Local Dishes

1. חומוס

   khumus

   Hummus (chickpea and tahini dip)

   Usage

   Found everywhere in Israel. At a dedicated shop (חומוסייה, khumusiya) it is a full meal, not a dip: a warm plate topped with whole chickpeas, egg or ful, served with pita and raw onion. The price list usually names the topping — פול (ful), מסבחה (whole chickpeas in tahini), mushrooms — rather than the word itself.

2. פלאפל

   falafel

   Falafel (deep-fried chickpea balls)

   Usage

   At a street stand the default is a stuffed pita; ask for מנה (mana, "a portion"). Many stands let you add the salads yourself. It contains no meat, which makes it the easiest vegetarian meal to find in Israel.

3. שקשוקה

   shakshuka

   Shakshuka (eggs poached in tomato sauce)

   Usage

   A breakfast and brunch staple on almost every café menu. It arrives in the pan it was cooked in and is eaten by mopping it up with bread. In Israel the word has become a generic label for any dish of eggs in sauce, so menus also carry spin-offs such as שקשוקה בלקנית (with feta) and שקשוקת תרד (spinach).

4. סביח

   sabikh

   Sabich (pita with fried eggplant and boiled egg)

   Usage

   Fried eggplant, boiled egg, potato and salad in a pita, finished with tahini and amba. It began as an Iraqi-Jewish home meal and became a street-food staple in Israel; stands usually sit next to falafel stands.

5. מלאווח

   malawakh

   Malawach (pan-fried layered flatbread)

   Usage

   A Yemenite laminated dough, pan-fried into a round flatbread and served with crushed tomato, a hard-boiled egg and סחוג (skhug, the green chili paste). It has been on fast-food menus in Israel since the 1980s. Some people eat it sweet, with honey or sugar.

6. ג'חנון

   jakhnun

   Jachnun (slow-baked rolled dough)

   Usage

   The same dough as malawach, rolled thin and baked below 100°C for 8-12 hours. It is eaten on Saturday mornings, so many places do not list it on weekdays. Served with crushed tomato, סחוג (skhug) and a hard-boiled egg.

7. כובאנה

   kubaneh

   Kubaneh (Yemenite slow-baked pull-apart bread)

   Usage

   A Yemenite bread baked overnight in a lidded pot and torn apart by hand. Like jachnun it belongs to Saturday morning, so bakeries often sell it only at the weekend.

8. בורקס

   burekas

   Bourekas (filled savory pastry)

   Usage

   A filled pastry sold at every bakery, kiosk and bus station. In Israel the shape tells you the filling: a triangle holds cheese or another dairy filling, while a square or other shape means a non-dairy one (potato, spinach, mushroom). That distinction is the quickest way to spot the dairy-free ones.

9. שווארמה

   shawarma

   Shawarma (meat shaved from a vertical spit)

   Usage

   In Israel it is most often turkey (הודו); lamb (טלה) is the pricier option. You will be asked first whether you want it בפיתה (in a pita) or בלאפה (in a laffa). These are meat places, so they carry no cheese.

10. פיתה

    pita

    Pita (pocket flatbread)

    Usage

    Hollow inside, so it can be stuffed. Saying בפיתה (be-pita) at a stand means "in a pita" as opposed to a wrap.

11. לאפה

    lafa

    Laffa (large flatbread used as a wrap)

    Usage

    Bigger than a pita and without a pocket, so it is rolled around the filling. Choosing בלאפה (be-laffa) at a shawarma stand gets you more food, and usually costs more than the pita option.

12. סלט ישראלי

    salat yisre'eli

    Israeli salad (finely diced cucumber and tomato)

    Usage

    Tomato and cucumber diced small, dressed with salt, olive oil and lemon. Menus may print it as סלט קצוץ ("chopped salad") or סלט שוק ("market salad") — the same thing. It comes with almost every Israeli breakfast.

