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three. Get started at Jc fny.org. Unorthodox.

0:29

Is reporting from Israel, which were sharing on

0:31

the show this week was made possible thanks

0:33

to support from the Deyton Foundation, the My

0:35

Manatees Fund, and tablet. This

0:39

is unorthodox and on producer Josh Cross

0:41

we're now on day three of Unorthodox,

0:44

a special week long series of dispatches

0:46

from our recent trip to Israel. On

0:49

today's installment, we're headed to the Shock. Honestly,

0:53

After our triptych far as a on

0:55

Monday and hanging out with dogs on

0:57

Tuesday, we thought we needed some slightly

0:59

lighter fare today. Which is not

1:01

to say there's not a lot of meaning, just that

1:03

it's a little taste year if you will. Were

1:06

actually taking you back to our very first

1:08

day on the ground december eighth, the eve

1:10

of Hanukkah Shabbat to shake off the jet

1:12

lag and kick things off right. We went

1:14

straight to the shock to be one of

1:16

our favorite. Food is a Dean assessment. Is.

1:19

Crowded Loud Marketplace is also

1:21

the perfect microcosm. The

1:23

everything about Israel at play. War.

1:25

And Peace economic challenges.

1:28

Politics. And Peters, it's all there.

1:31

So. With that let us take you want

1:33

to trip through the stalls of Shook or

1:35

carmel. So

1:42

where are we right now? We're

1:44

of south of the Cardinal Market

1:47

at a cafe called Cafe Timothy.

1:49

A bit claustrophobic. What? It's actually

1:51

awesome. And it

1:53

was pretty awesome. Let me set the

1:55

scene. You had producer Ellie Bleier who

1:58

you heard there and me. We. for

2:00

a coffee, sitting on a sidewalk outside

2:02

the cafe, just south of the Chukka

2:04

Carmel Market in Tel Aviv. We

2:06

were there with our colleagues, Tanya Singer and

2:09

Lael Lubavitz, at 9.30 on a

2:11

Friday morning, roughly four hours after we

2:13

had landed at Ben Gurion Airport. Just

2:16

enough time to put our bags down, take a

2:18

quick shower, and head out for a pre-Shabbat shopping

2:20

trip. We were also waiting

2:22

for chef and author Adina Sussman, but

2:24

we didn't have to wait long for her either. Welcome

2:28

to Tel Aviv. So

2:30

happy you guys are here.

2:32

In case you were worried about

2:35

Adina's cooking bonafide, listen to

2:37

this. Nothing better than a quartada, but a microphone. What

2:40

do we call it? Last night we had 25 people over, Tel

2:45

Aviv style, everyone invited within less than

2:48

24 hours. Everybody showed up. We

2:51

had Japanese yam

2:53

and manchezal latkes, butternut,

2:55

squash, herb latkes, jorucum,

2:57

artichoke, chive latkes, and

2:59

clasps, cauliflower

3:02

tabbouleh with pomegranate seeds,

3:04

green salad with toasted nuts and

3:07

feta, an apple galette, a

3:09

date cake inspired by the date cake

3:12

that I eat here every day, and fresh lasagna

3:14

that made ala minut with

3:16

powdered sugar. If

3:18

you guys had been here, you would have been there. That's

3:21

all I can tell you. Now we didn't just

3:23

come here for the coffee or to hang out with Adina.

3:25

We wanted to know what the shuk was like for her, especially

3:28

during a very tense moment. People

3:31

are out again. People are out. Definitely

3:34

unprecedented times, and you

3:36

never know where you're gonna find in all your regular

3:39

locations. But... I

3:41

chose to live by the shuk. The

3:44

shuk chose me. No,

3:47

actually my husband is a very wise man. I

3:49

met my husband nine years ago. He's been living

3:51

here for almost 40 years. He's American. And

3:54

I say I moved to Israel for love and

3:56

stayed for the shuk. It's my community. It's my

3:59

culinary... North Star, everything, you know.

4:01

And then this place is like my home away

4:03

from home. Truly like two of my best

4:05

friends, the owners of this place, one

4:08

of whom is in battle right now. And

4:10

his cookie recipe is in my second book.

4:13

And Mickey's wife's family jochen

4:15

recipes in the Shabbat book. Like

4:18

it's not just a coffee shop, it's a

4:20

lifestyle. This

4:22

war is really teasing out

4:24

like economic issues, challenges

4:26

that Israel has been going through already

4:28

with digital reform and COVID. Like

4:31

things that were teetering, some have

4:33

clothes, some are on hold, 300,000

4:35

people in the army. They

4:37

see these signs everywhere like I'm a Milouimik.

