Mr. and Mrs. Lee Not kosher 10 Nissim Aloni, Tel Aviv Tel: (03) 744-4345

Mr. and Mrs. Lee takes Asian cuisine to a high level.

Located in the heart of North Tel Aviv, in the G Tzameret boutique mall, Mr. and Mrs. Lee is definitely a cut above your typical Asian restaurant.

It is run by chef Shaul Ben Aderet of the Blue Rooster (next door on the same floor). Patrons are greeted by a welcoming ambience, modern decor and a spacious dining room, including an outdoor terrace with a long bar.

Menus were handed to us, glasses of water were filled, and we started going through the options in an attempt to narrow down our choices. Deciding on what to order was really difficult. The menu was huge, and everything looked appetizing. As always, I made sure to over-order to ensure that I could try as many items as possible in one sitting.

While waiting for our dinner, we started off with some interesting and cocktails. I particularly enjoyed the Sanche, a blend of tequila, mango and yuzu, which was served along with a small bottle of lemon juice infused with a large red chili pepper.

We began our meal with the steamed lamb buns (NIS 54) with fried shallots and Korean vinaigrette.

The buns were light and fluffy, while the lamb was nicely grilled, partially fatty and tender.

Next up was the crispy chicken spring roll (NIS 49) with mint, cucumber, kaffir lime and Thai chili sauce. The rice paper was not thick (better for frying) nor too thin (breaks apart too easily) but just the right consistency to hold everything together. The dipping sauce was exceptional, perfectly balancing savory and sweet.
The sushi pizza (NIS 56), the restaurant’s signature dish, gets points for being fun. The crust was made of deep-fried rice and was topped with salmon, avocado, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. I enjoyed the pairing of textures, but the overall taste of the dish fell a bit short. In the end, we preferred the sushi rolls. The rainbow roll was tasty and very pretty to look at.
After a bit of a breather, we were served the Thai chicken curry (NIS 74). The curry was delectable and fragrant, infusing the chicken and vegetables with that deep earthy flavor that I love in a masterful curry. The texture was not too watery nor too thick, just right.

The dish definitely had a kick but was not overpowering.

Next up was the homemade noodles (NIS 82), which consisted of stir-fried egg noodles with beef fillet cuts, vegetables, sweet soy and Thai chili. As I savored each bite, I marveled at the texture of the noodles and the flavor of the sauce. The beef was thinly sliced and nicely charred.

Last, we tried the crispy chicken (NIS 89) in soy-honey and ginger.

The chicken was very crisp on the outside but moist and delicious on the inside.

When I didn’t think that I could take another bite, they brought out dessert. We somehow managed to polish off the frozen creme brulee. Absolutely great.

Overall, Mr. and Mrs. Lee is great place to sit, relax and enjoy good food and good company.

Breakfast and Brunch at Market House Hotel Address: Beit Eshel St 5, Tel Aviv-Yafo Phone: 03-797-4000

Built on the ruins of a Byzantine chapel, this stylish boutique hotel is a 2-minute walk from Jaffa Flea Market, 4 minutes' walk from the nearest beach and 5 km from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

Sophisticated rooms with chic tile bathrooms come with free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, minifridges, and tea and coffeemaking facilities. Many rooms include balconies, some with sea views.

A complimentary breakfast buffet and evening cocktails are served in a funky, industrial-chic lounge and dining area. Bike rentals are available.



Jaffa’s Market House Hotel. (photo credit:PR)

The upscale Atlas boutique hotel chain boasts one property in Jaffa, the Market House Hotel, on the fringe of the Flea Market. The expertly refurbished building was built on the ruins of a Byzantine chapel, which can be viewed through the lobby’s glass floor. Twice a day, for breakfast and a light dinner, part of the lobby is transformed into a dining room, which from 7 a.m. to noon is accessible to anyone who wants to partake of the hotel’s morning buffet.