13. מטבוחה

    matbukha

    Matbucha (cooked tomato and pepper salad)

    Usage

    Tomatoes and peppers cooked down for a long time and served cold as a starter. It is a regular in the spread of small salad dishes (סלטים) that arrives with a main course, sometimes at no extra charge.

14. טחינה

    tkhina

    Tahini (sesame sauce)

    Usage

    On a menu טחינה usually means the sauce — the paste thinned with water, lemon and garlic — not the raw paste. At a stand, עם טחינה ("with tahini") gets it poured on. It contains no dairy.

15. סחוג

    skhug

    Skhug (hot green chili paste)

    Usage

    A fierce condiment of chili, coriander and garlic (English menus often spell it zhug or s'chug). It is genuinely hot, so it helps to be able to say קצת סחוג ("just a little"). A red version, סחוג אדום, also exists. It is also written זחוק, but shops spell it סחוג.

16. עמבה

    amba

    Amba (tangy pickled-mango sauce)

    Usage

    A yellow sauce of pickled unripe mango, sharply sour and strongly aromatic. It is the standard companion to sabich and falafel. If it is not for you, say בלי עמבה ("without amba").

17. חמין

    khamin

    Hamin (overnight-simmered stew)

    Usage

    A heavy stew of meat, beans, barley, potato and whole eggs left on a low flame overnight. Some places print it as צ'ולנט (cholent). It belongs to Saturday lunch, so weekday menus often do not carry it.

18. מעורב ירושלמי

    meorav yerushalmi

    Jerusalem mixed grill

    Usage

    Chicken livers, hearts and gizzards mixed with breast or turkey and seared on a flat top with onion, cumin and turmeric. It is said to have been put together in the late 1960s at a grill house on Agrippas Street in Jerusalem, by the Mahane Yehuda market, and is now served nationwide. If offal is not for you, check what is in it before ordering.

19. קובה

    kubeh

    Kubbeh (semolina dumpling, usually in soup)

    Usage

    A dumpling of semolina or bulgur around a meat filling. In Israel it is usually served in soup, and menus distinguish them by the broth: קובה סלק (red beetroot) and קובה חמוסטה (sour green). Look for it in Iraqi- and Kurdish-Jewish eateries.

20. חריימה

    khrayme

    Chraime (fish stewed in spicy tomato sauce)

    Usage

    A North African stew of oily white fish — דניס (gilt-head bream) or לוקוס — in a red sauce of chili and garlic. It turns up in Libyan- and Tunisian-Jewish eateries and on Friday tables. The sauce is mopped up with bread.

21. שניצל

    shnitsel

    Schnitzel (breaded cutlet)

    Usage

    In Israel it is made from chicken or turkey and anchors the children's menu. שניצל בפיתה — stuffed into a pita — is a standard street order. Treat it as a different dish from the veal Viennese original.

22. פרגית

    pargit

    Pargit (grilled boneless chicken thigh)

    Usage

    Boneless chicken thigh, the most common item on grill-house and skewer (שיפודים) menus — usually printed in the plural, פרגיות (pargiyot). More tender than breast meat.

23. מלבי

    malabi

    Malabi (milk pudding set with cornstarch)

    Usage

    A cold pudding set from milk and cornstarch. In Israel it is finished with rose water — or a red rose-flavored glucose syrup — plus crushed peanuts and ground coconut. Sold in disposable cups at markets and seafront stands. A dairy-free version made with almond milk also exists.

24. כנאפה

    knafeh

    Knafeh (warm cheese pastry in shredded dough)

    Usage

    Stretchy cheese between layers of shredded dough, baked and soaked in syrup, eaten warm. Widely sold in sweet shops and markets in Israel, usually cut to order and sold by weight.

25. בקלווה

    baklava

    Baklava (layered nut pastry in syrup)

    Usage

    Thin pastry layered with pistachio or walnut and steeped in syrup. Market confectioners sell it by weight — you can order it in 100-gram lots. Some shops spell it בקלאווה.

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