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A family day on the farm

If there’s something that compares to the joy of a toddler shoving a slice of apple into a chunk of freshly harvested honeycomb, I’m not sure what it is. We were out in the countryside, pretending to be farmers for an afternoon, alongside a few dozen other families who had …

Artfully crafted Moroccan sweets

One of the things that deeply impressed me during our trip to Morocco three years ago was the finely crafted pastries, specifically marzipan — bright little bite-sized sculptures, each piece crafted with individual attention. Adorned with itty bitty flower cutouts and edible beads, they were almost too pretty to eat, …

Eating salt from the Dead Sea

Many, many years ago, after buying Himalayan salt or Atlantic sea salt or something of the type, I wondered aloud whether you could buy salt harvested from our very own Dead Sea. Why import when you have a product that is local and plentiful, and hopefully high quality, too? My …

A tale of two tahini mills

After a few wrong turns that led us up and down the bleached stone staircases of Jerusalem’s Old City, we’d found ourselves standing outside what looked like a small convenience store. There were no other storefronts in the immediate vicinity. The nutty smell of sesame was everywhere. But where was …

Eating lunch at Israel’s markets

To market, to market. It’s been a busy few months, and not because we’ve been up to anything in particular — mostly just due to life. Raising a toddler, working, toddler, work, and then the day is over. It’s not that I haven’t been cooking — cooking has become even …

Decipering Moroccan ginseng tea, and a trip through the mellah

Come into my store. The spice-sellers in Marrakech’s mellah are charming — less pushy than the aggressive salesmen around touristy Djmaa el-Fnaa plaza, but clever salesmen nonetheless. Their goods are enticing, and if you linger too long over a mysterious brown twig or white powder, you’ll find yourself getting a …

Dining and dishing in Barcelona

Where have I been for these past two weeks? Two continents and more than a dozen towns on the other side of the Mediterranean basin — Spain and Morocco.

A glimpse of Rome

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I’ve been a bit MIA, due to a three-week vacation, including a week in Rome. Our time in Italy began with a mediocre 4-euro cappuccino at a tourist-trap restaurant next to our hotel, and ended with us chugging wine next to the …

10 days in Egypt

So close yet so far away. We spent 10 days in Egypt last fall, and what better time to post my write-up than during the Passover season? While being a slave in Egypt probably wasn't so fun, being a tourist there isn't bad at all. Cairo is a quick 1-hour …

Five days in Budapest: Foods and places we liked

We just spent a wonderful five days wandering Budapest, city of beautiful architecture and fabulous cakes. I have particularly happy memories of one particular chocolate cream cake coated in marzipan (in the top photo), from a small cafe near our hotel. Here are some of the things we enjoyed eating …