What was impressive about the breakfast buffet was not its size, since at first glance it looked quite small, but the amount of food that could end up on your plate in an endless procession from the limited display area to your table. And this all-you-caneat feast is priced at NIS 80 per person.

It doesn’t take long to scope out the entire buffet, but it is definitely worthwhile investing a minute or two surveying it all before digging in. For example, we only discovered the hot food buffet – featuring flaky cheese and spinach burekas – after filling our plates as a result of making a first pass at two groaning sideboards.

The first thing that caught our eye on the buffet were the breads, thanks to French baguettes standing tall in their container. They marked the spot for an array of fresh, crusty breads that included a rustic round loaf, one studded with black olives, and a basket of ciabatta rolls, including multigrain seeded rolls. According to the hotel manager, the breads come from the supply bakery Lahma, which delivers the breads 90 percent frozen, so they can be warmed up and taste like justbaked even on Shabbat morning, despite kashrut restrictions.

Asian Deli Not kosher 15 Habanim Street, Hod Hasharon Tel: (09) 899-2555

Now entering its third year, Asian Deli offers dishes from Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese cuisines, in a decor accented by Oriental esthetics, from the stylish ceramic plates to the substantial chopsticks, nicely scented towelettes and even the packaging of the flavored green tea sachets.

The English food menu is not updated as frequently as the Hebrew one, so it is missing the lone reference to the house cocktail and still mentions duck, which is no longer available. But it is generally reliable, with symbols indicating which dishes are vegetarian/vegan.

A popular appetizer is the pop shrimps (NIS 49) – fried popcorn shrimp atop a pile of shredded lettuce, served with two dipping sauces. The tiny shrimp were breaded and fried to crispy perfection. After trying each sauce, I ended up combining the two, thus discovering the level of complex spiciness I liked best.

One example of Asian street food gaining popularity in Israel is bao (NIS 33-45) – small sandwiches made with steamed bread. At Asian Deli, what the menu calls “buns” are two dainty sandwiches served on a bamboo skewer; and there is a nice choice of fillings. We tried the fish tempura, which was heavy on the mayo – although I didn’t mind, as it was a pleasant Japanese version. Still, the light and airy buns stole the show. It is likely something that kids would enjoy if the restaurant’s children’s meals do not appeal.

There was one Ramen dish on the menu, starring chicken as the featured protein (NIS 53). The rich broth was replete with thick noodles, fresh mushrooms and chicken breast strips that were moist and flavorful. A veritable meal in a bowl.

The same can be said for the Tom Yam soup (NIS 69), which was a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. The practically overflowing bowl of the pungent Thai classic was studded with seafood – mussels, shrimp and calamari – as well as cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and bean sprouts.

Accompanied by a copious serving of steamed white rice, this was a dish whose pleasant heat continued to suffuse through the body after each spoonful.

Another good option starring the same trio was the seafood curry (NIS 69), an equally generous dish in a red coconut cream sauce that boasted just the right amount of spice.

One of Asian Deli’s beef dishes was the Pad Kapao (NIS 59) – ground beef and vegetables in a mild sweet and spicy sauce, topped with fried egg.

The sauce and yolk seeped into the meat and rice to make an eminently satisfying main course.

It can be a difficult chore to finish all the food here, but one can take leftovers home or order some takeaway.

I discovered that allowing the flavors of the Tom Yam and Pad Kapao to meld further for an additional 24 hours led to another fine dinner the following day.

It is worth saving room for at least one dessert. The creme brûlée (NIS 35), with hints of lemongrass and ginger, was a refreshing bit of sweetness, while the “bun special” (NIS 42) was exactly that: two vanilla ice cream sandwiches fashioned out of toasted Asian buns, covered in blueberry topping and crunchy strips of toasted coconut.

Asian Deli offers a variety of business lunches (until 4 p.m.), ranging from NIS 49 to NIS 89. Given these reasonable prices, this is the kind of place you can try a couple of times until you've found the dishes you want to make your regular choices.