4:40

This is my visit, I'm like, I'll see ya, wanna

4:43

see ya. A Milouimik is a

4:45

reservist, someone who's been called up for army

4:47

service in the IDF. The weird

4:49

thing about Milouim is that it's for

4:52

literally everybody. Your kid's math teacher, your

4:54

family doctor, the garage guy even. These are women

4:56

and men in their 20s and 30s and 40s

4:59

and sometimes 50s and 60s as well. So

5:02

naturally it affects the shuk too. Walk

5:05

around and you'll see the various stalls putting

5:07

up signs explaining which staff members were

5:09

in Milouim today. Place here is just

5:11

so different, so immediate, so connected to

5:14

everyone, is so connected to everyone else.

5:16

Everything is impacted by the war, produce,

5:18

prices, you know, what happened

5:21

to the workers, foreign workers. And also I don't

5:23

think a lot of people, even Israelis, realize how

5:25

much produce came from the Gaza border area. And

5:29

I mean, everyone's impacted all over the country

5:31

because of the war, because of who's not

5:33

working and because of who's not helping. But

5:36

people are pitching in, everyone's

5:38

going and volunteering. Last night my cauliflower,

5:40

then I made my tiboui out of

5:42

a hand-picked by a volunteer and brought

5:45

to my house. It's really nice. At

5:48

this point, having drained our coffee, it was time

5:50

to actually head into the market. This

5:53

is the bottom of the shuk. The

5:55

shuk actually started on the other at the

5:58

top where Allen B. meets Carmel's family. We

8:00

shall. Let's

8:09

go. After you. You

8:12

guys hungry? What's your food? Are

8:15

you hungry? We are always, I mean, we're here for it.

8:19

Whatever it is, we're here for it. Yeah.

8:21

Shall we eat that, huh? You

8:23

got a little bit of a name? Lavinick, and

8:26

curry, lemon, kaboch, macaroni.

8:30

Drew's Pita. We have to feed Josh. We're

8:32

feeding him. Love

8:38

you. Love you, man. I saved a... Also

8:46

good. Drew's Pita is

8:48

very thin and baked on a hot stone.

8:51

Imagine the perfect crepe, but slightly thicker

8:53

and slathered in labna, which is like

8:56

a thicker, bolder kind of sour cream.

8:59

They sprinkle some parsley all over it,

9:01

and of course, zatar, one of the greatest

9:03

spices made up of sumac and sea stop

9:05

and sesame seeds and other surprises. As

9:08

we waited, Adina and Lielle discussed some snacks

9:11

and toppings on the counter. This

9:13

is taro milk? Mm-hmm. It's like

9:15

a, it says Arab bean

9:18

snack, like you would have snacked. Very

9:20

popular street food. And this is what? Not so

9:22

kidding. This is malsooth. This is

9:24

stuffed cat rolled cabbage, and these are

9:27

grape leaves, tabouli. They

9:29

make all of the family makes it all. You

9:31

know, we're in the winter, like winter green season.

9:35

Malve, olès? Once the pita was

9:37

handed over, I took a bite, and then I realized

9:39

it was gonna be a long day of eating. It's

9:41

like a dough. So I had better pacemite. So I

9:43

let Elie and Tanya take over. Yeah,

9:45

Elie, this is a new, yeah. Take one for

9:47

the team. Yeah, dude. I can't eat

9:50

it all. You're here. You're here. Tada.

9:52

Tada. No, dude. Tada, baba.

9:54

No, would you like to go to the mall?

9:56

She doesn't want you to pay. Tada,

9:59

baba. The lot of time. And

10:01

labor said it's not. so I'm sorry. I

10:03

don't know is a what I did

10:05

not as cool as far as on

10:07

the i have one later when my

10:09

mom so how how is this is

10:12

so good, fresh and tangy. far as

10:14

I'm an addict one by oh he

10:16

was so and a psycho that everything

10:18

works really elegantly together so no is

10:20

like so far it is kind of

10:22

like those numbers are you can order

10:24

off the menu lot more. get it

10:26

for fear of the line is as

10:28

you're wearing and in your pants off

10:30

or. Are.

