The personal eating habits of Israelis

November 22, 2009 - 9:47 AM by David · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, Food, General, Israeliness, Life, health 

bamba‘What is there to eat?” is a common refrain in our household. And it seems to get harder and harder to find new, innovative dishes to make, as we continue to rely on old standbys. It looks like we’re not alone, as a recent study reveals.

According to statistics compiled for the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce,
Israelis are quite unadventurous in their eating habits. Milk is the most sold product in Israel with sales totaling about $303,214 million in 2009, which marks a 1.7% drop compared to last year. The study was based on 1,500 points of sale examined between the months of January and October, compared to the same period last year.

Coca Cola was the top soft drink in Israeli shelves, with sales totaling $118.4 million – a 2.1% drop compared to last year. According to the Ynet report on the study, bottled water recorded a sharper decline – 6.1%, mainly due to the pollution in the sources of water, which hurt two of the economy’s leading companies.

Dairy products and chicken top the list of what Israelis like to eat. Yogurt products were the biggest sellers, with $251 million being spent. But the biggest jump was in cottage cheese, in which a 10.1% rise was reported. Israelis also spent $231 million on chicken, a
2.6% rise compared to last year.

Other popular products were packaged spreads, like humous – $159.5 million, eggs – $135 million), soft white cheese – $118 million, and hard yellow cheese, which recorded an 8.4% rise in sales. Canned tuna also was more popular, with a 6.1% increase.

But if it seems like we eat relatively healthy, Israelis are certainly not forgetting their ’sweet’ and ’salty’ tooth. Salty snacks, like Bamba, which one man last week even broke into a convenience store to steal, set Israelis back $165.5 million) – down 1.6% compared to last year. Sweet snacks however saw a 3.4% rise.

So, I guess my household is within the realm of the average Israeli food consumer – lots of eggs, cheeses and chicken – and a fair share of Bamba. So why do I still keep hearing that refrain, ‘what is there to eat?”

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A new front in Lebanon?

January 8, 2009 - 1:38 PM by Nicky · 3 Comments
Filed under: Life, Politics, War, coexistence 

I must admit, when I went to buy milk this morning and saw the TV in our tiny village makolet (corner shop), tuned to the news and a picture of the Lebanon and Israeli border, I felt a deep sense of foreboding.

I think it’s what we’ve all been frightened of. That the battle in the south, will lead to a new front in the north. As we are all aware, those four or five Katuysha missiles fired at Nahariya this morning, wounding two people, could be a one-off protest, or they could be the opening salvo of a much worse conflict.

A katyusha attack on Israel.

A katyusha attack on Israel.


I’m one of those people living in the center of the country who have managed to be untouched by either the last Lebanon war, when missiles rained down on the north, or the Gaza crisis, when missiles rain down on the south. It doesn’t mean that it isn’t hard, however.

This morning I felt it acutely – a kind of moral and emotional exhaustion at the thought of what has been, and what is still to come – with Hizbullah, if not now (with elections in Lebanon in May), then later; and with Iran, looming.

I’m not alone. This morning Larry Rich, the director of development and PR at Emek Medical Center (EMC) in Afula, sent out one of his periodic postings. Every month or so, Rich sends out a report from his hospital, and I always read them with interest. Sometimes it’s about something he overhead, or witnessed at the hospital, often its heart-warming tales about Israeli Arabs and Jews who find that in the face of illness and sometimes death, they share an awful lot more in common than they thought.
This morning, Rich – like me – was in somber mood.

“Two hours ago four Katyusha missiles slammed into the northern Galilee, having been fired from southern Lebanon. It seems that the Iranian forces of darkness are eager to continue their relentless provocation of little Israel. Nobody knows, as these words are being written, just how far this latest act of unprovoked aggression will escalate.”

He goes on to report that EMC is now on high alert.

“An urgent meeting of our emergency preparedness staff led by CEO Dr. Orna Blondheim (still grieving from the tragic death of her nephew, Dagan Vertman, cut down in Gaza) took place as the debris in the Galilee was being cleared. Having unfortunate knowledge stemming from previous wars, EMC is preparing for the worst while hoping that sanity will prevail.
We have opened our bomb shelters and already designated a large shelter adjacent to several empty rooms that will be used (should we need it) by the children of our staff while they are working.

The rooms will be for games & activities while in the event of a missile assault, the children will be only steps away from a large bomb shelter. Our emergency medical supply stores are fully stocked and ready. Our physicians and nurses carry on with their healing, hoping that they will not be, once again, launched into harm’s way.

Adrenalin is rushing, anxiety sets in and we resign ourselves to an indefinite fate.”

A few days ago, the husband of a friend of mine volunteered for the reserves. He’s in his ’40s, and the father of four children. He was sent to the Lebanon border, where troops have been on alert since the start of the conflict with Gaza. “At least he’s miles from the fighting,” she told me then. I saw her briefly this morning. She looked worried.

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Time for sachlab!

November 2, 2008 - 6:21 AM by Harry · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Food 

Sachlab!I enjoyed my first sachlab of the season yesterday. As far as I’m concerned, the only places I truly enjoy a nice cup of sachlab are Abulafia in Jaffa and Mifgash HaShech in Jerusalem. Mifgash HaShech has been serving up Sachlab for many years (but certainly not 125 like Abulafia) in Talpiot and is open 24 hours a day, but not on Shabbat. They flirted with a more “upscale” location at one point but it proved to be an epic failure.

Silly me. There must be some of you who have no idea what Sachlab is. Allow me to explain. Take some vanilla orchid root and milk, mix it up, sprinkle on a generous amount of cinnamon, peanuts (sometimes walnuts) and coconut and you have a hot, creamy concoction that is Middle Eastern comfort food at it’s best. It’s the perfect drink for cold Jerusalem nights. Yeah, so the sachlab was alright. Not the best I’ve had, but satisfying. My friend said it was watery. I disagreed. While it wasn’t the thickest I’ve had, it definitely wasn’t kool aid consistency. I don’t like it too thick anyway. Thicker sachlab tends to taste very starchy. So I’d take a thinner sachlab with flavor over a sachlab pudding any day. And this sachlab certainly didn’t lack flavor. And doesn’t it look fantastic?

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