplant, Matbucha, Israeli Salad Turkish Salad Brisket Beef w/Fig Sauce California Roast Lamb Roast. Veal Roast Apricot Chicken Cranberry Chicken Roasted Chicken Barbeque Chicken Breaded Israeli Schnitzel Moroccan Salmon Moroccan Tilapia.

Best Glatt
543 Cedar Lane
Teaneck
Anat/Meir
201-801-0444 201 747 4645
abest747@gmail.com
Glatt. RCBC

Best is a small supermarket that carries a variety of items, free-range meats and chickens, never frozen, always fresh. Best is best known for preparing kabobs and fresh meats with spices, stuffings and marinades that you can cook off at home—on the stove, in the oven or on the outdoor grill. They will give you a choice of four marinades. A real fusion treat is chicken cutlets or boneless thighs stuffed with kishke or pastrami and then marinated in Mediterranean sauces and spices. Check out their assorted meat/skewers/kabobs for grilling at the simcha and life cycle events of your choice. Takeout and kiddush with Mediterranean flair and free delivery. Full service catering and platter drop off and pick up available.

Chickpeace
83 South Main Street
New City, NY
Contact Israel
845-499-2400
www.chickpeace83.com
chickpeace83s@gmail.com

Kiddush, birthdays, bar/bats, pool parties, sweet sixteens, engagements, anything goes. From hamburgers and French fries to schwarma and kefta kabobs, baby chicken skewers, schnitzel, hummus, tahini, grilled vegetables, Israeli salad, hot mushroom salad, falafel, shakshuka, sabich, stuffed grape leaves beef, hummus, baklava, three-layer mousse cake, walnut cake. Platter drop off or pick up.

Reuben’s Glatt Spot Catering
659 Eagle Rock Avenue
West Orange, NJ 07052
973-736-0060
Fax: 973-736-8026
Reubensglattspot@aol.com

http://www.reubensglattspot.com

Glatt. Vaad of MetroWest.

Over in West Orange, Reuben’s Glatt Spot offers traditional platter packages that are perfect for either a dairy or meat kiddush, along with a Middle Eastern kiddush called the Israeli Homeland Delight—a seven section platter filled with your choice of Middle Eastern salads like babaganoush, chumus, tehina, grilled eggplant, vegetarian liver, Turkish salad, Spanish eggplant, an ample supply of cut pita and a large bowl of Israeli salad. Minimum 10 people @ $9.50 per person. Full service catering, platter drop off and pick up are available.

Other purveyors who carry Middle Eastern dishes:

Ma’adan
446 Cedar Lane, Teaneck
201-692-0192
Stuart or Yossi

http://www.maadan.com/

RCBC. Glatt.

Foster Village Kosher Deli
469 S. Washington Avenue, Bergenfield
In the Foster Village shopping mall
Kosher supervision/Rabbi Isaiah Hertzberg
201-384-7100
Free parking.
Call for orders and hours.

Noah’s Ark
493 Cedar Lane, Teaneck
Phone: 201.692.1200
Fax: 201.692.1890
www.noahsark.net
Glatt. RCBC

Petak’s Glatt Kosher Fine Foods & Catering
1903 Fair Lawn Ave.
Fair Lawn, NJ
201-833-8200 or 201-797-5010
Glatt. RCBC
Call for Daily Specials
petaksfood@aol.com

http://www.petaksglattkosher.com/

And for the do-it-yourself’er there is always,

GLATT EXPRESS SUPERMARKET
1400 Queen Anne Road
Teaneck, NJ 07666
(201) 837-8110
www.glattexpresssupermarket.com

Tammy carries a full line of Israeli and Middle Eastern spices, sauces, products, cookies, marinades, condiments, crackers, fresh meats, poultry and fish. Grab your favorite Middle Eastern cookbook and have a blast feeding your guests truly homemade fare, from falafel fixings to tender lamb kabobs made with hand-picked produce.

Surrounded by maps and wielding a laser pointer to illustrate the complicated geography of Afghanistan, its volatile neighbors, and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8) held a press conference in his Paterson office last Friday on his recent fact-finding visit to the region and the American northern Africa command in Italy. He discussed the budding revolutions in the Arab countries and their causes and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and suggested ways to hasten the departure of American troops from Afghanistan and bring peace to the regions in turmoil.

He also strongly condemned the murders of members of the Fogel family in Itamar last month. “This family,” he said, “their throats were slashed…. There is nothing in the Koran that justifies such a barbarous act. The trouble comes from those — the true infidels — who pull lines out of context from the Koran.”

Pascrell said the uprisings in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, and other North African and Gulf countries have nothing to do with Israeli-Palestinian conflicts and that Islamic extremists, notably from al-Qaida, were not involved in most, except perhaps Yemen. Al- Qaida today, he said, is active in the Yemen peninsula and in Pakistan.
read more here:

Ali Shahata-author of “Demystifying Islam”, Jeanette Friedman & Chuck Dicaro