Signs of Spring: Fresh Garlic!

The other day when I went down to our local Shiloh macolet, grocer-supermarket, I was greeted with a sure sign of spring, fresh garlic.

When we were newcovers to Israel, I couldn't understand what the garlicky smell was on buses every year between Purim and Passover. It was like suddenly being in an Italian deli.

It took a couple of years to discover what fresh garlic is, and that this is the fresh garlic season. When we were growing up, garlic was just of the powdered variety, bought in small jars. Very rarely did my mother ever buy a fresh garlic bulb/clove. And that was around the time I wasn't living fulltime with my parents and siblings.

The first time my husband and I bought fresh garlic, it lasted a year. I only cooked with it on very rare occasions. We still were using powdered garlic, and at that time I didn't buy the dried cloves/bulbs. Now, we always have a supply of "real garlic." And I don't buy powdered garlic, just the coarser ground in jars, which is rarely used.

Next week I'll have my husband buy fresh garlic in Machane Yehuda, and we'll hang it to dry before using. He's a shuq addict. I try to patronize the local store, but that's another post...

Fish in The Shuq

Grilled Trout in Michmoret מכמרת, fantastic

 A couple of nights ago I went to Jerusalem's nighttime restaurant and bar/pub hotspot, none other than Machane Yehuda, the "market." It used to be an open-air market, but over the past decade or more, it has been renovated and covered to help it compete with the discount supermarkets. Today's shuq isn't the shuq of old in so many ways.

As day fades into night, and the leftover produce is packed away, out come the tables. Instead of hearing the sellers calling out bargain prices, there's music blasting. And there's an amazing variety of food places, from ice cream to steak to fish. My companion and I knew exactly what we wanted, fish at Michmoret. They keep the prices down with a simple fixed menu. For ns80 each, we started with a table full of Israeli salads and very tempting wholewheat bread. Then the fish arrived. I had ordered the trout, and we both had it with vegetables, not chips, which is the other choice. Everything was perfectly prepared, delicious! I cleaned the plate. We sat inside, where it was relatively quiet. It was truly a perfect meal. Then we walked around the shuq a bit before going home.

Michmoret is also open lunchtime. There's a variety of beers, wines and other drinks, if you want them along with your meal. It's located at 7 Hatut Street, close to Agrippas Street, so there are buses that go there and the lightrail on Yaffo Street. If you're in the center of Jerusalem, you can easily walk to Michmoret. Phone 02-579-4847.

Michmoret, Heavenly Fish in the Shuq

The other day my friend and I decided to have a nice early dinner together. She asked me for suggestions, and I told her about Michmoret. It's an excellent fish restaurant in the Machane Yehuda Open Market. I always take a table inside, since I find the shuq much too noisy. This time the piped music was a bit too loud for my taste, so I asked them to lower the volume a bit, which was done immediately.

There's a choice of fish for NS75 or NS85, depending on which fish you order. And there's a choice of side dishes, either vegetables or french fries. If you want a fresh salad, as a side dish, it cost a bit more. This cost much less than a fish meal in any of the popular dairy restaurants.

You start the meal with a variety of Israeli salads and freshly baked bread. The salads are replenished and taste delicious. The wait staff was extremely polite, and although Michmoret's a small restaurant, we weren't rushed out.

I had the Denis, which was perfectly cooked. My friend and I just drank water, although Michmoret has a very well-stocked bar.

Michmoret's on 7 Ha-Tut Street, just off of Agripas Street, Machane Yehuda Market, Jerusalem, Israel, telephone 972 -2-579-4847.

Just Peachy

The other day I was pleasantly surprised to find nice looking peaches at a decent price in Machane Yehuda, so I bought a few. Once I got home, I saw that they weren't 100% perfect, but they are exactly what I need for my breakfast.

Ginger "scrapings," apples, goat yogurt* and peaches are a great breakfast combination.

I guess summer really has arrived!

*In addition to the peaches, I found a nice supply of my favorite goat yogurt, the one from Susiya, in a grocery store on the same shuq street as the peaches.

Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem #28, Machane Yehuda WC, Fright at First Sight

This is a continuation in my ongoing series about public toilets in Jerusalem. See  #27,  #26,  #25,  #24,  #23, #22, #21,#20, #19, #18, #17, #16,  #15a, #15,  #14, #13, #12, #11, #10, #9,  #8, #7,  #6,  #5, Saved by The First Station aka #4a, #4, #3, #2 and #1

It is located by this fish store close to the corner of the shuk street, not lane.

Lots of people have asked me to review these public toilets. It's not that easy, because I don't get to Machane Yehuda very often, and I rarely succeed in finding the 00, WCs. Today after my friend and I ate in one of the new shuq "eateries," we continued wandering around and I was overjoyed to find the loo.  That is until I began to walk in.

I must say that besides the off-putting disgusting mess, the WC didn't smell, and to its credit it also had toilet paper and soap.

It seems to me that the Jerusalem Municipality has been trying its budget-cutting skills in the department that is responsible for public toilets. There has been a serious deterioration in the standards of Jerusalem Public Toilets in the past couple of years. WCs I've used for years without complaints have become BYOP-Bring Your Own Paper and HYN-Hold Your Nose. And on the rare occasion I find them clean and equipped, I think I've won the lottery.

The mess of paper that greeted me must have been from those women who used it in between the last cleaning and my arrival. My only complaint that can be blamed on the municipality is that they have to fix the lock of the handicapped stall.

Of course, maybe I was just lucky and arrived there within an hour of cleaning. But we all know that smells remain in toilets which aren't cleaned well and sufficiently frequently according to use. And I had no complaints about that problem in the shuq loo.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

French Press "Rides" Again

A few days ago I finished the last of my American ground coffee, so I had to make do with Elite Turkish Coffee perked in my classic stove top percolator. Finally, yesterday I combined my biweekly shopping in the Shaar Binyamin Rami Levi for fresh chickens with a shopping trip to Jerusalem.

This was a nice rainy day, which is what winter is supposed to be, and equipped with an umbrella and a smile I took care of a lot of shopping errands.

Getting ground coffee was the priority, so once I got to Jerusalem I made my way to Machane Yehuda's main covered market street/lane and searched for Rosmarin, where I had found the best prices plus a coffee-grinder that doesn't overgrind.

It's the only store I've found that has some coffee for under ns10 per 100 grams. You can choose between Brazilian and Columbian for ns8 per 100 grams. I bought some of both. They totalled about 600 grams altogether in two separate bags. Maybe another time I'll have them mix the coffee beans. What do you think?

This morning I was back drinking coffee from the French Press. I opened the Columbian, and it was fine. Yes, I'm awake.

French press coffee Yay!
bought ground coffee in the shuk
Cold, dry day not good 
#morningcoffeehaiku

About That Coffee I Bought in The Shuq

 

 A couple of weeks ago, I realized that I would run out of coffee for the French Press before a new stock would arrive from the states. I even tried to find the link to a coffee place here in Israel that delivers, but I failed.

Then, by chance, I was in Machane Yehuda and came across a new coffee place, possibly a branch of a more veteran one. It's called Rosemarin, or Rosemary, and it's on the "main drag." They had a better price for Colombian coffee, so I decided to give it a try.

I asked for a quarter of a kilo, but the young man working there gave me more and had to keep asking the manager how to use the machinery. The store seemed that new. I didn't mind getting 400 gram, about a pound, because at the time I didn't know when some would arrive from the states.

As you can see from the photos the store looks nice and is stocked with all sorts of food, coffee and spices. The staff was very polite and accommodating. The grinder even had a label saying "French Press." I hadn't seen that in other stores.

My first taste of the coffee wasn't all that auspicious, since I could taste large pieces of what could have been the shell of coffee beans.  And the taste was nothing all that great. I was very upset.

But subsequent cups of coffee made with their coffee were good. I realized that the problem may have been from the fact that I had mixed the very last of an older different coffee with this new one.

And after a week or more drinking this Colombian coffee, which was also the best price I've found in Jerusalem, I'm happy. I've also been experimenting with different milks, as some readers may have noticed. Now I have almond milk and don't add the sugar, or as much, which had been a strong part of my coffee enjoyment.