10:33

You even in Israel if you don't sample set

10:35

of she's. Off we went to try

10:37

some and Spoiler is not what you find your

10:39

local shop right? Now

10:43

cause it's not bad, I mean it's

10:45

all about the soft cheeses. And

10:47

Israel? Like, if you're going to get that, you

10:49

know that. Oh My. God. are. So

10:53

I don't have not seen. If you

10:55

want from Shut Up and Five Miles

10:57

without him a mother queen. Enough that

10:59

you friends and. They. Didn't use that word

11:01

for it as a shilling for. In

11:04

Africa since I didn't personally and.

11:08

And Yellen. Israeli.

11:13

Thought. His early

11:15

thirties is really do that a lot.

11:17

I mean, I really need to suffer.

11:21

From the from pivotal time on their

11:23

when are they suffered a hundred what

11:25

are they milk years? Over

11:28

eating right here. Are

11:30

wired his route I think more than

11:32

any the other cases like these are

11:35

the sees as outside are the most

11:37

local animal meaningful to me. It's amazing.

11:40

Are mothers tried to teach us to eat or

11:42

vegetables. And if they were as good as what we found

11:44

here in the shook. That. Wouldn't have been such

11:46

a problem growing up. With

11:49

unbelievable. These are

11:51

the best! Cherry Tomatoes Must. Become

11:54

super years ago in.

11:56

hot housing in the south as

11:58

long as you know Maybe you know, a

12:01

lot of tomatoes are now imported from Turkey, which

12:03

has been very politically controversial and

12:06

also not good for Israeli

12:08

agriculture. But cherry tomatoes are

12:10

still 100% grown here. Want

12:13

one? They're very good. I would love one. Little

12:16

cherry tomato. They're like

12:18

candy. Yeah, that's good. Oh my god.

12:21

This is what a tomato tastes like. Yeah. You

12:23

do not have tomatoes in America. No. Really

12:26

don't. Mmm. So

12:28

good. So good. I don't have a

12:30

turkey. As you know, every

12:34

day can bring perils here, so

12:36

it's nice to see people are out. I

12:40

think the Israeli way we

12:42

celebrate when we can. Right

12:44

now it's strawberry season. Hanukkah and

12:46

strawberries are actually very intertwined,

12:49

which is funny because in the

12:51

United States, strawberries are a summer crop here.

12:53

It's winter. People are starting to eat the

12:55

strawberry cake. They're so good. I couldn't resist to

12:57

about some last night. In

13:00

the U.S., strawberry season is late spring and early

13:02

summer. In Israel, it's apparently

13:04

all year round, but especially December. I

13:06

didn't understand. Very good for December 8th.

13:10

These strawberries were amazing. Look at

13:12

that. Wow. Smells

13:14

delicious. You

13:16

know that strawberry jam Adina was talking about? You

13:19

know what that goes great with? So

13:21

this is famous sana burik, and

13:23

they make fringe all year, which

13:25

are the Moroccan donuts, but this

13:27

is their Super Bowl because it's

13:29

Hanukkah. They're

13:32

frying them right there. There's covered in sugar. Does

13:34

anybody want a fringe? No. What?

13:38

He doesn't do sweets. Santa does. I do call.

13:41

He's savory. He can grab his three

13:43

for ten chakot. I have a

13:45

ten chakot. Yeah. The

13:49

bowl to this is like our Uber

13:51

Eats. He's picking up their donuts. Someone's

13:53

probably ordering them for their Shabbat

13:56

Hanukkah meal. But

14:00

it wasn't the

14:02

main attraction. That

14:09

honor would be reserved for Yishtabach.

14:16

It's a play on words. Yishtabach means blessed

14:18

be his name, as in God. But

14:20

it also means ish, or man, and tabach,

14:22

the cook. It's Lael's favorite place

14:25

in the shuk, or maybe even the world. And

14:27

he's been talking about it nonstop, like would not

14:30

shut up. And now, it

14:32

was time for me to eat there. So

14:36

we're at Yishtabach, is it too early for

14:38

a shishpiel? No. Not for Josh?

14:43

To be clear, he all abuses me because

14:46

I will eat anything. Okay.

14:49

So what

14:53

are y'all about to do

14:55

today? In

14:58

the last three, four years, the schnitzel call

15:00

of sandwich has become sort of the cool

15:03

sandwich of choice in the shuk. I mean, there's

15:05

obviously the classic shawarma, falafel,

15:08

sabir. What's

15:10

nice about this is that it combines

15:13

a lot of classic

15:16

Israeli things, fried eggplant, schnitzel.

