6.5.10

Foods surprisingly hard to find in Israel (and foods to try instead!)

One reason that I use a lot of Israeli cook books (in addition to the fact that they help me learn words like "diced," "sauteed," and "minced garlic" in Hebrew) is that some common ingredients in the US are hard to find in Israel... and some common ingredients in Israel are really hard to find in the US. Here are a few foods I was surprised to have trouble finding here, along with suggestions of Israeli foods you could eat instead.

Caveat: you usually can find these foods, especially if you go to a big grocery chain specializing in imports, like Tiv Ta'am. But it's harder, so why not adjust to Israeli supermarkets??

Hard to find: bagels & lox


This one took me by surprise when I made aliyah, because in US bagels and lox seemed like the most Jewish food in existence (after, maybe, matzo ball soup). Here, bagels themselves are almost impossible to find! Jewish state, indeed.

Instead, try: ikra! (Hebrew: איקרה)



I first ate ikra on Yom HaAtzmaut, at a barbecue with a bunch of Romanian Israelis. It's a salad made from fish eggs, cream, lemon juice, and a few other ingredients-- here's a recipe (in Hebrew) from Yediot Ahronot. The Romanians called it "poor man's caviar," but I'd say the taste is actually very cream cheese-and-lox-esque! You can find ikra in the salads section of any supermarket-- in our local super, ikra is behind the deli counter, next to the cheese and smoked fish. Good luck finding a bagel to eat it with.

Hard to find: molasses

I've actually never been able to find molasses in Israel (though I haven't looked all that hard in Tiv Ta'am, and my ginger snap cookie recipe has had to slum it with dark brown sugar instead. I guess Israeli grandmothers don't go for this "surprise" natural sweetener-- whatever that means. 

Instead, try: silan! (Hebrew: סילאן)

 
Silan is date honey, and while it's a common ingredient in Israeli recipes (particularly savory recipes that need just a bit of sweetness), I never knew it existed before I made aliyah. It has a milder flavor than molasses or even honey, so I'm not suggesting it as a molasses substitute, but it's awesome on yogurt, in meat dishes, in desserts. Try to get 100% silan rather than a mixture of silan and sugar-- for some reason, I am able to find pure silan in our super around passover, but not at any other time.

Hard to find: grated mozzarella (forget about fat free!) 

 It's actually pretty difficult to find any kind of fat free dairy products in Israel. 1% milk, yes-- you can even buy it in plastic bags! Skim milk, what? You can find fat free yogurt, but you're much more likely to find 1.5% or 3.5% yogurt. Fat free cottage cheese is unheard of, though 5% is very common. I guess Israelis just aren't willing to sacrifice that much taste. Add to this the fact that mozzarella cheese isn't very common here, and you'll need to find a substitute for all your diet recipes that call for low fat mozzarella. Never fear!

Instead, try: crumbled emek! (Hebrew: פתיתי עמק)

Emek is more flavorful than mozzarella, and I'd say it's one of the major reasons why Israeli pizza is so delicious. Emek packages are marked with the percent of fat in the cheese, and the lowest-fat good-tasting variety is 22% fat. (Stay away from 9% emek. I think it's mostly plastic.) 22% fat sounds scary, but it's actually fairly equivalent to part-skim mozzarella-- according to nutritiondata.com, 100 grams of part-skim low-moisture mozzarella is 302 calories and 100 grams of regular part-skim mozzarella is 254 calories, while 100 grams of 22% emek is 299 cals. And did I mention that Emek tastes much better? On the other hand, if you want cheddar cheese or (chas ve'shalom) processed American cheese food, perhaps aliyah is not for you.

Hard to find: chili powder



I've actually made my own chili powder spice mix-- you can easily find recipes for chili powder online. But you won't find anything exactly like American chili powder on our shelves.

Instead, try:  Tunisian Harissa Seasoning! (Hebrew: תערובת לאריסה תוניסאית)

Tunisian Harissa (in Hebrew, "Larisa Tunisait") is a chili pepper spice mix pretty similar to chili powder, but (big surprise!) more flavorful. Use it on fish, in soups, anywhere you want a bit of a kick.

Hard to find: fresh pineapple


We buy canned pineapple all the time, so you certainly don't need to go without pineapple in your salat peirot here, but you probably won't find fresh pineapples at your local veggie shop. Pineapple grows in hot, moist climates, while Israel has a hot, dry climate. So your oranges, avocados and bananas were probably picked yesterday at a farm an hour away from your veggie shop, but you won't find pineapples. I mention this because pineapples are just about the only fruit I don't find here, with the exception of more delicate berries like raspberries. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Israeli fruits and veggies?