Sandpaper and silk: texture and flavour perception.How texture can affect flavour perception and the experience of eating.

For the penultimate article in my series on multi-sensory dining, I am tackling texture. This may well be the shortest article of the five because, of all the senses considered in relation to gastronomy, touch (along with sound) is one of the least researched. This is mainly due to the fact that conventional definitions of flavour do not include texture. But how important is the role of texture in experiencing flavour?

Does texture matter?


Let’s start out with something very simple to help us answer this question; what makes a crisp, a crisp? Think of your favourite crisp brand. Flavour will factor into your choice, but is that all that makes them your favourite? For many, it is the size, thickness (or thinness) and the mouthfeel – the crunch in the mouth (which also belongs in the sound domain) – which, along with a particular flavour, make up the characteristics of their favourite crisps. Dare we say the texture, weight (and sound) of the packet itself may even be a characteristic which endear us to our favourite brand?

Think about throwing all the elements of your next Sunday roast in a blender before serving it to your family and friends. If texture was irrelevant to flavour, those beautiful crispy potatoes, rare beef, perfectly cooked vegetables and home-made gravy would be just as delicious after a good blitz. Clearly we have certain associations, perceptions and preferences for the physical attributes of food which go beyond just how they look and taste.

So far so simple. Everything I have mentioned above is hardly mind blowing, nor is it really that experimental, but it is important to highlight the role that texture plays in the simplest terms. I’m now imagining that perfect crème brûlée with a glass-like sugar disc waiting to be shattered into velvety custard. The texture is a big part of what makes it a great dish – a disappointing top equals dissatisfaction.

The contrast between the caramel disc and custard proves how important texture is.

For one subject, chicken was only ready to serve when it felt 'pointy'.

Synaesthesia


When researching for our last dining concept, Synaesthesia by Kitchen Theory, I read a book by Dr Richard Cytowic (who collaborated with us in the development of the dinner) and I came across research on a synaesthete called Michael Watson. This man was unique; as well as other interesting forms of synaesthesia, he had a very interesting and rare form in which foods in his mouth generated actual tactile sensations in his hands! As he ate food, he would feel different shapes, weights and textures in the palm of his hand. Watson had different tactile sensations for all kinds of tastes – spearmint, for instance, gave him a feeling of running his hand along a tall, cool column of glass or marble and chicken was only ready to serve once it felt ‘pointy’, like placing his hands on a bed of nails. This obviously got me thinking about this link between taste and external tactile stimulation and I turned to science to explore this link further.

Here’s a question for you: do rough textures such as sandpaper match better with salty, bitter notes or sweet, creamy notes? And how about soft textures such as velvet? Which of the tastes mentioned would they work with? For most people, it makes sense that rough textures match salty/bitter notes and the softer textures correlate to sweeter/smoother notes. The question now becomes: can external tactile stimulation in the hand actually accentuate a diner’s perception of different notes in a dish?

Marinetti’s cubes

Marinetti's cubes.



To test this concept, we developed a dish intended as an homage to Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Marinetti is known best as the author of the Manifesto of Futurism which he wrote in 1909 and The Futurist Cookbook published in 1938. What made futurist cooking so revolutionary was that it drew on food as a raw material for art and cultural commentary reflecting the futurist idea that human experience is empowered and liberated by the presence of art in everyday life. Marinetti saw food as the ultimate promise of optimism – a gateway to sensual freedom. He also very much advocated the idea that guests should run their fingers over various textures in order to augment the mouthfeel and even flavour (and intensity) of the elements in a dish. This inspired our Marinetti Cubes which are black (to remove colour cues); seven inch cubes with each of the sides covered in a different textured material – natural wood, velvet, plastic, Velcro (both sides), and sandpaper.