15:18

What's nice about it is a mix of Mizrachi

15:20

and Ashkenazi stuff all thrown together in a pita,

15:22

which I think is kind of the story of

15:24

Israel. It's very

15:26

Hanukkah appropriate because everything is fried. And

15:31

it's nice also, the contrast

15:33

of the crunchy eggplant

15:35

and schnitzel, the soft mushi

15:37

challah, homemade magbukha. You can see

15:40

that beautiful layer of oil on the top.

15:42

That's a sign of good magbukha. Magbukha

15:45

is a long reduced tomatoes, peppers, hot

15:48

peppers, garlic, often

15:50

cooked overnight, so

15:52

it's very flavorful and delicious.

15:57

My question, and this is always important, is when somebody doesn't

15:59

want to eat the know what they're doing and they

16:01

come here, how do people order it incorrectly? Incorrectly?

16:04

Yeah. I

16:06

mean, I was

16:09

asked the vendor to

16:12

serve it to them as the vendor likes to eat

16:14

it. Yeah, like what's the equivalent of dealers' choice

16:16

in Hebrew? Like

16:21

as you like, as you were. Right. They get it.

16:23

I mean, they take a

16:25

lot of, you know, this isn't tall,

16:27

but this is cuisine. They're not epinephrine.

16:30

No. Very high quality stuff. It's very

16:32

fresh. The challah is today and it's

16:34

gone, especially because it's Friday, but really

16:36

every day. They're still holding over a

16:38

puma. There's no, they're not going to

16:40

put those eggplants in the fridge and

16:42

then refry them on Sunday, like when

16:44

and done. This is, you see, a

16:46

nice stuff that's going

16:48

on. I mean, citrus season, so you have beautiful oranges

16:50

with the leaves on them. What it

16:52

says above the fridge. An important

16:54

detail. Yeah. So we were talking about before, this

16:57

is a business of people who are

16:59

in the army reserve duty. So somebody

17:02

who works here is in the army and is

17:04

not here right now because they're in the Alamein,

17:07

which is, Camiloaim is Israelis

17:09

who serve in the IDF,

17:11

do reserve duty and train

17:14

regularly so they can be ready for military

17:18

situations. Right.

17:22

Yeah. I

17:24

mean, don't let

17:26

my, my calmness diminish the

17:28

excitement I have for the, what's

17:31

about to happen. This is like

17:33

the best trend ever. Why?

17:36

He already pitched us on it. Now I want to

17:38

hear yours. Why this

17:40

is the best trend ever. That

17:43

is now not a trend. Now it's

17:45

a permanent staple. It's because it's, it's

17:47

for sale. I think it's a fusion

17:49

of necrothian, ossunology traditions. Yeah. Don't kill

17:51

me, but yeah, you are. I'm definitely

17:53

having a bite. Yeah.

17:56

Like I don't want to die. I

18:00

have Israeli people culture

18:03

and like knowing, I don't think anyone even

18:05

thinks about the fact that the chinese people

18:07

is originally an ashenan indigenous anymore. Bali

18:11

Bali Bali. I

18:13

don't have hands on him at all. It's also,

18:16

using a reproduced tradition, it's got the Shabbat

18:19

role. I

18:21

mean that's like a dude. Right, it's

18:24

for Hala. I mean it

18:26

serves a week but it's turned it out probably as

18:28

a Friday thing in the shuk. Hala is also, I

18:31

mean Hala is universal in Jewish

18:33

tradition but the size is

18:35

so perfect. And

18:39

also it's not, this is not like

18:41

artisan sourdough Hala. This is like

18:44

hardcore white flour,

18:46

possibly margarine, definitely

18:48

some sugar in there. But it's so delicious you

18:50

know like that's what you need at Smooshy

18:52

Center. There's an amazing

18:55

fish sandwich up there called Hakarmel 40.

18:57

They do this every morning. You see them buying just

18:59

like the classic Shuk

19:01

baguette and then hollowing

19:04

up the center and then filling it

19:06

with this amazing fresh fish sandwich where

19:09

the fish is pervaded by the fish monger right behind

19:11

the saw. They have all their special sauces that

19:13

they make on the spot. So you know there's

19:16

also an internal what's going on a lot. It's a lot

19:18

of like in the States a lot of fine dining shops

19:21

have kind of left that world and just want to do this

19:23

because it makes them happy. It's

19:25

a vibe, it's a vibe. Hold on. I

19:27

finally got this amazing sandwich in my hands.

