Two Israeli Foods

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  • #610727
    Bookworm120
    Participant

    In the time I spent in Israel, there were four edible substances I absolutely loved. They were *not* falafel, schwarma, mint soda, and petel.

    They were: 1) Mekupelet; 2) Charms Super Blow Pops; 3) this red candy filled with white starch; 4) and, an apparently mezonos bread thing with onions on top.

    Now, I can get my precious lollipops here in the States, and I can probably order “chocolate logs” from Oh Nuts! if I wanted, but I don’t know what the latter two are, hence I have no idea where to get them or whether I can make them myself. (If I make the starch candy myself, though, I might decide not to like it.)

    Can anyone please help me figure out what the red starch candy and the bread with onions on it are called? Thanks!

    #978454
    yeshivaguy45
    Participant

    Lechem Shum (Garlic Bread)

    #978455
    Outsider
    Member

    what is petel?

    #978456
    Bookworm120
    Participant

    @yeshivaguy45 – Thanks!!!! (Hm – I should be able to make that pretty easily then. I’m having a “duh” moment now. :D)


    @Outsider
    – It’s this thick red stuff that you dilute with water and drink. Eisov would like it. 😛

    #978457
    LevAryeh
    Member

    Petel is Ivrit for raspberry.

    Every food item in every single Israeli supermarket is either marked “Bita’am Petel” or “Bita’am Shoko”.

    Shoko is anything which has a vague resemblance to the color brown, and is a distant derivative of the word “chocolate”. It is a crime and insult to chocolate lovers and experts worldwide.

    #978458
    Bookworm120
    Participant

    @LevAryehBoy – Shoko is evil. They put it in BAGS, I ask you!! That is a crime to beverages worldwide, not limited exclusively to chocolate milk!

    In Israel, even cakes are polarized! They are either vanilla or chocolate flavored. I went to an Israeli kid’s birthday party, and got so excited to eat the beautiful cake, only to find out the hard way that it was “b’ta’am vanil.” Where’s the plain cake??????

    #978459
    writersoul
    Participant

    I think that they sell Mekupelet in most supermarkets. (Not sure if Oh Nuts! sells milchigs…?)

    Is the red candy with white stuff in it that sour cherry flavor licoricey type stuff? If so, that they do sell in Oh Nuts! (my sis got it for yom tov).

    #978460
    LevAryeh
    Member

    Shoko spread is, unequivocally, the vilest of all shoko evils.

    Unsuspecting mothers feed their innocent young a dirty brown brown paste smeared on bread. The generation grows to become familiar with it, then bear it, and ultimately – gasp – enjoy it. The horror! The horror!

    #978461
    Bookworm120
    Participant

    @writersoul – Oh wow, no kidding! Yes, that’s it! Your sister is incredibly lucky. I hope she liked ’em! 😀

    @LevAryehBoy – It’s like putting a chocolate bar between two slices of bread and calling it a nutritious sandwich. I tried it once, and, while it was alright, I would not eat it every day for breakfast or lunch. It just isn’t healthy.

    Isn’t it annoying that Israeli bread isn’t square, so it can’t fit in a regular toaster?

    #978462
    LevAryeh
    Member

    I’ve never seen square rye bread in America either.

    Anyway, maybe it’s the toaster company’s fault and not the bakery’s fault.

    #978463
    mobico
    Participant

    Number three is Chamtzutzim – a relative of sour belts.

    #978464
    mobico
    Participant

    I think that they may be called sour sticks.

    #978465
    Bookworm120
    Participant

    @LevAryehBoy – Hm…. True. Those panini maker things are pretty fun to use, though.


    @mobico
    – I’ve had those too; I think I’m talking about something else. What’s your favorite sour stick flavor? I like the green ones the best. 🙂

    #978466
    rebdoniel
    Member

    Apparently, chocolate spread on bread is not unique to Israel. I know many Italians who have eaten nutella on Italian bread.

    Israeli nutella is Kosher for Passover for ochlei kitniyot, and it has become a regular part of our Pesach routine. I enjoy it sandwiched between matzot or it goes really well when used to make sandwich cookies for Passover (I smear a teaspoon between 2 Oberlander’s chocolate lady fingers).

    I also tried Elite Passover spread this year, but it tasted like chemicals and booze. Feh.

    #978467
    Bookworm120
    Participant

    @rebdoniel – No kidding – that is … interesting! But doesn’t all Passover food taste like chemicals and booze? 😛

    And all of the cereals taste distinctly of tapioca. Is anyone else petrified of Magic Max? He looks scary to me.

    #978468
    rebdoniel
    Member

    Passover cereals made with matzah meal aren’t the worst, to me. I ate Blanchard and Blanchard granola and Savion Crunchy O’s this year, both of which weren’t bad. I actually very much enjoy Oberlander’s passover desserts, especially the rainbow cake, as well as desserts made with almond flour and almond paste. Osem cakes aren’t bad. Some of the pesach foods are good, others terrible.

    The non-kitniyot cereals, non-gebrokts cereals probably are made with tapioca starch, since that is acceptable across the board for Pesach.

    #978469
    ari-free
    Participant

    Buying fake Pesach food is usually a bad idea because nobody wants to eat it after Pesach. I like to make real food so for breakfast I’d make baked sweet potatoes, bananas, walnuts, raisins and maple syrup.

    #978470
    Bookworm120
    Participant

    @rebdoniel – Oh, I love the rainbow cakes! Crispy-O’s are good, and sometimes a different flavored O gets mixed in. 🙂


    @ari-free
    – So true. That sounds good!

    #978471
    rebdoniel
    Member

    I find that Oberlander desserts are as good as the year-round desserts. I also think that Pesach raspberry jelly rings are as good as the year round ones. I also had these Absolutely gluten free potato starch crackers (OU-P) that were really good this year.

    I do think trying to eat natural for Pesach is also a great idea.

    I actually did make a sweet potato kugel/pie/breakfast/dessert this year that was so good that I made it 2 shabbatot since (sweet potatoes, maple syrup, a little grated ginger, cinnamon, allspice, raisins, vanilla extract, eggs, toasted pecans, a little brown sugar, and baked. My mother likes marshamallows on top, as this reminds her of Thanksgiving).

    On the topic of Israel, I was actually reasonably pleased with the quality of nosh from Israel this Pesach (bamba, bissli, etc.) But natural eating is a good idea for many reasons, not only on Pesach, but all year round, as well.

    #978472
    yeshivaguy45
    Participant

    rebdoniel, I’m not trying to hurt you in any way shape or form. Either you’re sefardi or they changed the recipe of bamba because bamba is made from peanuts which is kitniyos.

    #978473
    rebdoniel
    Member

    Maybe they follow the shita of a rabbi by the name of Moshe Feinstein that peanuts aren’t kitniyot? (I am Sephardic, by the way, but my understanding of the minhag of kitniyot, as Reb Moshe understands in his teshuva, is that the ban only applies to foods which were around at the time when the minhag began in the 1300s. According to his definition, peanuts shouldn’t be banned for Ashkenazim, nor should corn or potatoes, since despite the fact that people make flour from these foods, they are New World foods that only entered Europe with the Columbian Exchange in the 1500s and onwards, far after the ban on kitniyot took effect for Ashkenazim).

    #978474
    yeshivaguy45
    Participant

    I did hear of that shita but I believe the Minhag Haolam is that corn and peanuts are kitniyos. (If potatoes would be kitniyos, Ashkenazim wouldn’t really be able to eat anything!) If I remeber correctly, the Kosher L’Pesach symbol on bamba says that it’s kitniyos.

    #978475
    rebdoniel
    Member

    From what has been documented, until about 40 years ago, peanut oil was used on Pesach. I guess this was another chumra that acquired mass appeal in recent years. Being that I’m Sephardi, in any event, these restrictions are inapplicable towards my life and circumstances.

    #978476
    Bookworm120
    Participant

    oh thank goodness potatoes aren’t kitniyos! Yup, I gathered you’re Sephardi, rebdoniel. 🙂

    Bamba isn’t really one of my favorite snacks, though. Peanut butter leaves a dry, sticky aftertaste.

    #978477
    writersoul
    Participant

    I believe the Chayei Adam wanted to declare potatoes kitniyos- I don’t remember exactly what the story was, but baruch Hashem that never happened!

    rebdoniel, Bookworm: so someone else also likes that rainbow cake? I love that stuff and everyone thinks I’m meshuga. I could eat a whole container full.

    Bookworm: so have you gotten your red candies yet? 🙂

    #978478
    rebdoniel
    Member

    Look inside the Chayei Adam. He says how people in his era wanted to ban potatoes as kitniyot. I’m curious as to what Ashkenazim did prior to the introduction of the potato.

    #978479
    Bookworm120
    Participant

    @writersoul – Yay! How about the colored fake fruit slices? I used to love them, but now that I’m not a little kid anymore, I’ve been disenchanted by the notion of sugar-covered food coloring in solid form. (But I’ve tasted some good ones year-round.)

    Nope, I haven’t bought ’em yet, but now I know where to find them! They look similar, really, really similar, although not entirely the same, but I do want to get some. Maybe for Chanukah or something. 🙂

    #978480

    Yes, potatoes were almost declared kitniyos. The reason they weren’t was that, practically speaking, at that time we wouldn’t have been able to survive for eight days on a Pesach diet that didn’t include potatoes. Now I’m sure we could, although it would be annoying (not that I’m advocating for this or anything!)

    #978481
    rebdoniel
    Member

    Those fruit slices (Rokeach used to make them), the raspberry jelly rings, and Oberlander rainbow cake are things I look forward to each Pesach. Oberlander’s sandwich cookies are also really delicious.

    One other thing you may find an oddity: I make pignoli cookies for Passover, using Israeli passover almond paste/marzipan (if I can’t find it, I make my own using homemade almond paste from blanched Klein’s almonds), egg whites, sugar, Passover confectioner’s sugar, and pine nuts. Simple, naturally and inherently good for Pesach, and a taste of Sicily.

    #978482
    Sam2
    Participant

    yeshivahguy: The Minhag HaPashut until the 1970s was that peanuts were not Kitniyos. There was a bit of a political battle and, to quote a major Yeshivish Posek, “The Kashrus organizations caved to the Machmirim.” There are still many who in theory would hold that peanuts aren’t Kitniyos, they just won’t eat them because they don’t have a Hashgacha. Thus, some Rabbonim are allowing Ashkenazim to but food with an OUKitniyos/Batatz L’ochlei Kitniyos if peanuts as the only problematic ingredient.

    As an aside, R’ Moshe’s T’shuva is based on an incorrect historical assumption. R’ Moshe says explicitly that the reason that potatoes are Muttar and corn is Kitniyos is that corn is an old world grain while potatoes are a new world grain. This isn’t true. Corn wasn’t introduced until the very late 15th century, when they found it in American. There are several ways to explain the fact that corn is Kitniyos and still hold of R’ Moshe’s general rule that nothing new can be added to the Kitniyos G’zeiros. However, the fact is simple that no one in their right minds would think that corn isn’t Kitniyos.

    #978483
    rebdoniel
    Member

    A person could eat peanuts in the shell (which are raw), no? I wouldn’t think nuts in the shell need hashgacha.

    #978484
    Sam2
    Participant

    Most peanuts are not totally raw. I think even in the shell they are at least toasted usually.

    #978485
    twisted
    Participant

    If y’all, come my way on pesach, here’s and invite for home made peanut butter, I buy in shell raw and roast them myself. I would serve corn on the cob, but here in EY, it a problem with bugs, and most corn is GMO bad stuff anyway.

    #978486
    sharp
    Member

    writersoul, Bookworm and Rebdoniel, I am hereby joining the “Pesach Rainbow Cake Club”. I’ll be happy to bring coffee for all. Out of all the Pesach goodies, I have got to say that the rainbow cake is still the best ever.

    #978487
    rebdoniel
    Member

    Twisted,

    I have an Ashkenaz friend who does the same as you (i.e./he eats corn on the cob, string beans, and peanuts on Pesach).

    If I were Ashkenaz, I’d be matir neder and follow the shita of those who permit eating kitniyot, anyways, at least those foods which shouldn’t technically be considered kitniyot, like corn and peanuts.

    I do the same as you, and purchase peanuts raw in the shell (the OU says, btw, that the only problem with peanuts roasted in the shell is that they’re treated with BHA, which is a derivative of kitniyot; R’ Y.E. Spektor writes explicitly that kitniyot derivatives, such as oils and corn syrup, are mutar for Ashkenazim). Homemade peanut butter is a lot cheaper than KFP almond butter or cashew butter, both of which cost $9 a jar, at least.

    #978488
    Sam2
    Participant

    I eat peanuts on Pesach myself (or would if I had any inclination to eat peanuts). But corn has been Nahug for 500 years not to eat. It started for a reason; it wasn’t a mistake. It might be a later Minhag, but it is just as strong a Minhag, even if the reason is just a quirk of history.

    And you can’t be Matir Neder to not eat Kitniyos. Real Minhagim don’t work like that.

    #978489
    rebdoniel
    Member

    Rav Elyashiv (see his haggadah, p. 12) says that if a Sefardi wants to change his minhag to stop eating kitniyos, than he has to be matir neder.

    Also, quite a few rishonim refer to refraining from kitniyot as a minhag shtus (Rabbenu Yerucham), a minhag mahmat taut (Rabbenu Shmuel miFalaise), or an unnecessary chumra which need not be followed (Baal haTurim). And the Rambam, Rosh, and Rivash hold that it is permitted (and perhaps even obligatory) to do away with this type of foolish custom.

    #978490
    yeshivaguy45
    Participant

    Sam2, According to what you’re saying, what’s wrong with having peanut butter on Pesach? I don’t know where you live, but wherever I go shopping for Pesach items, I won’t find kosher l’pesach peanut butter (or any other peanut products).

    #978491
    Rebbe Yid
    Participant

    “I have an Ashkenaz friend who does the same as you (i.e./he eats corn on the cob, string beans, and peanuts on Pesach).”

    I don’t understand–even if you hold that corn and peanuts aren’t kitniyos, and even if you hold that you can eat kitniyos raw (like you can eat wheat etc. raw), how can he eat cooked string beans? Isn’t that the most fundamentally problematic way to consume kitniyos–that if one ate wheat etc. the exact same way he’d be chayav kares?

    #978492
    rebdoniel
    Member

    The Rema, IIRC, doesn’t even count string beans among kitniyot. This is the type of mishegoss that explains why I chose to go Sephardic .

    #978493
    Sam2
    Participant

    yeshivaguy: There should be nothing inherently wrong with it. But you won’t find Kosher L’Pesach peanut butter with a Hashgacha so it’s a moot point. I would buy peanut butter with an OU Kitniyos for myself in a second.

    Rebdoniel: We get it already. You think Ashkenazim are foolish backwards people who are Apikorsim because we deny Chazal like Tosfos did. Why don’t you choose to be Jewish first? Then you can become a Sephardi.

    #978494

    You “chose to go Sephardic”? Isn’t your father Syrian to begin with?

    #978495
    rebdoniel
    Member

    Upon being mekabel torah u’mitzvot, I had the option to choose whether I wanted to follow Ashkenaz or Sephardic practices. In practicality, I follow Sephardic practice, daven Nusach Edot haMizrach b’yechidut, and conduct services in nusach Ashkenaz, since it’s an Ashkenaz place that pays me.

    #978496
    Bookworm120
    Participant

    Wow, I go away from the CR for a few days and I miss so much! 😀


    @sharp
    – Yes! We should start the Rainbow Cake Club!! (I actually tried baking a multi-layered rainbow cake for Shabbos Parshas Noach and it did end up coming out like Passover rainbow cake, except that I put grape jelly between the layers instead of chocolate.)

    @rebdoniel – Referencing one of your earlier comments about desserts, I did have Oberlander’s sandwich cookies last year and I liked them. Not bad for imitation normal cookies. 🙂

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