First time in Israel part 1

I went to Israel for a month with an old boyfriend who is Israeli in my early 20’s.  It was the first time out of the country without my family and I was EXCITED.  I was going for a month and had no idea what to expect.  I’ve never been too concerned with political situations being dangerous personally, for some reason that has never really scared me off from going somewhere.  I think it’s because I like to be where things are happening, seeing first hand what people usually only read about.  I need to get the full story, see the whole picture.  Make an opinion for myself based on hearing the stories first-hand and from the people who actually live them.  Not forming my opinions via CNN or some other biased corporation.  I also knew that I liked Israeli and Middle Eastern food from eating it in The States.  There is a great little gyro/falafel place in Miami owned and run by a couple of Israeli guys and it’s pretty authentically delicious. 

So my boyfriend (hi name was Alon), his friend and I took off for Israel.  We had a 12-hour layover in Amsterdam and needless to say, we took the train into the city and partook in some of the cafes and all that they have to offer…  I have to admit I really only remember canals, prostitutes in windows, a 24 hour dance club and my boyfriend throwing up in some alley.  Come on, we were all maybe 22 and in Amsterdam for the first time!   We stumbled our way back on the train somehow and onto the plane.  For the rest of the flight we just tried to sleep, the smoking and eating we had done in the Red Light district had taken it's toll.  We all agreed we felt like wanting to jump out of the plane windows, the rest of the flight the three of us tossing and turning.  It was late evening as we arrived in Tel Aviv and I was groggy, really out of it when we landed.  When the three of us got to immigration, I got nervous.  I was in a line by myself as my two compadres were in the line for Israeli nationals; I was in the line for foreigners.  It didn’t help that the German girl in front of me got randomly taken out of the line for some more in-depth questioning of the purpose for her visit.  Israel is pretty hardcore in security.  At that time the airport was the older one, I remember it being kind of dark, soldiers everywhere with machine guns with a look of intimidation.  Somehow I passed through the questions and was allowed to enter the country even though I was so groggy and had a difficult time understanding what they were saying to me

We picked up our luggage after passing immigration; my Alon’s mother and father were there to meet us. They were so welcoming and sweet.  The mother was small with short brown curly hair, the father tall with a large frame and balding grayish hair; both wore glasses.  They made a cute couple.  We got in the car and started driving north towards Karmiel , a smaller town north of Haifa in the mountains and closer to the border of Lebanon and Syria.  My first meal in Israel was on this trip from the airport.  We stopped at a roadside open-air restaurant.  I remember having a gyro wrap with thin flat bread; the cabbage, pickle and red beet condiments were so delicious.  It was love at first bite.  My life-long love affair with Israel had begun.

I was amazed from the start with the food and was very excited by the freshness of the produce.  All vegetables seem lifeless and watered down in America compared to produce in Israel.  I remember the cucumbers having such a strong cucumber taste, it was amazing and I will never forget that.  Alon's family was Polish-Israeli; the food his mother made at home was amazing.  Most mornings we either had hummus, flat bread with an assortment of vegetables like tomato and cucumber with mint or crepes and marmalade with a sweet cream cheese or a dish called shashuka.  Shashuka is a spicy egg dish made in a deep frying pan by stewing eggs in a spicy tomato sauce, chunky with fresh chopped tomatoes along with canned dice tomatoes.  It's eaten with flat bread and so tasty, what a way to start each day!!  The tomatoes I had in Karmiel were so unique.  They were quite large and had the shape of a bulb of garlic.  They would break off into chunks when you split them with your hands much like garlic cloves.  I have never seen tomatoes like that since.  Mint is also important in Israeli cuisine.  You never get lemonade without it; it’s often an herb you eat with hummus or other dips and cold dishes with flatbread.  For dinner we would have traditional polish dishes some nights and more Middle Eastern dinners other nights.  His mother was an excellent cook, making the best Polish goulash I’ve ever had!! 

It is Jewish custom to not cook or use any electricity from Friday at sunset until Saturday sunset.  It’s Sunday to Jewish people and meant for reflection, family time and prayer.  Mothers in religious families cook Friday night, something they can eat cold the next day or something that can cook slowly over night for the next day.  My boyfriend’s family was not religious, but wanted to show me something very traditional, so one Friday night his mother prepared Hamin to take to the middle daughter’s house she shared with her husband in the country about half an hour from Karmiel and eat all together, a Saturday family dinner.  Hamin is a traditional dish that is cooked very slowly over night, usually consisting of meat (his mother made beef brisket), potatoes, barley, beans and whole eggs in the shell.  It’s spiced with turmeric and cinnamon.  We piled in the car that Saturday and headed to his middle sister’s house.  It was a beautiful drive and every once in a while you would get a glimpse of part of an ancient Roman aqua duct or some other ancient ruin.  Her house was in the country and had a dirt road driving up to the door.  It was a very old house, cool and simple.  She and her husband were artists; she a puppeteer, he a painter.  Both were very nice and laid-back.  They had a wide piece of land with rusting old farm equipment scattered here and there.  We brought in the food and started setting up for dinner it was getting late.  We sat down to eat; the Hamin was laid out on the table in the heavy cast-iron pot.  Accompanying the main dish was flat bread, a dish of plump green olives, lastly a simple salad of diced tomato, cucumber, red onion, and lemon, olive oil.  The hamin was amazing and very rich.  I couldn’t eat much of it because it was so filling.  It wasn’t the most appealing visually, it was a very dark brown and even the eggs had turned a shade of the dark color from the long slow cooking and spices.  It was a great evening, in the country with a great family enjoying a delicious meal…

*personal photos of Israel