19:35

Like I feel like I need to say a

19:37

mochi. You need

19:39

to say many blessings. Right, right. Shekhanu.

19:44

Right. Smells amazing.

19:46

Oh. Oh my

19:50

god. Alright, fuck y'all. I'm in them. Bye!

19:54

Josh and his sandwich. A

19:56

man in a sandwich. How

20:00

anybody could hate anybody else when some of those

20:02

people make this? They...

20:04

no! Oh my god. I'm

20:07

gonna need a napkin, thank you. We can't help

20:09

it, okay, I'm on it. Don't worry, it's really

20:11

the single greatest sandwich I've ever had in a

20:13

day. Oh my god. Who wants each of the...

20:15

Get out of here, let me. Do

20:18

you taste the preserved lemon? Yes, yep. That

20:20

is so essential here. Right. Cut through the

20:22

fat, the richness, and everything. See, now you're

20:24

selling non-preserved lemon. It's in the book and I'm like afraid

20:26

of it. Do not be afraid. My wife is a

20:28

huge fan. Me too, I put it on everything.

20:31

That's so freaking good. It's

20:33

literally like, here's the food. Oh

20:36

my god. You want to sit for a minute and

20:38

eat, like, take a break? Whatever. You're

20:40

gonna walk and eat this, right? The

20:42

lemon is necessary. Everything that's in

20:45

here is necessary. That's

20:48

what he's opening, right? It has a lot of things

20:50

that they all are recording. How is that head not

20:53

exploding from that heat? It's hot, it's not that hot.

20:56

I can go home without food. Now, like I've

20:58

done enough, everything happens to this as

21:00

bonus. Don't you love that it's 9.40 feet? It's

21:05

so appropriate for a Friday. You

21:08

okay? Fish

21:12

sandwich. You

21:14

know why you have one for a shi...

21:16

Fish sandwich. Fish

21:19

sandwich. Yeah, I hate it. Remember that fish

21:21

sandwich Adina mentioned? We headed up the way

21:23

to that stall, and while I was still

21:25

reveling in my sandwich, Lael jumped on this

21:27

one. Hold on, hold on, hold on. These

21:31

guys are very serious. Tell

21:33

us. Fish, have

21:35

a promotion, their favorite fish name is

21:37

the performer of that dining show. They

21:40

hate their favorite. My name is

21:43

Adina. They have a whole... So

21:46

they have a whole... Every sauce is made.

21:50

They sell everything on the spot, and they're... And

22:01

then, now they're

22:04

checking the gun list of those fish on the quandary.

22:07

Come on. The

22:09

menu will see if he's going to add, they have

22:11

all these special condiments and sauces that they make. It's

22:13

highly recommended. So caramelized, I mean, this is a new

22:15

thing. That's not always here. Very

22:18

good. It's

22:21

insanely great. The

22:28

Shuk isn't just a place for earthly delights. It's

22:31

also a history lesson, a microcosm of so

22:33

many challenges and struggles that Israel, still a

22:36

very young country, had to face. We

22:38

stepped off of Ha Carmel Street and

22:40

talked about the roots of the neighborhood. All right,

22:43

so you see we're like 10 meters

22:45

out of the Shuk and it's so much

22:47

quieter. The whole Yemenite Jewish immigration story is

22:49

very dramatic. After the

22:52

War of Independence, the Yemenite Jews very

22:54

committed to Israel, very religious, and

22:56

all they wanted was to be here. And they

22:59

were airlifted in, lots of airlifts in

23:01

like the 1950s, 51. Operation

23:03

Kansay Neshareem on wings of eagles. And

23:05

every family was given this one box

23:08

home. It was like one room that had a

23:10

gas balloon and a water hookup. And

23:13

this neighborhood is right near the beach. Shuk

23:15

was right here. Nobody wanted to live here.

23:18

Because of the beach or the Shuk? It

23:20

just wasn't... Awesome. Exactly. It

23:23

wasn't, for whatever reason, I think in early

23:26

Israeli times, like Ashkenazi Jews who

23:28

were the dominant culture wanted to

23:30

live in North, in the

23:33

sort of Rothschild Boulevard, platonic ideal of

23:35

what Israel should look like. They wanted

23:37

to pretend it was Berlin. Right.

23:41

Not 30 shirts, like the roast beach. Right, exactly. So this was

23:43

a place that nobody would want to live.

23:45

And I love the Yemenite Quarter.

23:47

We live here. In a sense, we are gentrifiers.

23:50

But I try to celebrate the local

23:52

culture. But also, many

23:54

of them are cashing in, selling

23:57

their homes and moving somewhere else. And

23:59

securing them. during their retirement. But there are still

24:01

quite a few traditional Yemenite... Manishma...

24:05

...fanta chiaio... ...so from the

24:07

best Ethiopian restaurant. Bali

24:12

India. This

24:16

is the last remaining

24:18

traditional Yemenite bakery. Manishma,

24:22

he wants you to come in and see. I just

24:24

got to describe this place. That noise

24:26

is from the giant ovens against one wall, ready

24:28

to bake all sorts of reds, plus

24:31

the fans going to keep the inside temperature somewhere below

24:33

100 degrees. There

24:35

are huge stacks of wooden trays and boxes

24:38

that I only can guess are for proofing and storing

24:40

dough, and giant metal

24:42

wok-shaped things that help form and

24:44

cook some of the unparalleled delicacies.

24:47

To be honest, just imagine some kind of

24:49

Looney Tunes pita factory, and you're probably not

24:51

that far off. He's

24:53

hanging the dough. This

24:57

is from Alba. Alba

25:00

is more like a

25:03

pancake batter, made over there, a

25:05

different system that has a lot of

25:07

yeast in it, actually. A lot of

25:09

yeast and baking butter. You're

25:11

seeing a lot of the beautiful

25:15

Yemenite pitas, and

25:18

they have a little turmeric in them, which is... It's in the

25:20

cold, too. How are you talking about this? Cinba. Cinba.

25:23

Cinya Greek. Cinya

25:25

Greek is traditional in Yemenite baking.

25:27

It gives things like applyability, because

25:29

it has an elasticity to it.

25:33

We want to sit here. It's beautiful.

25:36

Is it bad? Are

25:38

you okay? Is it

25:40

on here? No, it's okay. I'm just

25:42

so happy with it. It's crispy on one side. This

25:45

is when you want to eat it. What a photo

25:47

of you holding it there. And

25:51

then you just go below it, and there's racks in for kubanas, which

25:53

are the little overnight baked bread. Do

25:56

you guys do you try the Yemenite pitas, exactly, and then the

25:58

kubanas? Give me a turn on for their

26:00

bread. Malawas, shasas, kubana,

26:03

lahus, like they're no, you know, tachina poveras,

26:05

making the most out of the least ingredients.

26:08

They can make 10 amazing breads out of

26:10

flour and water and juice. So

26:14

it's like right after my name became a

26:16

third baby. I love this is

26:18

heaven. Imagine

26:31

like every morning like him, Josh, what

26:33

I mean by the place where we can just do

26:35

the thing. Yeah, go to the place with the stuff.

26:40

My life for a while, man. So

26:47

here's a question. Lots of different places. It

26:49

takes a different amount of time to be somebody

26:52

from there. Yeah. What's the number

26:54

here? I think language dictates

26:58

that partly. I spoke Hebrew when I

27:00

got here, which helps. If

27:03

you do it, it's almost right away. Yeah, but even

27:05

so, I mean, this is the gathering of

27:07

the exigiles. There are people from everywhere. Every

27:09

language is spoken. I would say once you

27:11

can get into a heated, high decibel

27:14

argument on the street, that

27:16

could be within one week or it

27:18

could take years. This is my home, by the

27:21

way. You have a pair. Nice. Before

27:24

we left the shuk for the day, Adina

27:26

wanted us to go to one more place

27:28

to meet her friend, Arit Aharon, who grew

27:30

up in the Yemenite Quarter. She's

27:33

a five foot firecracker of a woman with

27:35

eyes that smile. We're going to go to

27:37

meet you, my dear friend, who lives like

27:39

30 seconds walk from my house and

27:42

make Lakhul, which is a traditional Yemenite

27:44

pancake with egg in it. Let's

27:46

go. Lihy.

27:54

Hello, I'm Leo. Hi. He

27:57

also speaks English even though she pretends why she doesn't

27:59

speak English. I'm going up here.

28:01

Don't find it was like a keyboard.

