Each wave of migration into Israel has brought with it food specialties which have merged into a colorful Israeli cuisine. These immigrants, in a typical proud style, are sure that their food is the most flavorful, most authentic and that everything else is vastly inferior. This was not always the case, instead of feeling pride, children of new immigrants were sometimes embarrassed by their food, so distinctly different from the then conventional monochromatic Eastern European fare. Israeli food is an integration of Persian, North African, Middle Eastern and Eastern European cuisine with smaller representatives of Indian, Ethiopian and even Uzbekistani foods. After several decades many of the dishes have been integrated into mainstream Israeli cuisine, foods from the Middle East especially, have seen a renaissance of popularity.
Ethnic cuisine is something deeply ingrained within each culture and every recipe tells a story, of the people and their land. Food is a reflection of what naturally occurs within each region be it climate, geography, and flora but above all it is a reflection cultural identity. Traditional foods associated with celebrations and religious holidays, especially, mark the differences between religions and even between sects of the same religion. In many families, the foods have incorporated new influences, but during the festive season, the traditional foods have remained in their time-honored place.
Some critics have argued that Israel does not have its own distinctive kitchen but almost everything has been borrowed from each immigrant’s native country. In part this is true, just as every society developed a distinct cuisine by what was available and what was introduced through war or migration. Although the Jews adopted many local foods they also developed a unique set of recipes to incorporate their dietary restrictions. What is lovely about Israeli cuisine is that while each dish may be associated with a specific country, it is served together with dishes that span many parts of the world. Conglomerate cooking, each dish is recognizable but all of them are presented together, the best of all nations.
