The Crembox

December 3, 2011 - 9:45 PM by · 4 Comments
Filed under: Business, Food, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

Did you catch this one yet? A Crembox — a small, metal dome-like box for the protection of one’s Crembo, the chocolate-covered marshmallow treat anchored on the bottom by a cookie.

It’s come out just in time for Chanukah, when Crembos generally enter the market, sort of as a side dish to the even more deadly sufganiyot, the jelly-filled doughnuts that are traditional Chanukah fare. According to local folklore, most folks tend to forgo ice cream during the cold, rainy months of the Israeli winter. There were years, in fact, when you couldn’t find ice cream at all during the winter. Enter the Krembo (as it can also be spelled.)

Krembo wrapped, and unwrapped

Krembo or Crembo, which means “cream-in-it,” was first developed by the Danes and brought to Israel as a homemade sweet in the 1940s, before entering mass production twenty years later. These days, Israelis eat about 50 million of the metallic blue-wrapped confections each year, some nine per capita during the brief October-through-February season, and many of them those made by local food manufacturer Strauss, which seems to be making the Crembox as well.

Vanilla is the classic Krembo flavor, although there are those who favor mocha – other flavors never succeeded with local palates. If you want a more gourmet version, Israeli pastry chef Carine Goren uses chocolate-covered crisped rice and Nutella spread for the bottoms of her Krembos, with white chocolate and mocha cream in the middle, covered with a crunchy chocolate casing. Other recipes go for a more traditional shortbread cookie bottom and a fluffy egg white-based middle.

Given the soft inside and firm exterior, some say that the Krembo represents the ‘New Israeli.’ I call it the pseudo Sabra.

Tags: , , ,

Cottage cheese sale

July 1, 2011 - 9:56 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Business, Food, General, Israeliness, Life 

(Credit: Virtual Jerusalem)

It’s a victory for the Facebook boycott of cottage cheese, and really, for cottage cheese consumers countrywide. One of Israel’s largest dairymakers, Tnuva, announced this week that it would be reducing the price of cottage cheese — which still only comes in one size — to NIS 4.55 from NIS 5.20, that’s the price sold to retailers, which allows them to offer it to customer for NIS 5.90 a container.

However, says Facebook Tnuva boycott initiator Itzik Alrov, the reduction isn’t enough, so the boycott is going to continue. In the meantime, Israeli supermarkets are making special offers on cottage cheese, two for NIS 10 at Shufersal; NIS 4.90 for the rest of 2011 at Rami Levy. And on the subject of dairy products in general, boycott organizer Alrov is planning on adding other dairy products to the list, including yogurts and yellow cheese.

So, gotta be proud of the power of the Facebook boycott, as it’s good to know we can force manufacturers to pay attention to what consumers are saying. Particularly when it comes to Israeli cottage cheese, which is the best. Even in the lower fat percentages, that stuff is creamy, bears no resemblance to the American equivalent.

So pick up some containers and celebrate! If you’re feeling particularly flush, consider making this recipe for fluffy cottage cheese pancakes from Whole Foods:

Serves 4

In these moist and tender pancakes, the cottage cheese adds quality calcium and protein. Serve with a bit of butter and maple syrup or, for a special treat, top with fig spread.

1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
4 eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
Canola oil cooking spray

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, cottage cheese, milk and oil. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and whisk until completely blended.

Spray a large skillet or griddle with cooking spray then heat over medium heat. Working in batches, form each pancake by spooning about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the skillet. Cook, flipping pancakes once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to plates and serve.

Tags: , , , ,

Cow chocolate

February 1, 2011 - 9:58 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Art, design, Entertainment, Food, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, tv 

This one comes by way of a friend who works at the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive at Hebrew University, and clearly gets some time at work to chuckle and guffaw at vintage reels.

In this Elite commercial circa the late 1950s, I would guess, the ‘shmartaf‘ — the then word for babysitter (which means children-watcher), although, interestingly, you’ll also catch the word ‘babysitter’ used in the commercial, is tied up by the kids while the parents go out for an evening of theater. Why? To gorge themselves on Elite chocolate, the ‘cow’ chocolate so beloved by Israeli children for generations.

Funny, no? Although it’s hard to imagine gorging oneself on Elite chocolate these days, however beloved the ‘cow’ may have once been. These days, Elite is owned by Strauss, the dairy company, and they even provide 60% cocoa chocolate, which is pretty good when you’re desperate for the deep, dark stuff. To get a sense of what Strauss and Elite produce besides chocolates, check out the collage advertisement created for Strauss by Israeli artist Hanoch Piven.

Tags: , , , ,

Wheat and dairy

May 16, 2010 - 8:36 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Food, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Life 

As Rachel wrote, Shavuot is around the corner, which means I have to start thinking about what I’m going to cook for this dairy-heavy holiday. Why all the dairy? A few possibilities: Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah, which includes the laws for keeping kosher, including the prohibition of eating milk with meat and slaughtering animals according to a certain method. So, when the Israelites received the Torah, they didn’t know how to prepare kosher meat and therefore ate a dairy meal to celebrate their receiving of the Torah. Another possibility is that the Torah, like milk, sustains the Jews. And, finally, the Israelites received the Torah after the miseries of Egypt, while on their way to the land of milk and honey. Eating dairy commemorates the sweetness of freedom and the promise of their new life ahead. And, perhaps, the whiteness of dairy symbolizes purity, like the Torah.

