Cuisine · Israel

Israeli cooking

The best of five empires' cuisines layered into modern Tel Aviv. Shakshuka, hummus, chopped salad, charcoal-grilled meat.

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Apple Kugel (Jewish Baked Apple Casserole)

🇮🇱IsraelAdvanced

Sweet Dishes

Apple Kugel (Jewish Baked Apple Casserole)

Kugel is a Jewish baked casserole that sits somewhere between a cake and a pudding. This sweet apple version is built on a poured batter — oil, eggs, flour — that goes over layered apple slices and bakes until the bottom caramelises and the top turns golden. Denser than a charlotte, more forgiving than a tart. Traditional on Shabbat and holiday tables, pareve, and genuinely better the next day.

65 min310 kcal8 serves

🌿Vegetarian

🇮🇱IsraelMedium

Sauces and Dips

Baba Ganoush

Smoky roasted eggplant mashed with tahini, lemon juice, and raw garlic into a rough, creamy dip that's simultaneously rich and light. The entire point of baba ganoush is the char — the eggplant needs direct contact with flame or the highest heat your oven can deliver, so the skin blackens completely and the flesh underneath turns silky and smoky. I char mine directly on the gas stovetop, which takes about fifteen minutes of turning and gets the best possible flavor.

40 min130 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free

🇮🇱IsraelAdvanced

Flour and Confectionery Products

Challah (Braided Jewish Egg Bread)

Challah (חַלָּה, pronounced HA-lah) is the braided, egg-enriched bread of Jewish tradition, placed on the Shabbat table every Friday at sundown and baked for the major Jewish holidays. The word originally referred to the portion of dough consecrated as a priestly offering — a ritual still observed by many Jewish bakers before baking. As a bread, challah is remarkable: egg yolks give the crumb a warm golden hue; oil makes it tender and keeps it pareve (neutral — neither meat nor dairy, so it can be served at any Shabbat meal regardless of what is being eaten); honey provides a gentle sweetness. The defining ritual is the braiding — three strands at minimum, six at maximum — which is said to represent love, peace, and truth. For Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) challah is baked as a round spiral to symbolise the continuity of the annual cycle. The crust, glazed twice with egg wash, bakes to a deep, shining mahogany.

210 min290 kcal12 serves

🌿Vegetarian

🇮🇱IsraelMedium

Salads

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

A refreshing salad that harmoniously combines the crunchy texture and delicate flavor of vegetables with a light, creamy yogurt dressing.

18 min80 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian🥑Keto⚡Quick

🇮🇱IsraelMedium

Appetizers and Sandwiches

Forshmak

Salt-cured herring ground with tart apples, butter, and a touch of onion into a creamy, pungent spread. A staple of Jewish cuisine that hits every note — briny, sweet, sharp — all at once on a piece of dark rye bread.

23 min530 kcal4 serves

⚡Quick💪High protein

🇮🇱IsraelEasy

Sauces and Dips

Hummus

Creamy homemade hummus from chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and garlic — blended until impossibly smooth. Ten minutes from can to bowl, and it beats every store-bought tub I have ever tried.

10 min170 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick🌾Gluten-free

🇮🇱IsraelAdvanced

Breakfast and Brunch

Shakshuka

Eggs poached directly in a spiced tomato and pepper sauce. One pan, 30 minutes. The sauce does most of the work — build it properly and the eggs finish themselves.

30 min230 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick🌶️Spicy

🇮🇱IsraelAdvanced

Fish and Seafood Dishes

Stuffed Fish (Gefilte Fish)

An Ashkenazi Jewish classic — whole fish is cut into steaks, the flesh is ground with onion and bread to make a tender stuffing, then the pieces are gently simmered in aromatic broth until the cooking liquid sets into a golden jelly. Best served cold with horseradish.

180 min350 kcal6 serves

💪High protein🌶️Spicy

🇮🇱IsraelEasy

Sauces and Dips

Tahini Sauce

Simple tahini sauce — sesame paste thinned with water, brightened with lemon and garlic. Five minutes, no cooking. The trick is adding water gradually until it goes from thick paste to pourable silk.

5 min80 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick🌱Vegan

Nearby flavors

Four kitchens with overlapping ingredients and similar rhythms to Israeli cooking.

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