Instead try: fresh shesek! (Hebrew: שסק)


In English, shesekim are actually called loquats, but you didn't know that anyway, did you? These taste nothing like pineapples, but they're absolutely amazing little fruits with a taste like a slightly tart, extra juicy apricot. Here's a gushy article about the loquat from NPR's foodie show, The Splendid Table, which makes them sound all exotic and rare. I bought a kilo of loquats from a fruit stand by the side of the road. They're slightly messy to eat because you pull out the seeds and the ends before popping them into your mouth, but they're delicious. Other fruits to try in Israel: persimmons, pomegranates, sabra fruit, passion fruit, and those big stinky wrinkly fruits that you should avoid storing in a close space...

Hard to find in Israel: corn chips.

My husband and I don't buy much snack food, but we once tried to find tortilla chips to serve with dip for a party. Eventually we realized that while supermarkets in this country sell dozens of varieties of potato chips, corn chips are basically nonexistent. Sorry. 


Instead, try: bissli! (Hebrew: ביסלי, meaning "my bite")

Bisli are traditional Israeli snacks that started out as deep fried, spiced pasta back in the days when Israel really didn't import food from abroad. Each flavor has a different shape, and they're all delicious. Oddly enough, even though chips and salsa (let alone tacos) are pretty much unheard of here, you can find taco-flavored bisli. If you want to get the full Israeli experience, on the other hand, try the falofel flavored bisli. Just don't plan to breathe on anyone for a while afterward.

Hard to find in Israel: M&Ms, peanut butter cups, peppermint paddies, snickers bars...


If you're considering aliyah, take a deep breath, look at the picture above, and ask yourself if you can live without everything in it. Now stop hyperventilating. Breathe into a bag! In! Out! In! Out! I've never found M&Ms, Hershey's kisses, or anything combining mint and chocolate in a regular Israeli supermarket. However, never fear...

Instead, try: Israeli chocolates! (Hebrew:  שוקולד)


I grew up a few hours from Hershey, PA, so I feel a little disloyal for saying this, but Elite brand Israeli chocolates can definitely give Hershey a run for its money. If you want peaunut-chocolatey goodness (along the lines of a snickers bar), try a pesek-zman bar. If you want a kit-kat, try a kif-kef. Personally, I love the 60% dark chocolate bars... I almost always have some in the house. But if you want an M&M or a Hershey's kiss, well, you're still out of luck. But did I mention that we have chocolate spread?

I could go on. For example, it's not easy to find drip coffee here, although we have some pretty good instant coffee-- I highly recommend Jacobs brand (the green lid, not the gold). You won't find "Italian Seasoning" on our shelves, but you can always mix together basil, oregano, and paprika... or go for a middle eastern spice blend, zatar. You won't find tylenol, but we have acamol. You won't find graham crackers, but Israeli tea bisvitim usually do the trick. For everything American you can't find in this country, you'll find three other products that Israelis can't find in the US... as I found when I translated an Israeli article this old blog post, What's Missing in America.  A lot of the fun of living in Israel is discovering the local flavors that are "gourmet" in America and available in any corner macolet here.

What foods would you add to this list?

Be'tei avon! (Bon appetit!)

49 comments:

  1. Fresh pineapples are frequently available at a good greengrocer or fruit/veg superstore (but small and _very_ expensive) - I shop at Faisal just outside Nahariya, and Cheddar cheese is available at the Yarka food centre (and I think also at Eden at Hutzot Hamifratz). Those poor souls living in the central area will have to look for themselves!!!

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  2. Great post!

    If you haven't already, you should consider joining the Israel-Food list:

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/israel-food/

    You'd be a great reference!

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  3. I live in Eilat and I've seen (and bought) fresh pineapple many times but it IS expensive .. a small one is over 30NIS usually.

    I've bought cheddar cheese in a local supermarket too and Mars bars are everywhere, as are chocolate covered marzipan bars (the same brand as the ones I bought in the UK). I've become addicted to Tami bars (the red ones), but I haven't yet found a coffee that has the taste of Nescafe Espresso (Espresso Gold isn't the same at all).

    Then again, if I'd wanted to live on roast beef and yorkshire pudding, I'd have stayed in England :)

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  4. Great post! I actually can find some of these American products nearby, but I enjoyed reading about the Israeli products. I never did know what Silan was. I've found Molasses in health food stores.