The Rosemary coffee place uses high quality bags, as you can see here. I think it keeps the coffee fresher than from other stores which just use a reinforced paper bag. And once I get the coffee home, I store the bagged ground coffee beans in one of the empty tins from American coffee.

I'm glad to have found this Rosemary place with better prices and a better coffee grinder.

Machane Yehuda's Magical Transformation

Every night, in the Center of Jerusalem something very magic happens. The famous Open Market-Machane Yehuda packs away the onions, bananas, apples etc. to become Jerusalem's latest bar and restaurant scene.

The covers over the shopping lanes, which had been put up to protect the customers from rain as they picked out the very best mango and orange from the rains and wind now now provide the perfect covers for those looking for nightlife. Davka, when my dining partner and I braved the rain walking over there, I wondered how many people would be out considering the weather and the security situation. Nobody can predict where the terrorists will strike against innocent Israelis. But the "night shuk" was filling, and he told me that later on it would be packed. Apparently, 8pm is considered early. It was late enough for me. We ate at Michmoret the excellent fish restaurant where you get a first course of Israeli salads and an excellent bread.

You choose a fish, which is a large portion and comes with either cooked vegetables or "chips," aka French Fries. Along with that we had some beer, and the bill came to about ns100 each, tip extra.

Here are some "street scenes" of the shuk at night!

Lebanese Fare in the Jerusalem Market

There are more and more proper restaurants opening in Jerusalem's Machane Yehuda open market, the "shuq/shuk." Last week my friend and I tried out one that claims to have Lebanese food.

I'm definitely not a culinary expert and can't tell you if this place really serves authentic Lebanese food. It's right in the middle on the shuq on the main closed "street." If I'm reading the name properly, it's מן הוא בשוק Min Hu b'Shuk, From the Market.

My friend and I ordered two main courses to split. One was meatballs on rice with okra, and the other was the mezza, mid-eastern salad selection, which included cooked eggplant, of course.

The salads were pretty good, very fresh. The staff didn't replenish the salads, though. We could have eaten a bit more, but honestly, there was enough left over so that I was able to use one of the two pittot we were served to make myself a sandwich to bring to work for dinner. Nothing was too salty for me, meaning that those who like very salty food would have to add salt. But this is the way it should be, because otherwise those who either don't like salt or are forbidden salt can have a good meal.

If I remember correctly our split meal, including the tip cost us ns50- each, which isn't all that bad, especially considering that I was able to make my dinner from the leftovers. This isn't a grilled meat joint. So if you want a lot of animal protein, you don't have to look far. But the food was very tasty, and as I already wrote, the salads really were excellent.

I was with the same dining partner who has been going to meat restaurants with me for quite a while. We find them a better buy than the dairy ones, if your budget is limited and you don't want a meal based on carbohydrates. Though davka this meal did have too much rice with the meatballs, which we didn't finish.  The grilled meat joints are best for low-carb meals if you ignore the pittot and substitute salad for chips aka French Fries.

I didn't take down contact numbers for it, but if you're in the shuq you shouldn't have any trouble finding it.

Shuk/Shuq Shopping, Annoyances

One of the good or bad (best or worst) things about shopping in Jerusalem's open air market, Machaneh Yehuda is its prices. 

Last week I was there wandering around with my granddaughter before taking her to see the JEST performance of "The King and I."  It was Tuesday afternoon and the prices of even the best summer fruits was temptingly low. 

But logic got in the way.  I knew too well that I wouldn't be able to schlepp them safely for hours, so I didn't buy any.  Less than twenty-four 24 hours later I was back raring to shop, and the prices were much higher.  I did buy some fruit but it was hard, ok, actually-impossible to find such prices.  And I did re-trace my steps.

The lesson is that if you really want great bargains, you must choose your shopping days wisely.  The
first half of the week has prices lower than the last half, but they drop extremely low the last couple of hours before Shabbat, because nobody likes to have to store the fresh produce until Sunday.

Yum! There's Nothing Like Machaneh Yehuda, Jerusalem's Open Market

This is the season when the discount supermarkets just can't compete with prices and quality.