Foods of Israel

Of course, I can't not dedicate an entire post to the yummy food I ate here. Here are the highlights:

Chocolate Rugelach

This is a hot, cream-cheese based pastry mixed with dark chocolate. Think chocolate croissant, but different. These literally melted in my mouth, so I brought a whole pack home. Go to Marzipan Bakery in Jerusalem!

Bamba

Oh man where do I even start. I can't believe I don't have an actual picture of this considering how much of it I ate. This is a very beloved Israeli childhood snack, essentially peanut butter puffs. Think Cheetos, but peanut butter. Even better - they don't leave your hands all sticky. Our tour guide bought so many of these for us to snack on.

Sachlav

This is considered a beverage, but is more like pudding. Served steaming hot, it was perfect on the colder nights we had in Israel. This particular one is from Roasters in Jerusalem, but this concoction is widely available. It's made of hot milk, orange blossom water, cinnamon, and vanilla. Then, it's topped with coconut shreds, pistachio, and raisins. Yum!!

Kanafeh

This is a Middle Eastern dessert that I got to try in Haifa. It's a super interesting, unexpected concoction. Unripened cheese is baked in dough and soaked in a sugary syrup. It's topped with angel hair and sometimes chopped nuts. I had no idea I was eating cheese until after I finished eating this dish - it tasted amazing!

Shakshuka

This is a very classic Israeli dish. We ate it at Dr. Shakshuka, a famous spot in Jaffa, Tel Aviv. The base is tomatoes, and it is topped with poached eggs.

Fruit Smoothies

As with many other countries, fruit stalls are super common in Israel. We stopped at 7sucos, a highly-rated fruit stall. The owner is super friendly and whipped up a mango, melon, coconut milk, banana smoothie!

Anita's Gelato

This is an Israel classic - the best ice cream in the country. They have 3 locations in Tel-Aviv, and we went to the one close to Sarona Market.