ALIYAH IN OUR 60’s
FROM ARLINGTON HTS, IL
TO CAESEREA, ISRAEL
(Part 9)
L TO R: HOWIE GOODMAN, SUZANNE GOODMAN, AND
BEVERLY GOODMAN TCHERNOV NEAR EILAT, ISRAEL
Howie and Suzanne
Goodman were valued
members at Beth
Judea until they
decided to make aliyah
in 2009. The
Goodmans have
agreed to provide us
with a blog on their
experiences as new
olim in Israel. Though
we continue to miss
the Goodmans, we can
all look forward to
reading about their
adventures in Israel
through the blog.
Cooking in Israel
September and October are filled with holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. Of
course, holidays mean eating. Weekends mean eating. Did you know that it is a mitzvot to eat three meals on
Shabbat? Cooking and eating in Israel are an enjoyable part of life.
When my husband and I made aliyah about three years ago, I sorted through my huge collection of cookbooks
and only packed my favorites. Most of the recipes would work in Israel as the ingredients are usually available.
However, cooking, as many things, can be challenging at first. Following my old recipes here would usually be
more costly. And using the old recipes would mean often missing out on some of the special tastes and foods of
the Middle East. Anyone that has visited Israel will tell you that one of the best things here is the food. The
produce and dairy products here are major exports. After tasting cottage cheese and yogurt here you will never
be satisfied with them in the States. The final results of cooking and baking are often only as good as the
ingredients that are used in the preparation. Things like kugel and quiche are better simply because the dairy
products are more tasty, or as you would say in Hebrew, “tayim.”
One of the differences in following Israeli recipes is the use of metric measurements. My recipes had the baking
temperatures in Fahrenheit. The oven degrees here are in centigrade so they had to be converted. The Israeli
recipes are in kilos and grams. This was time consuming at first. When my neighbor asked for my oatmeal
cookie recipe it took us a long time to translate it into Hebrew and Israeli measurements. My recipes have many
notes scribbled on them.
Although the ingredients that I was accustomed to using might be available, they were often more expensive.
One way of cutting costs, as anywhere, is to use the in-season produce and cook the things that the “natives”
eat. The most common meat consumed in Israel is chicken. It is easy to see why chicken is so popular. Besides
being quite economical compared to kosher meat – it is very juicy and delicious. It is seldom packaged and is
sold whole at the butcher counter. They will cut it up any way you choose, and they trim the meat nicely. It
seems like Israelis prefer chicken skinless, and what they call schnitzels are very popular. Schnitzels are
chicken breasts that are skinless and are flattened. The one negative here with chicken is it is not plucked as
well. There are usually ends of feathers that need to be removed. The turkey consumption in Israel is the highest
per capita in the world. However, whole turkeys have to be specially ordered. Freshness is one of the reasons
that chicken and turkey are so much better here.
(continued on next page)
Page 18
ALIYAH IN OUR 60’s (continued from previous page)
Dairy products in Israel are exceptional. It is the land of “Milk and honey!” They are arranged in the store based on
fat ratio. I don’t recall ever seeing no-fat milk here. The milk starts at 1%, and 3% milk is common. It was hard to
break that habit because 3% is good. The creams go from 10 to 38% fat. We kept looking for sour cream, which
isn’t found here. The equivalent of sour cream is shamenet. It is creamy and rich. Israeli children seem to drink lots
of chocolate milk or Shocko. If you visit Israel don’t miss out on drinking Shocko. It is sold in little plastic bags, and
in order to drink it you tear off a little corner to squeeze it into your mouth. Another “not to be missed treat,” believe
it or not, is a Milky. This is a container with chocolate pudding and whipped cream on the top. Dairy products here
are not homogenized as in the States. They don’t stay fresh as long but that isn’t a problem. They taste so good
that they don’t last long.
Meat here is expensive. We recently had some very good steaks. They were beef filets that we barbecued with no
seasoning. Unlike other beef that we have literally invested in, they were very tender. The price was 220 shekels
per kilo, which would be approximately $25 a pound. Other cuts of beef start around $7 a pound and are ground or
stew meat. Lamb is pretty much the other choice and is far more costly. Because of the limited choices we eat
more chicken and fish. Most of the hot dogs here are chicken. Sometimes we go out of our way to Meatland in
Ra’anana where they sell kosher beef hot dogs, corned beef, and other imported meats. They sell other things from
“from your country of origin,” such as cake mixes, pancake mix, and canned soups.
The fish is usually very fresh. A shuck, or outdoor market nearby, has fish so fresh that some of them are still alive!
We enjoy tilapia, or St. Peter’s fish; salmon; and a white fish, Denise. Fortunately, our house is almost next to the
Mediterranean Sea, and our son-in-law sometimes brings fish that he has gotten spear fishing. Many of the fish in
the stores are caught right off the shore or are raised at fish farms nearby.