Amazingly enough we found that some of our guests did genuinely perceive differences in the taste and mouthfeel of the dish, based on the textures they ran their fingers over on the cubes. The textures affected around twenty percent of our guests, five percent of whom had pretty strong reactions (which include the guest who got ‘cotton mouth’ from touching the fuzzy side of Velcro; a table of two who couldn’t stop commenting on how much saltier the dishes became once they touched the sandpaper and my favourite, the guest who had to touch the velvet side of the cube to get through one particular dish because she felt the rough textures made everything too crunchy and noisy!) We are so interested in this idea that we have included the texture cubes in our latest experimental dining concept Mexico by Kitchen Theory.

Wider implications

Plenty of chocolate companies use silky textures in their television and print ads to plant the idea in our minds that their product is smooth, creamy and sweet. This is just taking that concept to a more physical level.


Jozef Youssef



If tactile sensation can be used to enhance taste and flavour, there could be practical applications. How about channelling this research towards our growing concern with high sodium levels in processed foods. Given the ability of rougher textures to enhance saltiness in a dish, simply eating with a slightly grainy textured spoon might allow us to reduce the salt in our diet without even noticing its absence. Could we find a way to cut back on sugar using a similar idea? Silk-covered chocolate mousse pots, for example. Plenty of chocolate companies use silky textures in their television and print ads to plant the idea in our minds that their product is smooth, creamy and sweet. This is just taking that concept to a more physical level.

Crockery and cutlery


Also on the topic of texture, let us not forget our cutlery, crockery and glassware. Does a Michelin-starred meal taste better with heavier cutlery? Apparently so. The team at the Crossmodal Laboratory in Oxford conducted an experiment with more than 130 diners at a hotel restaurant in Edinburgh. The results showed that simply using high-quality cutlery normally reserved for banquets resulted in customers willing to pay fifteen percent more for their food, compared to people eating the same meal with lower-quality utensils. And as for glasses, just think about how much more pleasant a good wine, Scotch or brandy tastes out of the right glassware.

Kitchen Theory at home


Much of what I have discussed in this article is intuitive, but it is worth paying a little more attention to textures when cooking and entertaining at home. Here are some ideas for bringing texture into your own kitchen.

Food


Textural balance on the plate is vital. Think of that perfect crisp caramelised sugar on the crème brûlée, the charred surface of a roasted piece of meat with a smooth creamy mash and slow roasted garlic, a crusty piece of country bread with a soft French cheese and a chunky fig chutney. Be mindful of the balance of textures within each dish in order to stimulate and pique your guests’ interest at different points within the course. Baked or fried fish, chicken or duck skin is perfect for adding crispy texture as are baked Parmesan or chia crisps and dehydrated purées.

Linen


Introduce a variety of fabrics with tablecloths and napkins. Perhaps try different textured napkins to accompany different courses?

Plates


Smooth, round, ridged, angular; what best fits the dish you are serving on it? For example, rustic, Nordic-style dishes look great on a piece of bark.

Cutlery


Research would suggest heavier is better! But bear in mind there needs to be continuity, your nice minimal crockery may not look great with clunky, heavy cutlery.

Texture cubes


Take a leaf out of our book and fabricate your own version of the texture cubes. Even different swatches of materials stuck on a small card could potentially work. The point is to give guests something to play with and see if you get any reactions. This isn’t an exact science… yet!

Fryda Shamelstoch Baker's Kosher Challah Bread: Easily-Sliceable & Gluten-Free

Gluten-free baking can be an exercise in frustration, but this bread recipe has never let me down. For me, the success is in the texture. As you can see, it has plenty of aeration which lends it some of the fluffiness of real bread.



It freezes well, so you can slice it, freeze in a zip-top bag, and take out as needed. It toasts well, and although it is more fragile than regular wheat bread, it does a good job of holding up toppings (see pictures).





