Skip to main content

Israeli street food – the magnificent and humble boureka

The square shape of the bourekas tells us that they are filled with a potato filling One does not have to spend a long time in Israel to get your first introduction to a boureka. These savory stuffed pastries are everywhere You'll find them for breakfast in hotel dining halls, in countless bakeries and coffee shops, on picnics and even at restaurants that only serve bourekas. They are often eaten in Israeli homes as part of a 'light' or diary meal in the evenings. (Most households in Israel usually serve the large cooked meal at lunchtime.) More often than not, bourekas are also an integral part of the wonderful Friday or Shabbat brunch table. To be really honest however, you basically eat a boureka whenever you encounter one. They are that irresistible. If you stop to grab a quick coffee at a coffee shop, the comforting smell of the bourekas will convince you to upgrade to a 'café ve'ma afe' (coffee + pastry). Wandering through street markets, the sight of fres

The Blasting Taps

The Blasting Taps by Marina ShemesH 

Water tap on the Ya'ala Mountain

Israel is a hot country (except for ten days in the winter!) and children from kinder garden age are taught: If you go out, bring a hat and a water bottle. All the parks and public spaces have a water cooler. You will even find a water cooler, with disposable cups, in banks, medical centers and libraries for the use of the patrons.

And on hiking trails you will often a tap such as the one in the photo. These taps have the sweetest, coolest water and hikers will drink their fill and then fill up their water bottles before they continue with their hike.

That is all wonderful, isn't it? The only problem is that these taps point upwards! As soon as you open the tap, you are blasted (NOT merely sprayed) with a shot of ice cold water right in the face or chest! Much to the amusement of onlookers. And believe me, there is always somebody watching when they should not. If you wear a white T-shirt, be extra wary! :)

 Opening the tap just a little bit does not help. The tap is either closed or open 100%. And good luck trying to fill your water bottle, you have the catch the water on it's downwards arch - but only after you figured out the general direction of the spray, the upwards and downwards trajectory arch AND water velocity. In some cases a physics degree may be needed!

If you ever come across one of these taps, feel free to drink the water (it is safe) but be warned: These taps BLAST!





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The wild mustard flowers of Israel

The wild mustard is growing yellow and everywhere in Israel at the moment. But not the kind of mustard that you eat with ketchup on your hotdog! Wild mustard as in wild mustard plants! :) I am talking about  Sinapsis Arvensis , a tiny yellow flower that grows in masses in fields, along road sides and abandoned building sites. Up close the wild mustard flower does not look like much - a bit on the puny side actually. But just come across a field filled with mustard flowers and you will be enchanted - just as I am every spring.

Israeli street food – the magnificent and humble boureka

The square shape of the bourekas tells us that they are filled with a potato filling One does not have to spend a long time in Israel to get your first introduction to a boureka. These savory stuffed pastries are everywhere You'll find them for breakfast in hotel dining halls, in countless bakeries and coffee shops, on picnics and even at restaurants that only serve bourekas. They are often eaten in Israeli homes as part of a 'light' or diary meal in the evenings. (Most households in Israel usually serve the large cooked meal at lunchtime.) More often than not, bourekas are also an integral part of the wonderful Friday or Shabbat brunch table. To be really honest however, you basically eat a boureka whenever you encounter one. They are that irresistible. If you stop to grab a quick coffee at a coffee shop, the comforting smell of the bourekas will convince you to upgrade to a 'café ve'ma afe' (coffee + pastry). Wandering through street markets, the sight of fres

Sarah Aaronsohn - the 100 year-old heroine of Zichron Yaakov

Wikipedia Public domain Well, actually she has been around for more than a 100 years now. Sarah was born on the fifth of January 1890 and in 1917 died from the gunshot wounds of an attempted suicide. Our common home town, Zichron Yaakov, recently held the 100-year old anniversary of her death. In the suicide note she wrote: “I no longer have the strength to suffer, and it would be better for me to kill myself than to be tortured under their bloodied hands.”