december-2011

48—GW
J E R U S A L E M
Die Falafel in der
Ben Yehuda Straße
schmecken nicht
nur Kindern gut
Children tuck
into falafel to go on
Ben Yehuda Street
time-warp for the Jewish-
Kurdish dish kubbeh, a beetroot
soup containing meat-stuff ed
semolina dumplings. At the edge
of the market, I found
Khachapuria, a small bakery
established by a Jewish
immigrant from Georgia. A fi rst
wave of Georgian Jews reached
Israel in the early 1970s and a
second wave arrived after the
fall of communism in 1991. Here
you can eat authentic versions of
the country’s national dish, a
cheese-stuff ed bread with either
meat, potato or egg.
Downtown Jerusalem isn’t
so great for food, but nestled
among the frozen yoghurt bars,
chain coff ee shops and
vegetarian pizza parlours –
practising Jews can’t mix meat
and cheese – is the hole-in-the-
wall Sabichiya on Shammai
Street, specialising in Iraqi fast
food. Around 1950 several
Jewish targets in Baghdad were
bombed and almost the entire
Jewish population of Iraq,
around 120,000 people, were
airlifted to Israel. Sabichiya
sells sabich, a fl atbread stuff ed
with hummus, boiled egg, fried
aubergine and spicy sauce. Like
jachnun, its popularity has
surged in recent years.
I also found fantastic food in
East Jerusalem and the Muslim
parts of the city. After all, a third
of Jerusalem’s population is of
Palestinian origin. On Rashid
Street I found Petra, a restaurant
specialising in Palestinian
home-cooking such as maqluba,
a hearty casserole of lamb,
aubergine and rice. And at the
Educational Bookshop on Salah
Eddin Street I escaped the heat
with refreshing lemon and mint
juice, and sandwiches made with
zaatar, a herb similar to thyme.
But the most atmospheric
experience is at Ikermawi, a nononsense
hummus shack tucked
behind the kebab stalls of
Damascus Gate.
“My grandfather opened this
place in 1953 and hardly
anything has changed here
since,” said owner Mohammad
Ikermawi. He charges 15 new
Israeli shekels (€3) for the
world’s best hummus with
tahina, ful (mashed fava beans)
and falafel, a recipe originally
from Damascus. “The Israelis
are starting to come here and
discover the real hummus,” he
laughs. “They say they have
hummus too, but to us it’s
not edible.”
Speaking of inedible, I fi nish
my tour of Jerusalem street food
with a dish many people won’t
touch. The walls of Chatzot,
another famous restaurant on
Agrippas Street, are lined with
photos of Israeli celebrities
who’ve ventured here to sample
meorav yerushalmi, the
notorious Jerusalem mixed
grill. The mix in question
contains the heart, liver and
spleen of chicken with pieces of
lamb and a devilishly spicy
sauce. It’s wonderful. In fact, it’s
so good I craved a second one.
But then I saw sense, crossed
over the road, and asked the
Etrog Medicine Man for more
of that chocolate that will help
me lose weight.