TASTES OF ISRAEL

By Gil Marks

     Where has all the leben gone?  There was a time, not so long ago, when an Israeli breakfast and dinner typically consisted of white bread, a few simple jellies, tomato-cucumber salad, perhaps a bowl of Shalva (a slightly sweetened puffed wheat), and a trio of leben (coagulated low-butterfat milk in plain, strawberry, and chocolate flavors).  Leben, however, has since been supplanted by yogurts carrying foreign pedigrees, Yoplait and Dannon, and sometimes containing exotic ingredients, notably lychee fruit and passion fruit.  Not only has leben nearly disappeared, but salads frequently contain more types of vegetables than tomatoes and cucumbers, while whole-wheat breads have become more commonplace and consumers can choose from a vast array of jellies and preserves, both local and imported. 

      Few aspects of Israeli society have changed more in the country’s six decades than its food, at least for a sizeable segment of the population.  Israeli food once consisted of a simple selection of local commercial products and produce sold from a cramped mahkolet (small market).  Today customers can decide from a vast assortment of goods, both foreign and domestic, from the orderly shelves of massive supermarkets and even many of the small markets offer a selection of yogurt and various upscale imports.  Unfortunately, not all of this change is for the best.

     I recently spent a day perusing the goods offered at three immense supermarkets as well as two malls located within a block of each other in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem.  One of these supermarkets is decidedly more expensive and upscale, one less costly and offering less of a selection, and the other in between.  In addition, I visited several small markets (mahkolet) in various settlements.  Among the food options in just the two neighboring Talpiot malls were numerous espresso bars, several dairy cafes, bakeries (one concentrating more on European fare and another on Middle Eastern delicacies), a gelato and smoothie store, fresh juice bar, Burger King, candy emporium, nut and spice stand, pizzeria, and also several grills.  Similar establishments can be found at the new Jerusalem central bus station as well as the malls now dotting most urban areas.  The variety in the three massive supermarkets was even more telling. 

     The late 1960s and early 1970s was a turning point in Israeli culture and economy, as foreign influences began to more pronouncedly infiltrate and incomes began to rise.  In the course of only a decade, Israel evolved from an underdeveloped nation to a marketing-oriented economy.  The year 1972 was a time when the three-story Mashbir in downtown Jerusalem opened as the city’s first department store.  Today, the building houses a discount establishment and much of the shopping is done in malls and Ikeas.  Israel’s first modern supermarket and currently the largest chain, Supersol, the brainchild of a group of Canadian businessmen, opened in 1958, but the concept only began to spread a decade later.  Subsequently, supermarkets largely replaced the neighborhood mahkolet among the middle class in most urban areas and in rural locations anyone with a car or a ride usually drives to the nearest supermarket for the bulk of their shopping.  Today, much of the Israeli diet is microwaved fare or frozen foods, ranging from pizza to Yemenite mallawah (flaky flat bread).    

     With the exception of one troubled chain, all of the Israeli supermarkets sell only kosher products, and Supersol recently even launched a small chain catering to the demands of the Haredi community.  Several other chains also target the Haredim (including sales of garments with tzitzit alongside the cans, bottles, and produce).  The Haredi market, estimated at 800,000 out of Israel’s 5.4 million Jews, represents about 8 to 10 percent of domestic sales.

     Not only has dining in changed, so too has dining out, even more dramatically.  In the early 70s, dining out in Israel all too frequently meant grills selling very tough steaks.  Okay, today Israel still has too many grills cooking up tough meat, but much of the steaks are of a higher quality and they are joined by an array of quality restaurants as well as dubious fast food outlets.  Israeli fast food once consisted of falafel and lamb shawarma.  (Today, almost all Israeli shawarma is inexpensive turkey, not lamb.)  Then American fast food chains began attempting to encroach on Israeli territory.  To be sure, many of these efforts proved unsuccessful, including Kentucky Fried Chicken and Carvels (ice cream) in the 1970s and more recently Starbucks.  Yet fast food outlets have transformed the way Israelis eat.  Richie’s pizza opened in Jerusalem in 1973, introducing Israelis to genuine American pizza, replacing tomato sauce on pita bread.  Also in the early 1970s, hamburgers in Israel were associated with a European chain, Whimpies, and were not very good or popular.  Today, the all-American McDonald’s, Burger King, and local imitators, such as Burger Bar, have conquered the land.  

     The Israeli market, due to the numerous ethnic groups contributing to the country, is incredibly diverse.  Tivol, a line of frozen meat substitute products, has emerged as a ubiquitous food.  There is American peanut butter alongside Nutella, dulce de leche, and several brands of Israeli chocolate spread.  There is Heinz ketchup alongside Osem ketchup, not to mention three brands of Dijon mustard.  There are Starkist and Chicken of the Sea brands of tuna alongside five different types of anchovies.  The average supermarket offers an array of rices: Thai, Indian, Persian, sushi, risotto, red, and basmati, all also in brown versions.  Israeli shoppers can buy an assortment of Pillsbury cake mixes and Duncan Hines prepared frostings.  There is Haagen-Dazs ice cream imported from France as well as local-made Ben & Jerry’s, which I found noticeably different from that item in America.  There are plenty of snacks and chips, although there were few imports in the latter category.  Elite has franchised the American name Cheetos, but Israelis did not generally take to the original cheese flavor and the brand now comes in a variety of flavors, such as peanut butter.