If you're unfamiliar with gluten-free bread, be aware that it has more of a batter consistency and cannot be shaped or braided. For challah, some people like to use the silicone moulds, which gives it the appearance of a braided loaf, but in my experience cakes and breads do not bake well in silicone. Since I prioritize taste and texture over appearance, I simply pour the batter into loaf bans and bake as such. It might make for non-traditional challah, but hey, gluten-free challah is non-traditional to begin with. And if you're using this for breakfast toast or school lunches, loaf pans make for neatly sliced sandwich bread.


batter/dough before rising




batter/dough after rising




Recipe adapted from Barefeetinthekitchen.com



Since this bread is made with liquid other than water, it is considered pat haba bekisnin, over which the blessing of mezonot is normally said. When this bread is eaten as the basis of a meal that is at least the size of four eggs (approximately 8 oz.), it takes on the status of bona fide bread, warranting washing, hamotzie and a full afterblessing.

Two unsliced loaves of this bread can be used as challah for the Shabbat meal. If you will be eating the abovementioned size, treat it exactly like bread made of flour and water. If not, skip the pre-meal washing and make the blessing of mezonot instead of hamotzie, and say the appropriate (truncated) afterblessing following your meal (this follows the final decision of the Alter Rebbe that mezonot can constitute the two loaves of the Shabbat meal).
Ingredients:
2 cups brown rice flour
2½ cups oat flour (look for oat flour which is certified gluten free)
1⅓ cups potato starch
⅔ cup tapioca starch
2 tsp. dry yeast
2 tsp. salt
2½ tsp. xanthan gum
1½ cups unsweetened soy or almond milk
⅔ cup honey
½ cup oil
6 eggs (+ 1 egg for the egg wash)
sesame seeds (optional)
Directions:
Place the brown rice flour, oat flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, yeast, salt and xanthan gum into the bowl of a stand mixer.
Warm the milk and slowly mix it into the dry ingredients. Add the oil and honey and beat until smooth.
Add the eggs one a time, making sure each egg has been fully incorporated before adding the next.
Beat the mixture at high speed for 3-5 minutes. This adds air to the batter, which helps with the texture of the finished loaf.
Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel or saran wrap. Let rise for 60-90 minutes. (Note: the batter will puff up but don't expect it to double in size like regular bread dough.)
Gently pour the batter into two loaf pans lined with parchment paper. Smooth the top of each loaf with wet fingers or the back of a spoon dipped in water.
Beat the egg and brush the top of both loaves. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Cover the pans and allow the dough to rise for another hour.
Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.
Allow the loaves to cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes, then gently tip out onto a cooling rack.
Only slice the bread once it has fully cooled, or it will fall apart. Freezes well.

Yields: 2 loaves



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Ochel Leumi : Zion's National Food and drinks.....Felafel, Schwarma ,Shakshouka, Kebab, Cafe Hafouch, Baklawa, Knafeh,.Nesher ( Malt Beer) and more

It is hard to define Israel's national food.  With a population from very many different countries, every community contributes its own special foods and flavors.  

The Israeli Breakfast is world renowned.  The Israeli breakfast is served includes yogurts, fruits, cheeses, eggs, and salads. The breakfast buffet also includes smoked fish, herring, cereals, a variety of breads, baked goods, pancakes and juices - grapefruit is a favorite.

We've listed some of the most popular foods amongst local Israelis and there are probably three stand-out dishes that are considered Israel's national foods and tourists insist eating them when visiting the country; felafel, schwarma and hummous.