At the same time, we are a lactose-intolerant people. In fact, 75% of us are supposedly lactose intolerant and I am one of them. So while I don’t have a problem with all the dairy, I tend to stay away from all things cow-related and eat more sheep and goat milk products. And yet, and yet, what to serve for this festival holiday that celebrates cheesecake? In a country where the supermarket dairy shelves are simply groaning with dairy products? And where Strauss, one of the largest dairy concerns, puts out a Shavuot recipe collection in one of the weekend newspapers, in which each recipe contains at least three dairy products?

In brief, I’m not looking for a blintz souffle recipe, or even a cheesecake. I’ve got friends coming who will take care of that, as well as a chilled yogurt and cucumber soup and, the required blintzes, but savory, with mushrooms, not sweet with sugar and fruit. And, we’re going to make ice cream, even though I saw a flyer advertising Ben and Jerry’s ice cream at wholesale prices. It made me curious, but not enough to order any.

So you can imagine my relief when Weekend the Jerusalem Post Thursday magazine that is delivered to subscribers only, had an article from Phyllis Glazer extolling the virtues of eating grains on Shavuot, which is, after all, a harvest festival. The Shavuot season was also the time of the annual grain harvest, of barley, wheat and first fruits, and she was pushing grain recipes, in particular, a recipe for bulgur ‘kubbeh’ stuffed with raisins and onions.

2 cups fine bulgur
4 cups water
1 T olive oil
1 t salt
2 t cumin
1/4 t cardamom
1-1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1-1.5 cups raisins
1 medium onion, finely chopped
yogurt for serving

Pour bulgur, water, olive oil and salt into a pot and bring to a boil, removing any foam. Lower heat to medium and cook until water is absorbed, about five minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp. cumin. Let cool slightly. Slowly add a cup of flour and knead with wet hands, adding more flour only if necessary to create a dough that stays together. Using damp hands, form 24 oval shapes and place in an oiled-and-parchment-paper-lined baking pan. Cover ovals while preparing filling.

Filling: Saute onion in frying pan until onion begins to brown. Add raisins and cook another minute, then add rest of cumin and cardamom.

Take one of the ovals in the palm of one hand and use your finger to create a deep furrow the length of the kubbeh. Add a teaspoon of the filling and pinch along the line to enclose it, then roll the oval between your palms to return it to oval shape. (Phyllis says you can make patties as well.)

Brush the tops of the kubbeh with olive oil and bake in a preheated, 350-degree oven for 35-40 minutes until golden, turning once or twice during baking. Serve with a yogurt sauce.

I haven’t made them yet, but I’m planning on it. I’ll let you know how they turned out.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Israeli travel

December 17, 2009 - 3:39 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Food, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life 

Strauss in Cape Town Pick 'n Pay

Strauss in Cape Town Pick 'n Pay

Welcome back to me from the land of South Africa. We just spent a very happy ten days in Cape Town and along the Garden Route, visiting friends, seeing wild animals — even along the highway…baboons! — hanging out on the beach and improving the sandal tan lines on my feet. I didn’t think I’d appreciate warm weather after such a short stint of Israeli winter, but it’s actually kind of fun to be back in the sun in December.

But what’s also amusing about travel, something I hadn’t embarked on since doing this mother-of-twins thing, is the inherent Israeliness of long distance travel. On one hand, you have to travel beyond Israel in order to leave Israel, and it’s just very enjoyable to travel among other nationalities. We flew Lufthansa, and it wasn’t a bad thing to fly on a non El Al flight. People stay in their seats when they’re supposed to, the lines for the bathroom are shorter, and there isn’t a minyan taking place in every empty corner.

While we were in South Africa, we heard no Hebrew, except for our very last day, on the top of Table Mountain, when we came upon another Israeli family — that is, a ‘real’ Israeli family, not former Americans like ourselves — although we didn’t make ourselves known to them. But there were moments when we found ourselves missing the Israeliness of our usual life, and when we sought out the bits and pieces that are so familiar to us. One day, it was the sighting of the Strauss dairy symbol on an ice cream freezer. Granted, it’s the logo used by Unilever, which owns 51% of the company but still, exciting to see the familiar red-and-white heart on a freezer full of Magnum bars. On another day, it was the shelf full of Israeli products in a local grocery store, and we found ourselves picking up a bag of Osem pretzels and animal crackers, in spite of our pleasure in discovering and eating local products. And while we certainly don’t schlep Elite coffee or soup nuts wherever we go, we did proudly present a box of Krembos as a Chanukah treat for our hosts’ kids. And of course we spoke Hebrew to one another whenever we needed to speak without being understood by those around us.

And then, as we packed up to head home and made our way to the airport, there were the snatches of Hebrew heard when we reached Frankfurt, our more-than-halfway mark home. It was surprisingly comforting to hear that familiar language, and to lapse into it with fellow passengers. We exchanged travel stories, found out where we’re each from back home and helped one another out wherever possible. Given that we were flying Lufthansa, there was no clapping of hands when we landed in Tel Aviv, but we all glanced at one another, those in the know, and gave each other wide smiles. It’s good to travel and it’s great to come home.

Tags: , , , , ,

Page 1 of 212

 

© 2012 ISRAELITY | Site by illuminea | Sitemap