28:08

When I was like, I think, 17,

28:11

it was like a keyboard. It

28:16

was nothing here. Nothing

28:19

here. Yes, thank you. I go

28:22

out with the animal. We

28:24

used to have a lot of animals.

28:26

I still have, you see, two cakes.

28:28

Eryk talked about how this little cube

28:31

shaped building felt in her childhood, where

28:33

they had sheep and horses and trees of all

28:35

sorts. They would ride the horses

28:37

through the yam, the sea, and frankly, it sounded

28:39

pretty damn idyllic. Yeah, and

28:42

we used to have a tree,

28:46

like the tree. I

28:48

want you to take the money,

28:51

like a strawberry.

28:53

Oh, we have a, oh,

28:55

we have a, we used to

28:57

have a bath. Where

29:00

Adina live right now? It

29:03

was like this, something like this,

29:05

okay? It was kapua, magenta. The

29:07

family of the psychotic maganda

29:10

restaurant from the neighborhood, which is still

29:12

here, like the classic grill

29:14

restaurant, and their family lived where

29:17

I live now. Yeah, it was

29:19

a water source maganda. There,

29:22

it was a tree. We have a tree.

29:25

We used to go inside, and then

29:27

get right away. You know, children. It

29:32

was beautiful, beautiful. Yes.

29:38

What do you want me to do? I want you to

29:40

cook. The

29:42

wreath enlisted everyone helping prepare the lahus.

29:45

It's a traditional Yemenite bread that's light and

29:48

aerated, and comes in a circle. Ellie

29:50

was assigned to the stovetop, while

29:52

Adina aggressively grated a tomato. When

30:05

it was done,

30:08

she transformed

30:12

the bread

30:15

into a sort of pancake

30:17

sandwich, along with grated

30:24

tomato, spicy shuk, and a fried

30:27

egg. Naturally, we also had

30:29

to toast with some Iraq for good measure. So,

30:35

Adina, obviously it's also a holiday, but

30:37

what is, what are we seeing today

30:39

that you

30:50

wouldn't see what it's not? Arab spots.

30:52

Like, what it's not about? Like it's

30:55

Friday. Like what? Unusual

30:57

today? Like more people. I

30:59

mean, people come from outside of the city on

31:02

Fridays to enjoy the shuk, to shop, to eat.

31:05

You know, in a non-woke, I mean, this is like

31:07

through the minute the shuk closes, teeming

31:09

with people, young people, eating, drinking,

31:12

partying, celebrating. People

31:14

of all ages come here to enjoy shuk-mochi.

31:17

You know, but it's, I can already feel

31:19

it's just quieter than that. It's

31:27

quieter than usual today, but you know. And

31:31

more, there are certain vendors that only

31:33

come out on Thursdays and Fridays, produce

31:36

hunters and things like that. And

31:39

it's generally, the shuk is pretty consistently active.

31:45

You know, it's not as, it's what's actually interesting, you

31:47

know, you think of... Yes, it's not. You

31:53

think of Tel Aviv as the city of progress, modernity, but

31:55

you know, not going to be able to get into

31:57

the market and drizzle is much more developed, much more

31:59

polished. You know, here they still

32:01

have an awning over the shook. If

32:04

it rains, you're up to their

32:06

ankles in water, and birds flying around, there's

32:08

no ventilation, no sun. So,

32:10

in a way, the caramel market is

32:12

still stuck in time a little bit in a different way.

32:14

It will change eventually, and they've been talking about renovating the

32:16

ship for 15 years. But

32:19

there's a lot of internal debate about how to

32:21

do it, who wants it, who doesn't, so, you

32:24

know, I like it just

32:26

like this. I'm pretty happy. I'm

32:29

pleased. What

32:31

do you want to say to the world? First of all, I

32:34

want to say to the world, thank

32:36

you for everything. Mom.

32:38

I want to say to the world, please.

32:42

Lose all the people. Yes.

32:45

And the soldier and everyone is

32:47

in peace in the world. I'm

32:49

going to say. Amen. Amen. Amen.

32:53

Amen. Amen. There

32:56

are moments during a trip like this, when you think

32:58

to yourself, this cannot possibly get

33:01

any better. And then

33:03

something like this happens. The

33:25

door of Adore indeed. After

33:49

all, when we were about to close the door on

33:51

this trip and head back home, I

33:53

again thought that things were about as good as they

33:55

were going to get. And that's

33:58

when about four hours before leaving, Leaving

34:00

the country, the Sabi was

34:02

delivered by the motorcycle

34:04

bandit himself. Sabi

34:09

is a stuffed pita sandwich

34:11

with fried eggplant, hard-boiled eggs,

34:13

pickles, a tangy mango sauce

34:15

called Amba, and miscellaneous other

34:17

topics. And the motorcycle bandit?

