Get Ready to Eat in Palestine: Food is one of the most popular attractions for travelers. Many people travel just to be surprised and try new things, some of us want to experience new tastes or maybe have that specific dish we have read or heard about. Many volunteers have heard of Palestinian food but few have really tried it before. Some come to the Excellence Center with that as their main goal like Amy who was the Center’s first participant in the Palestinian Cooking Course last week. For others, it just ends up being an unexpectedly delicious surprise and addition to their overall experience. Whichever your reason is, you are in for a treat.

The food staples of Palestine are legumes (like chickpeas, lentils and other beans), rice, fresh vegetables and meat (mostly lam and chicken) and lovely freshly baked bread. Famous dishes are often a variation on some traditional middle eastern dishes you have surely heard of, like for example hummus and falafel. We won’t get into a discussion about where they originally come from, but Palestine is known for these dishes as well. Hummus is a smooth paste made out of chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), olive oil and other ingredients according to taste, like lemon, garlic, and toppings, like pine nuts. Falafel is also a paste made from chickpeas but rolled into balls that are fried and set into pita bread with salad as sandwiches.

But of course Palestinian food is not just Falafel and Hummus (even though some people could live on just that). Other popular dishes include Makloubeh, which is a rice dish often made with chicken and cauliflower, but can also be made with other types of meat and eggplant. The name means upside down because all the ingredients are cooked together in a pot which is later turned upside down on a tray and enjoyed widely with salad and bread. We have yet to meet an international who has not liked this dish.

Another popular dish for special celebrations is Mansaf. Again it hosts some of the Palestinian staples, like rice, lam, bread, and spices. It is served with a traditional and yummy yogurt soup which is poured over the meat and rice in a common tray, or had individually to dip you food.

Mashi or stuffed vegetables is also quite a common dish, we made this at the center a couple weeks ago and it was amazing! Zucchinis, eggplants, potatoes, carrots! anything can be stuffed with a mixture of meat, rice and spices. This mix is also used for Waraq Ainab, or stuffed grape leaves, a delicious meal not to be missed while in Palestine. Making these last dishes is time consuming and meticulous, but many families make it a day in advance. It is also a lot of fun to help out in the process, so join in and help your host family if you get the chance.

Fresh fruit juices and vegetables salads, like Tabbouleh made with lots of parsley are also amazing and filling options for those  of you that prefer to stay away from meat. There are also an immense amount of desert options, the most popular being Knefe, a cheese covered with fine shreds of pastry noodles and a sweet sweet syrup. The locals love this, and will always invite you to try, never say no, just get ready to eat!

Some good websites with some of these traditional recipes if you are interested in cooking some of them yourself:

http://www.kitchenofpalestine.com/maqluba/

http://bintrhodaskitchen.blogspot.com/2013/05/lamb-in-yogurt-sauce-or-mansaf-for.html

http://stitchingcuisines.com/stuffed-grape-leaves/