Cafe Liz

Tomato soup with fresh chickpeas and smoked wheat

Fresh chickpeas and fresh green wheat — pale green springtime in solid form, infused in a soup of fresh tomatoes. How could you go wrong?

These were my finds from the markets of Jerusalem, where unshelled chickpeas are out in abundance. Crispy and fresh tasting, at this stage they’re more similar in taste to fresh peas than they are to their dried cousins; moister and sweeter, they’re also much better than the dried version, if you ask me.

In Morocco, fresh chickpeas are considered street food — a street vendor in Fez sold us two bunches of chickpea stalks for a dirham (about 40 agorot). We walked through the streets of the medina happily and obliviously plucking out chickpeas from among the leaves, much to the delight of the local children eating from their own bunches. Continue reading Tomato soup with fresh chickpeas and smoked wheat …

6 Comments | |

Israeli pasta fonduta with labaneh and zaatar

Pasta fonduta is a little-known Italian dish, but if it were from the Levant, it might be something like this. It comes by way of my cousins, who were here for a short visit that involved lots of communal cooking. The original dish, which comes via a recipe by Jamie Oliver, calls for creme fraiche, Fontina cheese and an herb such as marjoram. These cheese products aren’t readily available here (woman at the cheese counter: “Fontina? Never heard of it. [...]

Continue reading ...

9 Comments | |