I am back from Israel and have so much to share! My full album is posted on facebook, but I want to share some food highlights here. In this post I’ll share one of my favorite discoveries in Israel: the ubiquitous juice stand! I have always wished that there would be more juice bars in America. Particularly in California, along the beach towns, it seems like it should be easier to get a quick cup of fruit or veggie juice. The options, however, are limited: Whole Foods, Robeks, or even pricier gourmet juice bars downtown. The 100 degree heat has inspired the Israelis, on the other hand, to have a juice stand seemingly on every block. There was fresh juice in restaurants, cafes, coffee chains, and juice stands.
First of all, have you ever seen a papaya this big? We saw piles of these huge fruits in another market:
These stands are the Israeli equivalent of your hotdog and soda vendor. But so much more beautiful to look at:
Rachel and I decided to quit our careers in America and work in one:
These stands were heavy on fruit, but a number also had vegetable options.
Another great discovery was “lemonana.” Lemonana is fresh squeezed lemon juice blended with fresh mint leaves, ice, and sugar. When it’s 100 out and you’ve been exploring on foot all day, lemonana easily becomes an obsession. Luckily, it’s also available at many restaurants, coffee shops, and sometimes even juice stands:
Rachel discovered iced schoko, an ice-blended chocolate milk:
The Shuk, or marketplace, was another food adventure. Loud, crowded, and filled with cats and flies, but chock full of fresh food for great prices.
There was freshly baked bread:
I didn’t take pictures of all the wonderful produce and cheeses. However, we bought fresh ingredients to recreate an amazing salad we shared in Tsfat that contained lettuce, pear, apple, cucumber, tomato, and Tsfat cheese.
The produce in the following picture cost an equivalent of 13 cents. For the record, other food items cost a similar price to their US prices. Produce is simply much cheaper in Israel, and much of the world. In fact, we asked for one red pepper at one stand, and the man waved his hand and said that one was free. This seemed less a favor and more an actual estimation of its price.
Here’s the recreated salad:
Much more to share, but for now I’ll sign off with a picture of us with a our new friend:
