Day 22: Israeli Cooking Class (July 3)

With not much time for a sit-down breakfast before our market tour and cooking class, we walked to the bakery on the corner closest to where we are staying, the one that happens to have Julia's favorite croissant.  Rachel put together a sample platter of little pastries to try and after we had eaten all of those I suggested we each get another of our favorite one.  Jim said that was a bad idea but I utterly disregarded his opinion and gave Rachel money for one more treat for me and her.


Feeling satisfied, we walked to meet our guide/instructor for the day - the lovely Yael (organization Eat and Meet Jerusalem - I HIGHLY recommend).   She walked us back into our neighborhood, where she also lives, because she explained before you can understand the history of the market, you have to understand the history of this neighborhood.  I had just been saying I really want to know more about this cool place we are staying (see blog from a couple of days ago when I said just that).  We learned that this cluster of neighborhoods were actually separate communities built around courtyards by different sects of people looking for space outside of the Old City in the late 1800s.  Over the next couple of generations, the communities started to meld together and it became more of a true melting pot.  Today, as you walk through the winding streets it is hard to tell when you have moved from one neighborhood to another.  It has become more gentrified in recent years and though the buildings are still old and run down, it is a lively area with splashes of color and flower boxes too.

With the rise of these communities outside of the Old City but on the main road into the city, Arab merchants began to stop outside to sell their goods.  Over time, the area where they stopped developed into a very important market in Jerusalem: Mahane Yehuda Market.  She took us into the market (the same one we have walked through nearly every day since we arrived) and proved how much more helpful it is to see it through a local's eyes.  This was such a great way to spend our last day, but perhaps it would have been an even better way to spend our first day!  She took us first to what she says is the best bakery in the market and we were happy to see it was the same one Rachel had stumbled into on our very first morning here.  Yael pulled out some treats for us to sample, and right then I knew that Jim had been right.  I was so full from breakfast!  But I persevered.

Yael next took us to what they call the pharmacist of the market, a stall with herbal medicinal juices and other such things, like leaves chewed in some culture that are illegal in the United States because their effect is similar to cocaine.  She had us try this lotion that you put just inside your nose to clear your sinuses.  None of us had congestion, but we could tell if we did, this stuff would clear it right up.  Jim tried a shot of tumeric with extra pepper and seemed unphased by the strength. 

She pointed out the beauty of the market in the stalls that coexist next to each other.  For example, right near a modern chain ice cream spot is an original market synagogue where men (minimum of 10) still gather multiple times a day to pray.   Older and newer stands, Jewish and Arab - I'm sure this is not without difficulty at times, but it seems to be a microcosm of the complexity of Jerusalem.  The old and the new was evident in the street art project that started a few years ago - modern looking murals but of the old Jewish guy who owns this particular stall.  She told us that the market only became a place to hang out (more than just a place to shop) after the Second Intifada in 2000 (which she was a child during) when a vendor trying to get people back into the marketplace (a very dangerous place to be at the time) started selling coffee hoping people would come to drink and socialize. And it worked.


Next we went to a tahini vendor who has a huge cold press stone crushing the sesame seeds and pouring the tahini out through a spout that you can sample from.  They have also mixed tahini with other ingredients to make over 20 different flavor combinations.  We liked the date honey tahini the best - Yael suggested to eat it simply over vanilla ice cream and I can imagine that would be amazing.

A nearby spice lady - who was actually from South Africa - let us smell/sample her interesting buckets of spices, dried flavorings for salads, granola, teas (crystallized sugars with tea leaves) and lots of dried fruits, including watermelon and strawberries.  We ended up buying some granola and two toppings that will taste great in salads.

The cheese maker guy had barrels of artichokes, olives, sun-dried tomatoes we sampled.  He also had many types of cheese -- we bought Bulgarian cheese as well as Labaneh (softer/wetter/ less fat cream cheese).

After the market overview, it was time to actually shop for our ingredients.  She took us into the Arab section of the market where she thinks both the prices and the selection are better.  She taught us a few words so we could ask for a few things in Hebrew, which was super intimidating.  She must do this regularly with the same vendor because I imagine we only got the words somewhat close, but he knew we were looking for mint, parsley, cilantro and baby spinach. We picked up some tomatoes, red pepper, and some lemons, as well as a nice stack of pitas and a jar of tahini, and then we were off to cook!

We walked back to her house across the street from market, and she put us to work.  First we made dough pockets filled with cheese and spinach. Jim made a perfect dough, Rachel made the filling, and we all got to try our hand at rolling the dough into little mini calzones.  I think I get the most improved award which simply means my first one was terrible (though she had made it look very easy) but by the end they were presentable.  The trick is not to overwork the dough with your fingers but use only your palms. 

Then I got to make shukshuka!  And I must say we have sampled this dish in practically every restaurant we've eaten and this recipe was really great!  We chopped herbs for tabouleh.  Jim made hummus, Rachel made the falafel batter and she and I formed them using a cool falafel making tool and deep-fried them in oil.   It was a feast!!  I think we were supposed to make a dessert but we could barely move after eating all that food so instead finished with figs we had bought in the market topped with cheese and had tea with mint.

We had more great conversation over lunch with lots of history about the region (she even brought out maps as visual aids to help us understand better) and personal stories of growing up in Jerusalem.  Yael had a lot of really thoughtful things to say.  It really struck me when I asked if she felt safe here -- which I meant just walking down the street -- she said the answer was yes, she feels safe, and that it is a safety that she doesn't feel guilty about or for which she needs to apologize. At the same time, she doesn't like that her safety is a result of living in a fortress, and she hopes one day her safety doesn't come at the cost of someone else's freedom.  She served in the army (as everyone does) but was in the "education unit" which means that she was essentially a tour guide for the soldiers and helped them understand the history of this area, which is when her love of her country was solidified.  And then she became a tour guide for tourists -- so we really hit the jackpot in terms of her knowledge.  And, in terms of her balance. She acknowledged her bias as a Jewish (secular) woman and was careful to always point out that we were hearing her narrative.  For example, she acknowledged that while she keeps referring to the War of Independence, others here call it the "Catastrophe."  As you can imagine, I could have talked to her all day, but eventually we let her get on with her day and wandered back through our wonderful neighborhood to our apartment. 

From there, we went back to our place briefly to drop things off, and Jim went to the Israel Museum (to see the Dead Sea Scrolls) while Rachel and Liz walked back through the market with our new found knowledge.  We returned to the "pharmacist" and bought the sinus-clearing, muscle relaxing green stuff, found a falafel-shaping gadget, stocked up on dried pineapple and got a half-kilo of the best dates in the market.  We had a drinked and watched a little soccer until Julia got off of work and we met her in the market's biggest candy store. 

When Jim returned from the museum, we walked to dinner at Nagil's, a vegan restaurant Julia had found during her first week and wanted to show us.  As is our habit, we ordered Shakshuka and only when it was brought to our table did we remember the restaurant was vegan and so the main ingredient eggs were replaced by polenta and something white. The entire meal was delicious including the Yamburger ("Damn Burger" in Pink Panther speak).

Then Jim and Rachel went to grab some baklava (and other sweets) for dessert, as we all made our way back to watch England and Columbia duke it out in the World Cup (well, Julia had a conference call to be on for her work).  We had really spread out over the 12 days we were in this airbnb and had to get everything packed back up since we were heading to the airport early the next day.  Jim flying that far to spend just four days with us seemed crazy at first but we packed a lot in and I'm so glad he got to see it too. What a fabulous trip we've had!