Hummus Workshop at Eli's

HUMMUS WORKSHOP WITH ELI

Eli looking for all the right ingredients

Last weekend I went to Eli's to learn how to make Hummus.  While not a staple of my diet, I seem to seek out Hummus when ever I am travelling since it is amazingly simple and tasty and easily bought throughout Israel but especially good from some of the Arab vendors.  Although you usually must wait in "line" to get the good stuff.  I say line in quotes because Israelis don't believe in lines when it comes to Hummus.  Just get into the ball  of people, and try keep making forward progress.  If the shop owner comes out and shakes his head and waves his hands and sounds like he is yelling at the crowd...it means he ran out of hummus.

First you take about 2 kilos of dried chick peas and soak them overnight in water.  You pour off the water and then heat on the stove in new water for a couple of hours until the right consistency which is soft. There are 2 types of chickpeas (at least two types) and they are very different in size and flavor.  Eli uses the small ones for blending into hummus and the larger ones (also soaked and cooked) for side dishes.  In the case of Hummus the side dishes are what are available on the table to put on top of the hummus.  2 kilos seems like a lot of chick peas, but Eli will store in the freezer for months (like we store salmon) and use as needed

One of the side dishes is this green pepper concoction.  Green Peppers some basil, some oil, salt, pepper cumin and olive oil.  Also 8-12 cloves of garlic a cup or so of cilantro.  It looks like the picture below right before you process it.  The after picture is a beautiful green and quite tasty side dish.  You can make a lot of this (as we did) and keep it for other dishes as well.

After Processing

Before Processing

Once you blend all of the chickpeas to a smooth consistency (this will take many trips to the processor) you are ready to add all of the other ingredients.  There will be tahini, oil, salt (a bit) and cumin.  Maybe a cup of tahini (plain) with 3 cups or more of chickpeas.

Like most everyone at Eli's Workshop, including Amir, Nur and Julie, their dog waited patiently.

Hummus is served in a bowl with a lot of side dishes added to the mix.  Eli makes his own Pita bread and his own flat bread which is quite tasty and especially amazing when fresh off the grill.   Some of the sides to add to the hummus were, the green pepper mix, a hard  boiled egg, lemon slices, chick peas, and of course garlic.

I will definitely have an Alaskan Hummus evening.

For more pictures of making Hummus CLICK HERE

Haifa and Akko

View of the walled city of Akko from the boat

Israel is such a small country.  While I have been staying primarily in Beer Sheva working at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev with this AMAZING group of people, last week I had a crazy travel schedule that took me from Ben Gurion to Haifa and Akko. on a Friday, on Saturday night I took a train to Beer Sheva, spent the following day in the lab and after a 3,5 hour bus ride was in Eilat preparing a talk for the Marine Laboratory.  From the Middle of Israel to the North and then to the far South.

In Haifa, I met up up with Mike Garvin (Post doc in Haifa who is from Juneau)  again who was leaving for the states and who I would not be seeing again. He is living in a little cottage behind a large Berkeley-like home owned by a wonderful Australian woman (Sandra) in her late 70s. She and Mike picked me up at the train station and we had a wonderful dinner (thanks Mike) at Fatoosh.  Wonderful to sit outside with a glass of wine and a great meal.

On Saturday Mike and I walked all over Haifa and looked at the Bahai Temple. I might try to visit the temple before I leave,





We took the train up to Akko (North of Haifa) and learned a lot about the history of this region. Its a walled city built in 1100 and had a labyrinth of tunnels winding underneath. It has a wonderful market and gorgeous views of the Mediterranean.

This fellow was selling some amazing treats.  I bought a date roll and a bit that rainbow colored thing that I gave to Sandra for her Shabbat dinner.

 I am fairly certain that this is the region of the wall that Napoleon destroyed as he tried to conquer the city.  The walls as you might have guessed are ridiculously th.ick and Napoleon was not able to take over this large port city

 They have these tiny horses that they lead around enticing you to hop on and go for a ride through the city.  This little equine did not look like he wanted any part of that.  Heck the stirrups almost reach the ground.  I never did see anyone atop the little guys.







This is a bit difficult to see but these are the underground public toilets for back in the day...not for current usage.  The holes in the ground lead directly to a large pit underneath and I did not ask all the right questions to find out what happened to "everything" after that.  I am assuming it involved Mediterranean waters coming through to rinse.

Mike and I rounded a corner in the old city and found this man atop a horse (a normal sized one) and behind him (not in the picture) were hundreds of women clapping their hands and following him through the narrow streets of Akko.

 Here is a better view of his fan base.  Mike and I think it was a pre-wedding ceremony.

 When we entered the tunnel system there was a large sign that read "Beware: certain areas of the tunnel system may require you to Bend".  I think this was a region that they were referring to.