    Parmesan cheese has been off the shelves for months now -- I don't know why. We use Tal HaEmek as a substitute. It's much cheaper, but isn't as good.

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  5. Actually, you can get good shredded mozarella in many supermarkets; look for the GAD brand (their packages are blue). You can get ground chili mix at most supers (צ'ילי כתוש חריף) and all health food stores, as well as some supermarkets, carry molasses.

    But you're right about the corn chips, and the bagel issue is most painful. There's a wonderful variety of breads and lachmaniot everywhere, I can't figure our why nobody makes bagels :(

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  6. I was born and raised in Israel, and never had a problem finding M&M's (all varieties), Snickers, Mars or Twix bars in my local Shufersal. I agree that Reese's and Hershey's kisses are less common, but they appear occasionally on the shelves.

    on the other hand, what are "peppermint paddies"?

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  7. Sorry, everything you listed is easily gotten in Tel Aviv (well grated motzerella, don't know why I would want treif fat-free kind...) other than the Chili Powder, which is findable sometimes but usually quite expensive. Good to know about the Harissa. I will definitely try that!

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  8. I scored some Reese's cups at Shuk Faisal (near Nahariya) - and either they were old or my newfound love for Israeli chocolates made the experience anticlimactic. Probably a bit of both :o)

    I can't seem to find allspice, although I am not 100% sure about what it really is and what flavor it gives food, but it is in many of my old recipes...

    I have kind of enjoyed the lack of some American products and my quest to make lasagna without ricotta, mozarella, or parmesan. Except I do kind of miss Smuckers natural extra crunchy peanut butter... But I'll take shesek over all of those products any day!

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  9. lisa from swirling thoughtsMay 7, 2010 at 1:20 AM

    @natalie: allspice is pilpel anglit but be sure to get it already ground (not the balls). it's available in the shuk (mahane yehuda)

    @maya & odedee - bagels are all over jerusalem! tal bagels makes the best bagel i've ever tasted. (it's a strong endorsement - i came from brooklyn).

    there is a corn chip we get in our health food store - it's bright yellow (forget the white tostitos) and round with a little mexican man on the bag wearing a sombrero. they're very crispy (like taco shells) but my kids love them.

    @maya - loved this post! can't wait to try date honey on my yogurt and bob will be so happy when i put harissa in the chili. i also now understand why my israeli father- in- law loves canned pineapple. and why he absolutely treasures del monte gold fresh pineapples when they are in season.

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  10. Lisa, I've been looking for allspice too! Thanks for sharing! I've always just kind of added in a bunch of spices, figuring that all spice = all sweet spices :)

    It's funny how the availability of these foods varies. I've never seen cheddar in our super, but I can always find Parmesan (though it's always the fresh grated kind, not that horrible powder in the canisters). I do make a mean cottage cheese lasagna, though!

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  11. lisa - I recall bagels sold in Jerusalem are quite different from those in the US - way larger.

    You're right about tal bagels, totally slipped my mind. It's a shame their produce is not available in supermarkets...

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  12. You forgot something else - OATS! The average supermarket only carries small and ugly packages of the Instant kind (and it's usually just Quaker and an Israeli brand beside it); its shelf space is approximately 2 cm.

    It's harder to get some decent old-fashioned rolled oats, and impossible to find steel-cut. I've heard that you might be able to find them in Russian food stores, though..so who knows...

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  13. I went through a huge food crisis when I first got here 10 years ago, but now I've found that I'm mostly over it, and even better learned how to do things from "scratch" instead of buying them all the time. Like buying coffee from the spice store and having it ground.

    Because of the "foreign born" population here in T.A. is pretty high, lots of these things are available in Shuk HaCarmel or Eden Teva, the new chain carries lots of imported food.

    I do miss graham crackers, Triscuits and grape jelly. I've seen these things at a super in Beit Shemesh, but I've come to my senses now, and wouldn't drive an hour just to buy them. Well...probably not.

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  14. I haven't had much trouble finding any of these things in Jerusalem, where i grew up, and in Tel Aviv they're readily available everywhere. American candy bars, mozzarella, nachos, etc. have been widely available since the early 90's when Israel started Americanizing like crazy. Pineapple has always been around but is always expensive. My dad has been baking with molasses since I can remember (though he used to keep a stock of unsweetened chocolate he brought back form L.A. before it became available here, around the mid 90's).

