Being Vegetarian in Israel
It is easy to follow a vegetarian diet in Israel, and only slightly more difficult to be vegan. The Jewish dietary laws, kosher or kashrut laws, inadvertently aid vegetarians. According to these laws, dairy and meat products cannot be stored in the same place, prepared using he same dishes, or eaten at the same time. Unfortunately, the kosher laws do not view fishas meat. Nonetheless, the kosher laws have several positive practical implications for vegetarians. First of all restaurants that abide by the kosher laws are separated into meat
and dairy restaurants.
Choose dairy! At dairy restaurants, you can be sure that none of the food contains any meat, with the possible exception of fish. Thus, you needn't worry whether your vegetable soup contains chicken stock or not– it doesn’t. Also, fewer questions need to be asked concerning the contents of your salad. It doesn’t contain bits of chopped chicken. Still, be sure to verify that the dish you order doesn’t contain fish. For vegans or vegetarians who don’t eat eggs, you do need to be careful to ascertain the contents of just about everything you order. Avoid egg bread (hallah) altogether. An egg wash glazing produces the crust’s shiny coating. Avoid cakes in the same way you would in restaurants at home. These same kosher laws apply to store-bought products. Thus, gelatin (an animal product) is not used in the production of jello, marshmallows, or yogurt. For those who drink wine, Israeli wines use no animal products. The production of cheese does not involve animal intestines as is often the case in Western Europe and North America.
A nice website where you can find vegetarian restaurants in Israel: http://www.happycow.net/asia/israel
Veggie Burger
Ingredients:
1 potato
1 sweet potato
1 courgette
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 egg
Bread crumbs
Salt & pepper
* you can use any vegetable or add lentils
Preparation:
Chop the onion and fry in a pan with a little bit oil until soft.
Chop and boil the rest of the vegetables until very soft. Mash and add egg, salt & pepper, bread crumbs and fried onion. Mix well.
If it's too dry – add an egg, if it's too wet – add bread crumbs.
Heat some oil in a pan. Wet your hands and make burgers (patties). Put in the oil, turn after a few minutes, the burgers need to have a dark brown color. Take out of the pan and drain excess oil on a paper towel.
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Beteavon, Moran
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