34:20

That's Israeli folk hero Ron

34:22

Leibovitz. He's a legend

34:24

because he peacefully robbed 21 banks in 1989

34:26

and 1990. As

34:30

one of our colleagues put it, if you add up

34:32

all the people you ever meet in your life, they

34:34

will not have robbed as many banks as this one

34:36

guy. And if it wasn't

34:39

obvious, he's also Lael's dad. And

34:41

as it turns out, he's my favorite

34:44

Sabi delivery guy on the planet. So

34:47

Josh Cross, who are

34:49

leaving here in a few hours, but

34:51

I could not let you leave this

34:53

country without tasting arguably his finest culinary

34:56

delicacy. I

34:58

am presenting you with a pita. I'm

35:01

not sure I'm worthy. Good morning, you. It's a little bit...

35:04

A little bit... He's a legend because he peacefully

35:06

robbed 21 banks in 1989 and 1990. I'm

35:10

the father of this preacher, and

35:12

I just brought over, which is

35:14

one of the best things to

35:22

eat in Israel. So this is my dad,

35:24

and what he brought is Sabi, which

35:27

is a traditional dish that you

35:29

can really kind of only find

35:31

here. It's fried eggplant in a

35:33

pita with egg, with pickles, with

35:35

trena, and with amba, which is

35:37

kind of a spicy, smelly, delightful

35:39

mango chutney. And

35:42

what's so special about Ovard? Something

35:44

into the taste of what he's doing. And

35:47

he's like making the

35:49

whole shmear. You know, this is

35:52

macabi against the foil, which means

35:54

the red, spicy

35:57

sauce, against the amba.

36:00

which is the... yellow.

36:03

This is one of the greatest life Israel

36:06

has to offer. And now, Josh Kross will eat it.

36:09

I might. Well, let me

36:11

just say, because I don't think you told your dad

36:13

this, when we were getting ready

36:15

to come and it might have been dangerous,

36:18

so we were deciding whether or not to

36:20

go. You said. I said, if I'm going

36:22

to die for a word, then my word

36:24

is sabik. Really? Yeah, because

36:26

you don't... this is the one thing

36:28

you can't even remotely find in America. You

36:31

can find falafel, you can find

36:33

everything else. Sabik doesn't exist. And

36:36

this is why... this was

36:38

like... yeah. Now do

36:41

you understand why I'm not doing all this time? As

36:43

I usually say, fuck. That's good.

36:47

It is? That's what it is. It is? No.

36:51

It's Barbara. Go ahead.

36:53

Compared to this. Yeah. What?

36:56

You know what? Man, this is an absolute

36:58

masterpiece. You know,

37:00

sabik means morning in Iraq.

37:04

My wife is for

37:06

Iraq and every

37:08

now and then we go to

37:10

a mother in Afghanistan. And

37:13

he is making the best sabik

37:15

and they don't call it sabik.

37:18

They call it our branch.

37:23

That's the end of this thing. Mmm. And

37:30

after all that, all I can say

37:32

is bon appetit for

37:35

Bitteo Phone. In

37:46

Orthodox is a production of Tablet Studios. The

37:50

show is hosted by me, Stephanie Betnick, with

37:52

Lael Leibovitz and Joshua Molina. We're produced and

37:54

edited by Josh Cross, Robert Scaramucci, Quinn Waller,

37:56

and Ellie Blier. And our team includes Tanya

37:58

Singer, Courtney Hazlett, and and Jerome Risquay

38:00

with help from Sam Hacker and Dr. Dana

38:03

LaRosa. Our team on the

38:05

ground in Israel was Lya Leibovitz, Josh

38:07

Cross, Tanya Singer, and Ellie Breyer. Special

38:09

thanks to Tablets Armin Rosen. Our episode

38:11

art is by Esther Wurdiger. Our logo

38:13

is by Jenny Rosbrook. Our theme music

38:15

is Algolam. We'd love to hear from

38:17

you. Email us at unorthodoxatablamag.com or leave

38:19

a message on our listener line. 914-570-4869.

38:22

Until tomorrow, shalom friends, and am yusrael

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