Israel is a major source of produce for Europe. In the summer the grapes start higher priced and tart and as the
season goes on they become candy sweet and cheap. Another delicacy is figs, which are in season in late
summer. They are very sweet and yummy. Pomegranates come on the market in September. They also start out
tart and sweeten as the season progresses. We love pomegranates, and I have found a quick and easy way to get
the fruit separated. Just cut off the top and hold in a bowl of water as you tear apart and shuck off the seeds. The
peel and white stuff come to the top, and the seeds go to the bottom of the bowl. As they would say here, “Chick,
chack!” The one disappointment in produce is celery. Because it takes a lot of water to grow, and as we have a
water shortage, the celery is pretty sorry looking. It is skinny and dry. But if one watches the changes in the
seasons they can learn to buy the things that are in season that are cheaper and better. We are discovering new
fruits here, and there are some that we still can’t identify.
Howie is a big fan of soup. Cold soups like gazpacho are great in the hot summer months. Cold soups with cream,
such as vichyssoise, could be made if one could find parve chicken broth. However, I haven’t yet been able to find
it. Soup is great because it can be made with cheaper cuts of meat, fresh produce, and chicken. As the weather
cools off I look forward to making soups again. Not Israeli but an excellent variation of chicken soup is Thai hot
chicken soup. It is chicken soup made with coconut milk and tastes like the soup at Lemongrass Restaurant. It is
simple to make. Just sauté onions, garlic and ginger, add and brown chicken pieces, water, peppercorns, lemon
grass, cilantro, onions, celery, and carrots. When the chicken is tender season with bits of hot pepper, red pepper
flakes and add coconut milk. Heat and serve with rice.
The favorite salad here seems to be Israeli salad. (Go figure!) Israeli salad is different combinations of chopped
tomato, cucumber, peppers, and onion. Chickpeas can be added, however, they usually aren’t used here. The
dressing is chopped parsley, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. It is often part of breakfast along with olives.
We have an olive tree in our backyard. Last fall, I tried to make pickled olives. After buying three big glass jars at
Ikea I went to work with the preparations. It was very time consuming as one needs to cut little x’s in the top of each
olive. Then you soak the olives in salt water in the jars and store away from light. Every couple weeks you need to
rinse and change the salt water until they absorb the brine. After around two or three months of this you add
seasoning, such as herbs or garlic to the jar and wait some more. Bottom line, mine didn’t work! They were super
salty, and I threw most of them out. However, our daughter has had very good success in olive making. Olives are
not the healthiest thing to be eating due to all the sodium so maybe it is a good thing that I was a failure at olive
making. In the future we plan to just buy them.
(continued next page)
The Word November 2012
Page 19
ALIYAH IN OUR 60’s …from previous page
Kumquat marmalade, made from our kumquat tree, was a huge
success. Some enjoy eating kumquats, which are like tiny
tangerines. Last fall I made marmalade that was nice for eating
and giving. Aside from the time spent seeding and dicing, it was
very easy to make.
Bread here has been our downfall. When we lived in the States I
made challah quite often. However, here it is so good and easy to
just buy it fresh out of the oven at our local store. The pita bread is
sometimes warm in the bag.
Every week there are recipes in the Jerusalem Post magazine that
are fun to try. We love this paper for lots of reasons, not the least
of which is that it is in English. The recipes are good because they
are in tune with the holidays and the produce of the season. This
week there was a chicken recipe made with cilantro and figs that I
made and will make again. Often they are so much work that I
don’t have the patience and skills. However, they are a good way
to get into the ingredients and seasonings of Israel. Popular
seasonings are cumin, turmeric, and coriander; it is great to use
zahatar to spice things up.
The traditional phrase here is, “be tay a von,” which is similar to
“bon appetite.” Hope you enjoy some of these Israeli foods as
much we do.
Every month, we would like to have an example of trying to use
Hebrew (Ivrit) when you are new to the language. Liat Collins, a
writer for the Friday insert of the Jerusalem Post, has listed
examples of trying to use Hebrew. One woman, who was in Israel
for the first time and had taken some basic Hebrew in the United
States, asked for the following: I want a "kelev Cham.” The person
behind the counter looked at her as if she was crazy. In Hebrew
you would say "nikneek," which means "sausage.” She said a "dog
that was hot”-- totally literal use of words that don't translate to
Hebrew.
We hope you enjoy the fourth
installment from the Goodmans,
who have graciously agreed to blog
Shalom.
for our congregation their
experiences as Olim in Israel. If you
there are specific topics that you
Howie and Suzanne Goodman
are interested in hearing about of if
you just want to stay in touch with
Howie and Suzanne, you can reach
them at: HOWIEG@aol.com
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Page 20
The Word November 2012