Food

So I got a request from a friend to write a little about the food here, so here it is :) Pita bread ("hobez", in Arabic) is one of the main components of every meal. Almost every day we buy a fresh bag of pita from the bakery down the street. The smells emanating from this bakery are unreal, and the pita is fresh and warm. Unlike in the US, fresh vegetables and fruits are abundant and cheap here (a week's supply of fruits and veggies for 3 people is about NIS 50, or about $18), so a lot of the cooking we do here is based around vegetables. Salads are popular here; the most common is Arabic salad, which is a combination of cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions with a vinegar sauce. Baba gonoush is also a common salad and is made from eggplants and tahini sauche. Rice is also a key component of Palestinian food. A traditional Palestinian dish is called Maklouba, which is an upside down meat dish. It contains rice, lamb, pine nuts, and other spices and is delicious. The recipe is listed below.
Another common dish is rice wrapped up in grape leaves, and rice and meat wrapped up in cabbage leaves.
Other common (and delicious!) foods include:
Falafel (fried chick peas)
Shawerma (meat sandwiches)
Hummous
Lentils

There are no grocery stores here, so everything that we buy comes from little shops and markets. Sometimes we do our shopping in the central market in Bethlehem, other times we walk up the hill from our apartment and grab what we need from Shaddy's, the local fruit and vegetable store. Shopping here is always an interesting experience. I have learned the word for "cilantro" in Arabic, which has been quite helpful when I get the craving to make pico de gallo or guacamole! The store owners are now familiar with us, so I think we are beginning to be charged the "local" prices as opposed to the "tourist" prices.

Meats Recipes - Maklouba (Middle Eastern Upside-down Pudding)
Ingredients
450 g/1lb/2 cups risotto or long-grain rice
900 g/2 lb boned shoulder of lamb, diced
100 g/4 oz/1/2 cup butter
60 ml/4 tbsp corn oil
900 g/2 lb cauliflower, cut into florets
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Ground cinnamon
50 g/2 oz/1/2 cup pine nuts
Plain yoghurt
Method:
Boil the rice in water for 10 minutes. Drain. Put the lamb in a large saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt half the butter with the oil in a large frying pan (skillet). Fry (sauté) the cauliflower until golden brown.
Drain the lamb, reserving the cooking liquid. Wash the saucepan and return the meat to the pan. Season well with salt, pepper and cinnamon to taste.
Put the cauliflower in a thick layer on top and season again. Put the drained rice on top and spread in an even layer.
Pour the lamb cooking water over to 5 mm/1/4 in above the rice, topping up with water if necessary. Do not stir. Season again with salt, pepper and a little more cinnamon.
Cover and cook fairly gently over a moderate heat until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Turn off the heat and leave undisturbed for a further 20 minutes.
Invert over a warm serving dish and leave the saucepan in place for a further 15 minutes. Meanwhile fry (sauté) the pine nuts in the remaining butter.
Lift off the saucepan, spoon the pine nuts and their butter over and serve warm with yoghurt.
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