Food, glorious food

<------ Our Israeli kitchen staples
OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER: My kitchen at home would never be fouled by a jar of Skippy (tm)

This is my kind of culinary culture - everything is wholesome and fresh and not "dolled up" too much. A felafel, which is a huge meal in itself - comes with every kind of salad and topping you could dream of - costs 12 shekels (a little less than $3). Schwarma (lamb in a pita) is the same.

The Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox are now very into health food so you can get any possible thing in whole wheat; soy milk abounds. Even the tea and coffee taste better. I've been buying containers of humus and techina that I've been eating by the bowlful (no relation to why I could barely fit into my jeans this morning).

I notice that their fruit isn't quite as sweet - the oranges here (and I've eaten a bunch) are a little more tart than the American varieties. Dan said that was also true in Spain. Bananas have a starchier texture and are more subdued in color. We Americans are not much for subtlety.

Rosa is really enjoying the chocolate yogurt/pudding cups (dairy products here have twice as much fat as at home - my first year of rabbinical school, I gained 10 pounds from the cottage cheese alone) that come with little chocolate shavings. However, most of the different fruits I've brought home (with the exception of the green melons that she wouldn't eat during our last visit) she's declared, "gross."