	Freshly fried, golden balls of chickpeas blended with traditional Middle-Eastern spices served with salads in a pita; felafel is so popular that we've dedicated an entire article to its preparation and serving.
	Schwarma: finely sliced, grilled meat - turkey or lamb, grilled on a special schwarma rotisserie and packed into pita bread, traditionally served with onions, parsley and tehina. It can also be served in a "lafa", a flat-bread resembling a large pancake.
	Hummous and Tehina: Hummous is a dip/spread made from chickpeas and served with olive oil and pita. Tehina is a dip/spread made from sesame seeds. Eaten together they are a complete protein. In a restuarant your order of hummous will probably be served with a variety of pickled vegetables (Heb: hamutzim) and olives
	Israelis love hot French fries (known locally as chips).  Not all restaurants serve chips with a steak or burger and you may need to order them separately.  Ketchup is the most common accompaniment to hot chips.  If you enjoy mayonnaise or vinegar with yours, you'll have to ask your waiter.
	The traditional Israeli vegetable salad is made of very finely diced tomatoes and cucumber served with a lemon juice and olive oil dressing.  Haloumi, Nicoise, quinoa and every other type of popular salads are available in local restaurants.  Portions are large and  are easily enough for two people.
	Boerekas ares mall savory pastries filled with cheese, potatoes, spinach or mushrooms. Often eaten with hard-boiled eggs and a pickled cucumbers. Boerekas are eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  They are a popular street food.
	Shakshouka a breakfast food of poached eggs cooked in a tomato based sauce.  Flavored with cumin, chili and parsley, there are many variations of this dish as you will see in our recipe selection.
	Kebab, traditionally a blend of finely minced lamb and herbs and spices, shaped like a sausage and grilled on the fire.  Lamb is  expensive in Israel, so our little trick is to add lamb fat to beef or turkey which imparts the unique flavor of lamb to the meat.
	Schnitzel from chicken or turkey breast, fried in breadcrumbs, is a very popular meal and children love it.   Eaten on a plate and usually with side-serving of chips, it can also be served in a pocket of pita  with hummous, tehina and salads.
	Israelis love steak but it is quite expensive.  You can expect to pay upward of 100 shekels for a steak when you order it in a restaurant.The Sinta or sirloin and the Steak Ayin, the rib-eye steak are the most popular.
	Baklawa is a small, sweet cake made from phyllo pastry and nuts. Pistachio nuts are traditionally used but other nuts are sometimes used. Baklawa are popular across the Levant.  About 1,000 calories a bite!
	Knafeh is a traditional Arab desert made with Ricotta cheese, shredded noodle-like pastry called 'Kadaif' and syrup. Expect to pay  between 10 - 15 shekels for a single serving if you buy if from a market stall.
	Malt Beer is a black, non-alcoholic malt flavored, Israeli beverage.  In Hebrew it is called "Bira Shechora" or black beer.  Popular local brands of alcoholic beer are Maccabi and Goldstar.  Well known international beer brands are readily available.  The pub price for a local Israeli beer is about  25 shekels.  Alcohol is sold in supermarkets and in specialized stores.  Legal drinking age is 18.
	Tea with Nana is weak black tea served with Nana leaves (Eng: mint leaves) and sugar.  Hot water infused with nana is also a popular drink.  When you order tea in a restaurant, you will be served a cup of boiling water and a tea bag on the side. No tea-pot and no milk!  Another popular drink is fresh lemon juice mixed with sugar and nana - called 'limonana'. It is served ice-cold and is very refreshing in summer.
	Cafe Hafuch - literally upside down coffee - is very popular.  Basically a long cappuccino, the milk is first heated and frothed and the coffee is then added.
	Turkish coffee - more commonly called Cafe Shachor (black coffee), is a small cup of strong, sweet coffee often flavored with cardamon and served at the end of a meal, around a campfire or just anywhere.  Turkish coffee is traditionally prepared in a cone shaped coffee pot called a finjan.
	Garinim - seeds of all kinds; sunflower, pumpkin and watermelon are salted and roasted and eaten as a snack food anywhere, anytime.  Roasted nuts like pistachios, almonds, cashews, pecans etc. are very popular too.  Chestnuts are available in the winter months.  In Hebrew, the collective name of these snack food is 'pitzuchim'.  Dried fruits of all kinds are popular too and are readily available.