     Integral to Israeli cuisine are an array of Middle Eastern spreads/dips, including baba ghanouj (Lebanese eggplant with tahini), matbucha (Moroccan stewed tomato and pepper salad), muhammara (Turkish red pepper relish), and, most important of all, hummus (chickpea spread).  All of these spreads/dips as well as several other types are sold in every grocery, large or small, and the typical Israeli keeps at least a container of hummus in their refrigerator at all times.  Any guest in an Israeli home, at an Israeli wedding, or at almost any social function will most certainly be offered hummus as well as frequently other of these dips/spreads, always accompanied by pita and perhaps some more exotic types of breads and crackers.     

     Meanwhile, gastronomic articles once ubiquitous during the state’s first three decades have vanished or are nearly forgotten, items that were more than merely foods, but integral elements of Israeli life.  Once the orange drink Tempo dominated the Israeli soft drink market, while people stirred a fruit-flavored syrup (Petal) into cold water as the most common drink.  While there are still fruit syrups, Tempo no longer reigns, while all the major American soft drink brands are commonplace.  Supermarket shelves now feature an array of juices and nectars (with sugar), including pomegranate, cranberry, mango, and passion fruit.  Among the common current trends is the use of multiple flavors, such as strawberry-banana and raspberry-kiwi.  Unfortunately, there are only a very few 100% fruit juices, mostly from concentrate. Milk still comes in plastic bags and sometimes cartons, but it is now homogenized, no longer requiring vigorous shaking before use.   

     Unfortunately, health and sometimes flavor seems to be lost in much of contemporary Israeli dining.  The innocuous Shalva is largely an artifact of the past, replaced by assortment of cloying sweet cereals.  To be sure, supermarkets provide bran flakes, granola, Special K, and Nestles “Fitness,” but most of the aisle-long presentation of breakfast cereals is total junk, some even called oogi (cookies) as well as chocolate-covered oogis and chocolate cups filled with nougat.  In addition to local-made breakfast sweets, supermarkets commonly offer popular American cereals, including Trix, Frosted Flakes, Cap’n Crunch, Cocoa Pebbles, and Honey Nut Cheerios.  Cheesecakes, many of them unbaked, seem to be everywhere and very few of them are actually tasty.      

     Not all developments have resulted in a lowering of quality.     Israeli food companies have progressed significantly in the past few years, turning out products capable of attracting American and European taste buds as well as interesting those seeking exotic fare.  In the past decade, packaging has become also much more important, both the look and functioning.  Israeli companies strive for quality and cleanliness.

     Today, supermarkets feature a vast assortment of fruits and vegetables, including typically at least four varieties of apples, local Sharon fruit, kiwis, quinces, pitaya (also called dragon fruit, resembling a large pink artichoke), star fruit, and fresh dates.  Readily available is everything from fresh ginger, Belgian endives, and baby eggplants.  Sprouts are popular, including bean, alfalfa, radish, and broccoli.  Lettuce is still largely limited, but baby greens have recently become fashionable.  Israelis purchase few canned vegetables, but frozen ones, ranging from artichoke bottoms to French fries, are now prominent.

     Among the most impressive gastronomic developments of the past few decades have been the improvements in Israeli wine and cheese.  Previously, the socialist governmental policies strictly limited the amount of sheep and goat milk.  Consequently, Israeli dairies were always short of quality milk.  Although it will still require another few years for the goat breeders to begin catching up to the demand now that damaging governmental controls have been lifted, improvements in the types and quality of Israeli cheeses is already noticeable.  Even small markets offer Bulgarian feta, grated mozzarella, Brie, and Camembert.  The large stores commonly feature counters featuring a vast assortment of cheeses, both local artisan and imported.  There are also typically counters specializing in fresh meats, fresh baked goods, and olives (at least 15 varieties).  Olives are typically served as an appetizer in homes as well as in many restaurants. 

     An increasing number of boutique food businesses emphasize quality over quantity and expediency.  Not only cheese and wine companies, but increasingly others, such as Lahami bakeries, export to upscale European stores.

     It should be noted that these developments have not affected all Israelis.  The poorer segments of the society cannot afford the prices in the large stores and continue to exist primarily on subsidized items -– i.e. white bread, milk, and chicken — and tomato-cucumber salads.  There still exists a segment of the country that considers eating out to be a waste of money and would never set foot into a fast food outlet let alone an upscale bistro.  Nevertheless, most Israelis eat quite differently than their parent’s generation.  Very few actually seem to miss leben, Tempo, and tough steaks.