Token Akko cat picture

These 2 women and a guy were out beach combing in the intertidal and wanted to have a picture taken with me and Mike. After their photo shoot I asked if I could take their picture and I just like the fact that the young girl with the rose was making the peace sign above her friend's head. Many Muslim women wear pants along with the seemingly mandatory headscarves (hijab;a partition). The hijab ranges from open face to the Niquab in which most of their face covered showing only a bit of their face their eyes to the Burka which allows a women to see out but you cannot see in. I have not seen covered women wearing shorts. Young girls before puberty are allowed to let their hair fly free. It still unsettles me to see a woman in full Islamic black dress; her face and hands totally covered.

After dinner, we back tracked through the old city and it was a very different vibe.  Since it was the weekend, most Israelis were home and only the Arab community was out and about.  Stores were still open in the market but only it seemed for appearances because there was no one walking around.

The residents of Akko old town (mostly Arab) were playing soccer in the streets and Mike and I felt that there was a general calmness throughout the streets since the market was closed.  Lots of great smells as people were cooking with windows open.  I strongly suggest that you walk around Akko after hours. Its similar to walking around North Beach in SF at 3 am.

EILAT (again)

Picture is from Alison's balcony of the Red Sea and the Jordonian mountains in the background

I was invited to give a research talk at the the Inter-University Institute for Marine Science by my friend Alison (also in the Fulbright program).  She is a chemical oceanographer looking at geological cores from the Red Sea   

Alison dressed for the heat of Eilat

The marine lab is south of town about 10K from the Egyptian border.  The beach belongs to the University and it is therefore very peaceful.  I think you have seem my pictures of the public beaches with row of plastic colorful chairs and typically crowded.  Here you can go snorkeling and take advantage of th near shore  reefs.

I took some pictures underwater but I promise that the next time I am down at the Red Sea, I won't forget to charge my battery AND I will also have my charging cord with me. This is a soft coral that was growing on a wreck that we dove.  25 meters deep.  I am getting used to 100 foot visibility. Oh and warmish water.  The water is not so warm that you can get by without a wet suit but the last 3 dives I wore a shortie and only became cold after the 50 minute dive.




Back in Beer Sheva for the final month of my stay in Israel.
For more pictures of Akko (mostly) CLICK HERE

My First Seder

Table Set for the Seder

No one lets a stranger be alone on Passover.  This is the event of events in which the Jews celebrate their freedom from slavery and retell their history. In retelling this ancient story, the history becomes better etched in memory and it is as if everyone around the table retelling the story (as read from the Haggadah since no one at my table knew it by heart) actually experienced the events.  My lab mate (Amit) said I was not to be alone and MUST join his family for Passover. His family = mom and day and a sister and 2 brothers 3 nieces and nephews, one fiance and 5 family friends.  Only one  (maybe 2) of the group was religeous but we ate all traditional foods and remained mostly kosher through the evening.  I brought flowers and a bottle of kosher wine but they said that kosher was really not necessary...they were not strict. Amit has a wonderful family; warm and welcoming.  His father who was previosly a comedian/singer and not thoroughly enamered by the annual ritual was a great host. Lots of laughter.

3 generations of Savavy girls (Orr, Adi, and Dalia)

During Passover (Pasach) one cannot buy bread, beer or anything containing yeast.  Matze is the carbohydrate of choice and they make a lot of food items out of Matza.  I stocked up on bread and beer (I know Bob will be here soon) and am set for the week.

A beautiful day on the beach

The following day Nava (family friend and film producer from LA) Dalia and I escaped the house and went walking on the beach north of Tel Aviv (Helsyria).  Looked for shells and enjoyed the sunny day.  These women together have enough crazy stories to fill volumes.  They have been friends for over 40 years.

I explored the streets around their house and found a tree in the middle of a the bike route, a very cool children's park and a dog park complete with agility trainiing loop.

The next day Dalia and I went into Tel Aviv; she had to worked and I spent the day in Yafo and on the beach.  After getting a bit lost, I got on the bus to the train station and headed home to Beer Sheva. Trains are the BEST way to travel here. 

That's it for now...for more pictures from the weekend CLICK HERE

PETRA and the RED SEA

PETRA and Red Sea Diving

Mike Garvin and I in Eilat

I was getting a bit stir crazy in Beer Sheva and was ready for a field trip to Eilat by the Sea.  I have a Fulbright friend who lives there (Allison) and I was dying to get in the water.  Mike Garvin, who some of you may know, is up in Haifa doing a post-doc and I called him to see if he wanted to be my dive buddy.  So he took a plane from Haifa (45 minutes) and I took the 3.5 hour bus trip through the desert.  It was actually quite an easy trip.  