    Bagels, cream cheese and lox are an interesting case. It wasn't widespread before the 90s (and probably still isn't in the "peripheria") because American Jewish is not Israeli Jewish. Its a very eastern European food, and many European immigrants to Israel in the 30s thru 50s renounced their culinary roots in favor of a more local approach. You could say pitas and hummus supplanted bagels and cream cheese.

    I actually remember it was something like '93 when the first bagel place in J-lem opened on Yafo st., with real bagels and real salmon. It was an instant hit with all the American yeshiva boys around town and it became a favorite spot for many a jerusalemite.

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  15. "Hard to find in Israel: corn chips."
    Closest thing is Doritos. I actually remember corn chips being sold a couple of years ago, mainly because of one sale when they came with free salsa. I don't know why, but suddenly they stopped appearing in the supermarkets. Cinemas are starting to sell them, though.
    Drip coffee just doesn't sell very well here, mainly because Israelis think it tastes like mud.

    And you also forgot to mention beef jerky.

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  16. Bagels -- nowhere to be found when I made aliyah (20+ years ago), but now, all over, including the supermarkets (though I doubt those are "real" bagels). In Jerusalem, there are several CHAINS that sell bagels (good ones).

    Molasses -- you can get it at any health food store.

    Silan -- I love using Silan in cooking. Since I learned to cook in Israel, I use Silan more often than molasses.

    Low-Fat Cheese -- VERY frustrating!! no solution yet. in time, Israel will "catch up." I don't mind the low-fat Emek. It's a start.....

    Good Cheese, including real cheddar (white and yellow) is available for a small fortune at "Bashir's" (I think that's the name) in Shuk Mahaneh Yehuda.

    The only thing I have not been able to find her is jack cheese, a staple ingredient in mexican food. But at those price, I am not wasting the cheese on mexican food anyway, so.....

    Skim Milk -- Tnuva sells it in purple cartons

    0% Yoghurt -- all over the place. Except for the plain (no sweetener), they all have aspertame. Danona used to make the 0% yoghurts with sugar and I used to get those, but I try to avoid aspertame....

    Ricotta cheese is called "Urda" -- they sell it at the fresh cheese counters and Gad sells it packaged.

    Fresh pineapples -- available in all major supermarkets and most green grocers in Jerusalem. I even taught my daughter how to pick out a sweet fresh pineapple. She did a great job! Where do you live???

    Cornchips -- try Cheaperkol in Jerusalem. They sometimes have the big packs, for a reasonable price. Get the big bags of the triangle corn chips (white or yellow). I don't recommnend the small bags of round chips. I disagree with Lisa, they just don't compare. (my kids will eat them, but I think they are a waste of calories).

    I never saw taco flavored bisli....

    Candy -- *sigh* that's what I miss most.......

    Gotta admit, I like Hershey's. I do like the 90% chocolate.

    Truth be told, chocolate is not my favorite candy.

    What I miss most:

    Good N' Plenty

    Reece's PB cups (which you can get here, but cost five times as much!)

    York Peppermint Patties

    -----------------------------------------
    Odedee -- in Jerusalem you can buy fresh rolled oats, in bulk, for a reasonable price at Nitzat HaDuvdevan (health food store). Probably also at Zomera's

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  17. I live in the Krayot, north of Haifa, so I don't think my supermarket has as much Anglo immigrant influence as Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Funnily enough, though, it's easy to find whole rolled oats here, and I can choose between several times at our local spice/nuts/grains store...

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  18. My kids have been begging for pineapples, but they are so small and so expensive!

    I love shesek--my BIL & SIL have a tree. I think you can probably get them in California (similar Mediterranean climate), but I have to imagine with their thin skins they don't travel well. This is my theory has to why I never saw them in NY.

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  19. great post! i remember living in israel in my 20s and not knowing enough about cooking and what were my "must-have" ingredients so adapting to the delish dairy, etc was easy. ic an definitely see it being a different story now, especially as a mom! i love that you're adapting and trying new things! and, can i just say, the silan looks avsolutely heavenly! well done! :)

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  20. I go to a large yarkon that has pinapple inside with the other things that cost more than 3 NIS/kilo like grapes and parsnip. I had loquats at my house growing up in FL and at my apartment here. In my opinion the trees are better for climbing than for their fruit. If I didn't know better I wouldn't think these little sour things were meant for eating, so I think it's funny when I see people pay good money for them.

    Just want to reiterate the warning to watch out for the "date honey" that's mostly sugar.

