Pineapple Sheera

Barik (small) rawa/rava (semolina) is a super-fine semolina grain. As opposed to the more familiar coarser semolina grain used in making couscous from scratch (not the instant couscous).  Semolina (rawa/rava) is also called suji (sooji). Barik rawa/rava is used in making a sweetened breakfast dish called sheera. The dish is also simply called rawa/rava, which is how we call it. Traditionally it is flavored with cardamom and saffron mixed in with cashews and raisins and doused with ghee (clarified butter).

My Mom's Daal - Indian Red Lentil Stew

My mom's daal recipe was one of the first recipes I published on Foodwanderings over ten years ago. Since then, I made it at least once a week. I revisited the recipe writing recently when I published the daal recipe in the Hebrew edition of Haaretz, a progressive newspaper in Israel. Other articles and recipes I published in the past were translated into Hebrew, but this was my first time publishing in Hebrew. It feels like coming a full circle. I also photographed the daal a couple of months ago on the concrete floor of a West Elm store nearby. You can see the stark difference between the point and shoot ten years ago to the Nikon I use today. I also spelled it dahl way back when. Some spell it simply, dal.

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A-Sham Arab Food Festival Brings Jews And Arabs Together In Haifa

The 3rd annual A-Sham Arab Food Festival took place in Haifa, Israel, over three days in December — right on the heels of Donald Trump’s announcement about moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Somehow, the news of the festival glided by without a bleep, right under the international media’s radar. There was a conspicuous spirit of collaboration among the participants — approximately 70 chefs, both Jewish and Arab (Muslim and Christian).

The above paragraph is an excerpt from an article I wrote for The Forward about the 3rd annual Arab Food Festival in Haifa. It was on my bucket list of articles to write ever since I had heard of the festival's inception and inauguration a couple years back. On the same bucket list was my desire to write how Israel Takes Doughnut Decoration To Dizzying New Heights. I hope you click both links in this paragraph and enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.