An Homage to my Vacation

Exactly a week ago, I returned from a trip to Israel. It was absolutely incredible-an experience I will never forget. In honor of the ten days I spent there, I will share my ten reasons why I love not only Israeli food, but middle eastern food in general.

1. chickpeas
Or for that matter, food made from chickpeas-hummus and falafel, to be exact. I still dream about my first Israeli falafel. It was perfect...crispy, but still moist on the inside and seasoned to perfection.

2. the spices
As a vegetarian, it is all too easy to fall into a routine of bland, unseasoned vegetables. That is not a problem with middle eastern food. The food is spiced to perfection, in that it doesn't sacrifice flavor in the process.

3. legumes
Vegetarians sometimes claim it's hard to find good sources of protein. That is not a problem in this area. Quite honestly, I've never seen so many different uses of legumes outside of Indian food.

4. iced coffee
Some may not consider this a food, but they have clearly never tried Israeli iced coffee. It is nothing like the American version, where it is brewed, cooled, and served on ice. Israeli iced coffee tastes almost like a milkshake.

5. Bamba
Popular Israeli snack food. It was first described to me as cheetos with peanut butter in the middle. There is one flavor that tastes like that, but there are a wide variety of flavors to choose from, ranging from chocolate bamba to barbeque bamba.

6. the tomatoes
I don't know why, but the tomatoes I ate in Israel were almost in a world of their own. They tasted as if they were picked the morning before I ate them.

7. pop rock chocolate
self-explanatory.

8. mango sauce
I discovered this on one of our last days in a shwarma restaurant outside of tel aviv. Everyone had their own way of describing how it tasted, but we all loved it.

9. Bagels
Let me tell you something about Israeli bagels: they are amazing. You can buy them off a food cart, where you are also given a small cup of spices to dip the bread in. It is absolutely amazing.

10. hummus
I ate it so often it deserves to be mentioned twice.