Cafe Liz

Stuffed grape leaves are labor intensive, which is part of their charm. Or something. They’re lovely to eat, but let’s be honest — making (and serving) them is a declaration that you’ve invested a heckuva lot of time in that meal. That’s part of what makes them such a centerpiece for some cultures — what better way to show off to the neighbors and guests? — but it also can make them a bit impractical. Still, they’re nice to eat [...]

This hot soup segues between seasons, combining the warm comfort needed for winter’s swan song with the bright zest of tomatoes and basil. Is it spring yet? Technically yes, although all the winter colds and flus are yet to receive the memo, and we still have some rain in the forecast. So best eat your soup now, before it’s too warm.

This is a classic little salad, one of the basics you’ll often find served at falafel stands and lunchtime restaurants. It’s a pleasant, simple creation with a sharp, fiery tang from lemon juice and raw garlic, along with a slight bitterness from the lemon peels. You can make it by grating up some whole carrots, or, say, using the carrot cores left over from my stuffed carrot recipe. As a bonus, if you happen to use brightly colored carrots, then [...]

New varieties of carrots started showing up here over the past several years, with the advent of farmers markets. Purple, red, yellow, white, you now can find them in upscale locations like the Tel Aviv Port. But actually, purple carrots aren’t new to Israel, and they’re certainly not the reserve of the upper middle class. They’ve been available in Arab markets since long before anyone had ever heard of farmers markets. Those who know a bit about carrot history know [...]

There’s a little restaurant in the Yemenite quarter with a wide-ranging menu with flagship dishes from at least four ethnicities — including jachnun, kubbeh, couscous and hummus — and it excels at all. How could this be? Generally, when I walk into a restaurant that offers both, say, pad thai and sushi (or worse — schnitzel and sushi), I get a little suspicious about ordering either one. You’ll find lots of so-called “Asian” restaurants around here that basically make a [...]

I have a new love. Fortunately, my husband approves, because it’s vegetarian and he can eat it, too. I’ve been eating my way through the Persian restaurants neighboring the Levinsky market. While the market was originally founded by Balkan immigrants, it now has a strong Persian presence. Among the many bags of beans, grains and dried fruit at the market’s stores, you’ll find plenty of signs in Persian sticking out from among delicacies like jujubes, large dried garlic flakes and [...]

I’ve been going through massive quantities of vegetable sticks and dip, particularly since Hanukkah, after eating my weight in donuts during the first few days of the holiday. I think I was starting to feel a little deep-fried myself, actually. Fortunately fresh, crispy peppers and carrots are the perfect antidote, and that probably holds for most holiday excesses. A rich-tasting dip makes the crunchy vegetables seem a bit more decadent, and here the base is tahini. In coming up with [...]

Sfenj are marvelous in the way that only freshly baked yeast pastries know how. This modest dessert had top American chefs waxing poetic over the wonders of traditional foods, and understandably so. Back story: Four well-known American chefs were at an army base in the Golan, whipping up dinner for a few hundred soldiers. Four well-known chefs and one Ruhama Ben-David, mother of 10, grandmother of 32 and great-grandmother of several. Eight of those children had already been born when [...]

Walking through the Yemenite quarter one Friday morning, I passed an open window advertising fresh lahoh. What more of an invitation do I need? But there was no one there. Peering inside, I couldn’t even see any bread — none of the telltale bags of stacked lahoh or saluf, full of condensation that keeps the flatbreads moist and fresh as they cool. Across the street there was another sign in a window advertising lahoh. Eitan’s lahoh, it said. I’d passed [...]