Two summer favorites, one South American, the other Arab, are mixed here for one fun salad. And in a very Israeli manner drizzled with tahini dressing on top. This combination is a good example of how the new Israeli cuisine works.
Ceviche-tabbouleh salad
Course: Appetizers, SaladsCuisine: Israeli, Jewish, ArabDifficulty: Easy6
servings20
minutesYou can use tilapia or another firm fish like mahi mahi or sea bass.
If possible, use Persian (or Israeli) cucumbers with skin on.
Fine bulgar (known also as bulgar #1) is available at Whole foods and at Middle Eastern and Kosher supermarkets.
INGREDIENTS
¾ cup fine bulgar wheat
¾ cup water
3 tilapia fillet (about 12 oz.)
Juice of one lemon (about 4 tablespoons)
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
3 Persian cucumbers, skin on, diced
5 green onions, chopped
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
2 cups chopped parsley or cilantro
1 cup chopped mint
½ Serrano, seeded and chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sumac
Salt to taste
- For the tahini dressing (optional)
⅓ cup cold water
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup tahini paste
Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS
- Put the bulgar wheat in a large bowl and cover with ¾ cup water. Mix and make sure all the bulgar is covered in water. Let bulgar rest for 20 minutes to absorb the water.
- Cut the tilapia to 3/4 inch cubes, Put in a bowl, mix with lemon juice, cover bowl with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime make the tahini dressing (optional.) Whisk water, lemon juice and tahini in a large bowl until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add more water if you want to make it thinner. If the raw tahini in the jar has hardened and is hard to whisk by hand, you can use a blender or a food processor to prepare the dressing. Add salt to taste. Tahini keeps in a sealed container in the fridge up to a week.
- Take the tilapia out of the fridge, add to bulgar together with the lemon juice, then mix in the vegetables and herbs. Add olive oil, sumac and salt to taste.
- Serve with a drizzle of tahini dressing on top, or in a bowl on the side.
How to Cook in Palestine is a 1936 cookbook by Dr. Erna Meyer, published by the Women’s International Zionist Organization. The book helped the mostly European and Russian immigrant housewives to use the local ingredients of Palestine which were otherwise foreign to them. This included eggplant, vegetable marrow, and olive oil that are widely available in Palestine. Over time the settlers/occupiers/“immigrants” adopted Palestinian dishes as their own. Bon Appetit!
Please help: Thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children are kidnapped and tortured daily by Israelis over the decades of brutal occupation. Please help release them.
Goldie, I am always happy to have a discussion on the subject.
The Jews of Israel, some lived in Israel or Palestine for thousands of years, some immigrated at the 17th century, and most at the end of the 19th century. some were forced out of other countries, those who survived the holocaust, those, like my own family, who were forced out of Iraq and other countries in the Middle East and the Levant. Those Jews from Arab countries lived there for hundreds of years, and that Arab/Levan food was there just as it belonged to the Arabs.
The whole Levant was in general one culinary region, meaning, that the Palestinians cooked very similar dishes to what people cooked in Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. The separation to countries was done later by the actual colonialists – Britain and France.
So my point, yes – the Israelis learned a lot from the Palestinians, like their love for hummus, but they mostly acknowledge it. Maybe they should do it better. I know that I always say where the influence of any dish is coming from.
But a lot of the Arab dishes that you can find in Israel come from those Jews who left Morocco, Libya, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and more, after living there for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years. Those dishes belong to the Jews just as they belong to the Arabs. I still of course say where every dish comes from, but it was not appropriated by the Jews of Israel in any way.