Eilat is a resort and I forgot to take pictures of the resorty part of town.  Suffice to say it looks like any other resort on the sea that you might find in Miami, Santa Monica, etc.  A bit Vegas-like with loads of lights, restaurants, boardwalk, and hotels that look like palaces.  When I go back next time I will try to capture that...I just forgot. These beaches are near our dive sites and I appreciated that not all of the beaches were developed.  I also like that the sign says not to pitch tents in Hebrew and in English. But as my friend in Beer Sheva says..."Israelis are outlaws"

So I took some pretty lame pictures underwater, but here are some of the ones that actually were in focus.  I need to play with my camera BEFORE I get underwater.  We made 4 dives with a dive shop called Manta Dive.  Excellent operation.  While the water is super clear, the fish are plentiful, and the corals are beautiful, the dive sites are all overused by novice divers and there is just a lot of damage to the corals.  Most dive sites are accesible by the beach.  I may try to go on a boat dive that takes you out to what is called the Japanese Gardens or I may try going to Aqaba in Jordon too.  Saw some great stuff on these dives...Giant clams, nudibranchs, a large octopus (will look up the species)

Giant Clam (maybe 30+cm)

I did not capture the amazing colors

You can see the octopus on the rock (Pale)

Here the octopus looks more like the rock

ON TO PETRA

We decided to part with some money and go for a day trip to Petra.  Thanks Google for helping us find "Fun Time Tours". We got picked up at our AirBnB apartment and the driver immediately gave us a "Fun Times" sticker to wear so our guides could keep up with who is part of the tour.  Well lucky for us there were only 4 of us on this particular tour.  We get driven to the Jordonian border where we are given explicit instructions including "you will give your passports to the people who pick you up on the other side (in Jordon)...It will be fine". I don't even like going through the Canadian border and going from Israel to Jordon requires many many many people looking at your passport.  Once you exit Israel you have a 700 meter walk to Jordon.  I thought it best not to run.  Then there was more viewing of passports and adding visa stamps.  I have some cool arabic writing in my passport now that will probably prohibit my entry into the US.  We got picked up by a driver and a guide and headed through the desert to Petra

The drive to Petra takes about 2 hours and we stopped for coffee at a gift/souvenier spot in the middle of nowhere.  Currently, tourism is DOWN because of ISIS and the bad reputation they are bringing to all parts of the Middle East. I bought a very nice Syrian vase and some sweets for the lab.  I had one shop keeper track me the entire time trying to entice me to buy some super expensive relics.  There was some amazing art/geology/pottery/knives/ and also goo-ga there.



OK...let me say something about our Guide (Jimmy the Dude).  His real name is Neezar (rhymes with bizzare) and he is a bedouin who spent 7 years in the US going to school and working.  His english therefore was perfect.  He had a ton of stories and I think some of them were true. He told our tour that camels have a tank of water right under their hump and if you cut the hump, you could dip a cup right into the tank.  I really enjoyed his humor.

All of the bedouin guides inside Petra look like Johnny Depp.  They want you to rent a camel from them or rent a donkey from them or rent a horse drawn carriage from them. They want to help you get through the ancient city because there is so much to see and you really need a full day to walk around.  Here Jimmy the Dude is negotiating a donkey ride for the couple on our tour from the Ukraine.  I for one was not going to ride a donkey up 2 miles of cobble roads and stairs.

Since tourism is down, many of the Johnny Depp look-alikes are sitting in the canyon watching You tube videos and biding their time.






We walked through this canyon carved by flash flood that is the entrance to Petra. The colors are not captured by my camera.  It was awe inspiring.  I found it hard to keep up with the group. Through this canyon, you can see the eroded remains of carved camels and people and tombs.

Here is Jimmy the dude showing us the carvings in the wall of the canyon..  You can see the carved person on the right who was leading a camel.

Here is an eroded carving and I think this is marking a tomb but it could just be old street art.  I would be such an awful guide!

 

 Whenwe came to the end of the "siq" we started getting a view of the amazing "treasury building" carved into the cliffs.  They say (our guide said) that over 20,000 Nabatean people lived here back in the day.  Did I mention that this city was built about 5-800 BCE.  It has an amazing water collection system which is a necessity in this arid climate.

It is had to believe that after the Roman Empire, Petra was pretty much abandoned except for bedouin visitors.  The bedouins occupied the city even after the first Europeans came (1812) and starting bossing people around.

You can rent a camel to take you through the city and next time I will!

Tourism was definitly down here in Petra.  Normally, they would see 3-5,000 people in a day and I bet there was no more than 3-500 people there. You'll notice that in my photos there are rarely people in the views.  That's why next time I will ride a camel.  A bit of revenue to buy food for that animals.

Throughout the city, children sell postcard or rocks

Mike and I walked up close to a mile of stairs leading up to the Monestary.There are many bedouin stalls selling I would say mostly junk from China but they will tell you they made it. Every stall has about the same thing. I bought a skinny bronze camel from a very good business woman.

I like this view of the Monestary because, well one it has a cat in it, and two it is difficult to see just how large this place is.  We have hiked quite a bit up the mountain and are looking down (Note the lack of people)

The monestary looks like an old San Franciscan Victorian carved right into the canyon wall,  Just amazing!

I am adding a few pictures here just to show you the colors that you see while you hike through Petra. We did not have that much time to explore and I would definitely love to see Petra under less harsh lighting, perhaps at sunset. All I can say is that you need to come to Petra if you have not been here before!

If you want to see more pictures of Petra CLICK HERE

If you want to see some lame pictures of the Red Sea Dives CLICK HERE