    For your party - cut pita into about 6 sections like a pie, split each piece open, spray w/ olive oil and whatever seasoning you may want, and toast. I used to send whole wheat "chips" for lunch w/ a container of hummus for my kids. If you want to make corn tortillas or chips, there's a Good Eats episode about it on YouTube.

    (BTW - I've been watching Good Eats on YouTube and I keep think of things I want to tell you...like, did you know you're suposed to cure your cast iron every year?)

    My dad spent half his trip trying to find drip coffee in the super and we could not explain to his Isaeli cousin that it's not Turkish coffee. His last day, we found espresso in an Argentine bakery after I convinced him to go in to get out of the rain. (I had alterior motives, and it's my favorite bakery, not because of the goods, but because it's clean, no one smokes, and people wait in a line with no pushing, even erev Shabbat!)

    One of my new favorite things that amotherinisrael showed me and I also saw on Good Eats is celery root. It makes a yummy slaw. Last week I baked mounds made of one shredded C.root, one shredded sweet potato w/ some mayo. Baked until browing and crispy on top. Very yummy. Makes about two pans. You can also cook it like mashed potatoes.

    Come visit sometime! We have a guest nook that is set up for one, but we could work something out if you want to stay over with your pretends-to-be-cheap/mean-for-bargaing-purposes husband.

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  21. You can easily find molasses in practically any health food store. It's called milsa in Hebrew.

    Balashon gave you some good advice about joining israelfood on Yahoo. I believe the group was first started so we could all find a good source for Diet Dr Pepper in Israel.

    I have the opposite problem, I post to several international food sites as well as to a blog and have issues trying to explain inherently Israeli ingredients to the "Taste of Home" demographic. Ski cheese, anyone? How can you give someone a recipe for Bamba-coated chicken when they can't get Bamba west of Amsterdam Avenue? ;-)

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  22. @Natalie-

    You can get ricotta at the cheese counter at the big grocery stores (mega, shufersal, etc.) and also one of the big "specialty" cheese vendors makes "ricotta-type" cheese. I can't remember the brand, but it is the one that is usually in a white container with a blue top and a round shape with one flat side (might be gad????). It is the brand with a picture of the animal from whose milk the cheese products is made (they make cow, sheep, and goat milk cheeses). Again, all this stuff is findable in any store in Tel Aviv but I don't know about in other cities but I am pretty sure they should be available there as well.

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  23. @ Rivka with a capital A -- Tnuva no longer makes skim milk (in the purple carton). AFAIK, you can't get skim milk in Israel these days.

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  24. Not only do I not see skim milk, but its very hard to find almond milk, and even soy or rice milk is more expensive. I keep passing a bakery that does seem to have real bagels. Italian seasoning doesn't compare to zahatar. I put it on EVERYTHING: white cheese on pita, olive oil and pita, hummus, fish, salad.

    One more thing - Have you seen any dairy Cheetos? I think it's funny that these seem to come in every flavor except their original crunchy cheese. I don't like either version, but my kids have brought every flavor of these little flavored packing peanuts home from school at some point. Pizza, corn, ketchup flavor... ick.

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  25. Good donuts! We need them in Israel. Ever since Dunkin Donuts closed there are really no donuts here. In fact, bring all Entenmann's products...

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  26. Tortilla chips- the Shufersol brand ones are great!

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  27. The thing I miss most when I visit Israel every year is (Land-o-Lakes) Fat Free Half and Half. Coffee tastes totally different with anything else.

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  28. o man i have so many to add to this list! COnfectioners sugar-they only have tiny bags here! what about entemans or betty crocker ready made frosting?? how about corn syrup?
    They do have corn chips here, doritos plain is the same! and i see pineapple in cans!!

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  29. Hey Maya- Michal had the browser open to your very cool blog. And you have the most vivid pictures of food in this post....

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  30. Wow, I can't believe this is now one of my most commented posts ever! I guess we're all missing our American foods. Funnily enough, the day after I posted this, bags of mini snickers bars appeared in my local super...

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  31. k, the עדן natural food market sells all different varieties of oats in bulk, as well as Quaker "quick" and "instant". At least the one in Ramat Gan does.

    My question: canned meat product. There's all kinds of canned fish, including many varieties not labeled in any language I can read - but when I'm yearning for, say, turkey SPAM or Argentinian tinned corned beef, am I out of luck?

