Food

I tried some very good food in Tel Aviv (I did not photograph most of it and I do not remember the names of most things...), but I have yet to eat really really good hummus from some very specific locations in Israel, so I will look forward to it.

Moving on to the food at the kibbutz, I will start with the schedule. They have meals in the dining hall, except Saturday night, when people are on their own. Last Saturday the EcoVols ate at Alex's house (technically outside his house) with his family and a some of his neighbors. They had "Mexican" food, which consisted of these interesting flour tortillas with rice, beans, meat, and fresh veggies. Overall it was tasty, but would be hard to find in Mexico/southern U.S. They also went around the table(s) and introduced themselves as well as mentioning the first thing that came to mind when they heard "Mexico." Most responses involved tacos, tortillas, sombreros, hat dance, and Speedy Gonzales. However, the last response (Frida Kahlo and Cantinflas) did I realize that Alex's wife is Colombian and actually knows about Mexico (like the fact that Mexico is not in South America, which most people here seem to think). She teaches art at the local high school and it was very interested to talk to.

Oh right, food...So one thing I knew about Israel (and Jewish culture) was that one of the rules about kosher is that they do not mix meat and dairy (they have basically 3 food groups: meat, dairy, and neither). So eggs and vegetables, for example, fall in the neither category (it actually has a Hebrew name, but I forgot what it was) so these things can be eaten with either meat or dairy. So the breakfasts in the dining hall are dairy-centered, lunch is meat-centered, and dinner is dairy-centered. And although they have a selection of food, I actually crave cheese/cream with meat, but its bearable, so far.

I have eaten hummus every day with my lunch and have yet to eat olives. Peanut butter is for children (I bought some for the EcoVols when I went to Tel Aviv) and we get to eat the goat cheese/yogurt that they make here. I have tried the dates that they grow here and they are delicious. There are a lot of herbs and tea leaves that we use. Also, I am sure that the kibbutz goes through a million watermelons a day, yummy! All of the food scraps are composted (in theory). There are also solar stoves where we make tea, coffee, and cookies (among other things in the future, I am sure).

Also, I have been told by many people that avocados are not in season now and I have yet to see any chile, so I can't make my amazing guacamole, but I might make tortillas (from Maseca) on Saturday.

Hummus with pita, in Jaffa

Eggs, with some tomato sauce and veggies, I forget the name, in Jaffa

Typical Israeli salad, in Jaffa

Typical Israeli breakfast (not my plate, notice the olives), in Jaffa

The solar oven in the Bustan

Breakfast one day (eggs, bread, veggies, lemons for lemonade, milk), at Lotan

Lunch one day (hummus, pasta, veggies), at Lotan

'Mexican' nachos in a restaurant in Eilat (the southern tip of Israel)

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