Algeria
Algerian Merguez
مرقاز
Merguez is a red, paprika-and-garlic lamb sausage with long-established Algerian, Tunisian, Moroccan, and Libyan forms.
western-asia
Israel
Explore 68 foods connected to Israel, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
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Israel Essentials
13 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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Traditional foods from Israel.
68 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
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Israel
Amba
עמבה
Pickled green mango sauce with fenugreek, turmeric and mustard, brought from Iraq and now poured into sabich and shawarma.
Lebanon
Arak
عرق
A clear grape spirit twice or three times distilled with aniseed, diluted with water and ice so it turns milky white.
Israel
Bamba
במבה
Puffed corn snack coated in peanut butter, made since 1964 and eaten by essentially every Israeli child.
Israel
Bissli
ביסלי
Fried wheat snack in hard, crunchy shapes, sold in flavours — grill, onion, taco, pizza — that map to distinct shapes.
Israel
Bourekas
בורקס
Puff-pastry parcels filled with salty cheese, potato or spinach, sold hot from bakery cases and eaten with a hard-boiled egg and pickles.
Morocco
Brik
بريك
Thin malsouka pastry folded around egg, tuna, potato, capers, or herbs and fried until the shell shatters.
Israel
Cafe Hafuch
קפה הפוך
Espresso built upside down — milk foam first, then milk, then coffee — served in a glass and the default café order.
Israel
Challah
חלה
Braided egg-enriched loaf baked for Shabbat, torn rather than cut, and blessed with salt before the meal begins.
Israel
Chamin
חמין
Overnight stew of meat, beans, barley or rice and whole eggs left in a low oven from Friday afternoon so it can be eaten hot on Shabbat without cooking.
Israel
Charoset
חרוסת
Paste of chopped fruit, nuts, wine and spice eaten at the Passover seder, meant to look like the mortar of Egyptian brickwork.
Israel
Chocolate Babka
בבקה
Yeasted loaf twisted around chocolate or cinnamon so that the filling shows in layers along the cut, baked in a tin.
Israel
Chraime
חריימה
White fish poached in a fierce red sauce of tomato, paprika, chilli, garlic and cumin — a Libyan and Tunisian Jewish dish eaten on Friday nights.
Egypt
Falafel
פלאפל
Soaked raw chickpeas ground with herbs, cumin and coriander and deep-fried in balls, packed into pita with salad, tahini, pickles and hot sauce.
Israel
Gazoz
גזוז
Soda water poured over fruit syrups and, in the revived market version, over fermented fruit, herbs and flowers layered in the glass.
Israel
Gefilte Fish
געפילטע פיש
Ground freshwater fish bound with egg and matzo meal, poached in fish stock and served cold in slices with its jelly and grated horseradish.
Israel
Golan Heights Wine
יין רמת הגולן
Cool-climate wines from volcanic soils at altitude on the Golan, the region that started Israel's shift to serious winemaking in the 1980s.
Tel Aviv, Israel
Goldstar
גולדסטאר
Dark amber lager brewed since 1950, the default Israeli beer and the standard half-litre in a Tel Aviv bar.
Israel
Hamantaschen
אוזני המן
Triangular filled cookies with poppy seed, date or jam in the centre, baked for Purim and eaten only in that week.
Israel
Hilbeh
חילבה
Fenugreek soaked and whipped with water until it forms a pale foam, mixed with schug and eaten with Yemenite breads and soups.
United Arab Emirates
Hummus
حمص
Chickpeas boiled soft and beaten with tahini, lemon and garlic into a smooth paste, swirled with olive oil — the shared Levantine staple claimed by every coast of the eastern Mediterranean, eaten with pita at any hour.
Eritrea
Injera
እንጀራ
Ethiopia's iconic sourdough flatbread, made from a fermented batter of teff flour and water, cooked into a large spongy round covered in tiny 'eyes'. It serves as both plate and utensil for nearly every Ethiopian meal.
Israel
Israeli Salad
סלט ישראלי
Cucumber and tomato diced very small with onion, parsley, lemon and olive oil, eaten at breakfast, alongside every grill and inside every pita.
Israel
Israeli Schnitzel
שניצל
A breaded and fried chicken or turkey breast cutlet, brought to Israel by Ashkenazi Jews and adapted with sesame seeds and paprika in the coating.
Israel
Jachnun
ג'חנון
Yemenite rolled dough baked overnight at low heat until it turns brown and dense, served on Shabbat morning with grated tomato, hard-boiled egg and schug.
Israel
Jaffa Orange
תפוז יפו
Thick-skinned, nearly seedless Shamouti orange that made the port of Jaffa an export name from the 1850s onwards.
Jerusalem, Israel
Jerusalem Mixed Grill
מעורב ירושלמי
Chicken hearts, livers and spleen chopped with onion and grilled fast on a flat plate with cumin, turmeric and coriander, then stuffed into pita or laffa.
Israel
Kishka
קישקע
An Ashkenazi-Jewish stuffed derma sausage of flour, fat and onions, traditionally cooked in cholent or Shabbat stews, brought to Israel by European Jews.
Nablus, Palestine
Knafeh
كنافة
Sweet cheese pastry with vermicelli-like kataifi dough, soaked in sugar syrup, often topped with pistachios, crispy shredded dough with melted cheese center and proper syrup soaking, a beloved Arab dessert.
Israel
Krembo
קרמבו
Biscuit base topped with a dome of whipped marshmallow and coated in thin chocolate, sold only from October to February.
Israel
Kubaneh
כובנה
Yemenite enriched bread layered with butter and baked overnight in a sealed pot until the crust darkens and the inside pulls apart in buttery sheets.
Jerusalem, Israel
Kubbeh Hamusta
קובה חמוסטה
Semolina dumplings stuffed with spiced minced meat, poached in a sour green soup of celery, chard and lemon — a Kurdish-Jewish Jerusalem speciality.
Israel
Kugel
קוגל
A traditional Ashkenazi-Jewish baked pudding of noodles or potatoes with eggs, sugar and cinnamon, brought to Israel by European Jews.
Israel
Lachuch
לחוח
Spongy Yemenite pancake cooked on one side only, its surface covered in open holes, used to scoop soup and stew.
Israel
Laffa
לאפה
Large soft flatbread baked against the wall of a taboon oven, used to wrap shawarma and grill meats rather than to be split like pita.
Israel
Latkes
לביבות
Grated potato and onion bound with egg and fried flat in oil for Hanukkah, eaten with apple sauce or sour cream.