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  32. Sometimes you can find American candy in a makolet. Maybe it's because I live in the Sharon area, but sometimes when I go to Raanana I stop in certain makolot and have found Hershey bars, Reese's peanut butter cups, Rolos, Pepperidge Farm cookies, Nestle crunch bars, Mr. Goodbar, and others I can't remember right now. It's funny that they would be there rather than in a supermarket. There's also a store there called Meatland that sells mostly imported products for Americans and Brits, and you can find all kinds of things there, even Entenman's lately.

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  33. Hi Maya, Where are you?? I think about this post every time I use my silan. I found a big jar of pure date syrup at a spice store in the shuk (along with expired vanilla sugar). Mine is very strong and tastes very close to molasses. I don't know if the health benefits compare to black strap molasses, but I have been using it in EVERYTHING. I mix it with soy sauce for a teryaki that's better than anything on the shelf. I also use in in salad dressing, baked beans, fish, pasta, coleslaw, cauliflower...

    I also found an orangy spice mix that reminds me a bit of chili powder. I'll have to try to read the name. The color is between paprika and cumin and it has tiny white balls in it. It was delicious on fresh tilapia.

    Please come back! I still have so much to learn about being Israeli.

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  34. Hi Maya - you've been missed! Just wondering if anyone has found canned pumpkin? I keep seeing recipes in english that call for it and I crave some traditional fall goodies (and am not sure and probably lazy about making my own). BTW - have you checked out Eden Teva market - it's not too far from you and they have molasses and other fun stuff. Hope all is well!

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  35. What wrinkly fruit? Do you mean Guyava?

    Also, Acamol and Tylenol are the same formula, so no worries there.

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  36. Hi Natalie, check out the Nov. 23 post! Sorry this is a little late!

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  37. powdered drink mix that is sugar free! we always tell people to bring koolaid and crystal light! the syrup that is sugar free doesn't taste very good.
    Most of all, I miss Mountain Dew! I can't abide paying more than a dollar per can, if it can even be found.

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  38. Hello I am an Iraqi Jew living in Australia. I stumbled upon your blog and love it! On the subject of Silan date extract or Dibbis as non Jewish Iraqis call it. It is used by Iraqi Jews in Passover especially. It is mixed with crushed walnuts and is our Charoset. Also we put silan on Kaymagh - which is thickened full fat milk and is delicious if you don't worry about calories.

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  39. someone really needs to open an expats food store! then maybe I can buy Vegemite, instaed of having jars posted from Australia.

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  40. I grew up with a loquat tree in my backyard (in California). We would climb up & eat the fruit right off the tree. Boy was I surprised when I saw it actually being sold in the market in Israel. Great memories. :-)

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  41. Chili Powder--try Stop Market in Herzliya. They have the McCormicks brand. I've also seen Sloppy Joe cans there too.

    Corn Chips--Try Teva in Netanya near BIG Poleg. They also have tortillas, salsa, and many Asian foods. Teva is modeled after Whole Foods in the US and carries many American brands.

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  42. Rice Crispies! I cannot find them anywhere! Also Corn Chips and Corn Syrup. If anyone knows where these items are please email me...ktfeldmann@gmail.com.

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  43. great info here! I stumbled upon Reese's peanut butter cups one day in Tiv Tam and was SO excited. They tasted pretty good, but like someone else above said, it was kind of anti-climactic. I guess we've just gotten used to what we DO find here. I found nacho chips in supersal, too. A bit salty but they work. Haven't found salsa but I suppose we could make it ourselves. Interesting that after more than two years living here, I still miss the abundance of food in American grocery stores, especially some of the ultra-fancy ones like Garden of Eden in Manhattan!

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  44. You can find Hersheys and all other american chocholates at many kiosks and 27-7 in tel aviv ;)

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  45. Will I be able to get mayo at Maxane Yehuda shuk or the nearby Super in Jerusalem?

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  46. You can find so many of these things in makolets in Jerusalem...the makolet in Ramat Eshkol has too many things to list (tortillas, salsa, sweet pickles, honey/dijon mustard, Reese's Puffs and cups, etc. etc.), and there is one place in Ramat Shlomo that even has concord grape jelly! You just have to go to American areas...

    Oh, and mymakolet.com has a section called "mini America" for anybody living in Jerusalem, Efrat or Telestone.

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  47. Pineapples are grown in Israel, but for export. I used to work in the pineapple fields in Kibbutz HaOgen. This was in the early 80s.

    What I am tying to find here in the US is Israeli cream cheese, which I like so much better than the American variety. Seems impossible, though.

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  48. Hard to find chicken broth in Israel, despite the prevalence of this powder....

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