Gastronomy Therapy

Support local businesses-buying mint lemonade
in the Jewish Quarter

Often times my level of happiness is directly tied to my stomach.  Okay, so most times. When in the Old City, a good day ends with a treat.  Rest stops involve a treat.  Study breaks involve a treat.  A long chat with friends is finished with a treat. Staying awake in class is because of a treat. Get the drift?  Finals week, presented this connection in a frightening way.  I usually chalk up my interest in the ‘local cuisine’ to my plan of attending culinary school.  Hey, I feel like you can taste a culture, so why not explore every little street side bakery?  But mostly it’s because when my stomach is happy, I am happy.  That being said, my stress levels had reached an all time high.  Finals are a whirlwind of crunch times and cramming. Wait, we actually talked about all this on the study guide?  Fun times.  Sunday was a “reading day” but when in Jerusalem, that meant free day.




The previous mentioned Pistachio Baklava. 



November/December brought good tidings of
Hanukkah Donuts...just look at them.

 We sauntered down the hill to the Old City and went through the Temple Institute which was fascinating.  I munched on my sack lunch while we deliberated our plans through the Armenian Quarter.  If I had to pick a favorite quarter, that would be it.  It is very Europeanesque and just gorgeous.  The little pottery stores are charming and there are (surprise) some really cool looking restaurants that will need to be sampled.  I’m going to culinary school, remember? 

 So, as we decided that it was time to start heading back to the Center for an evening pouring over doodle ridden notes and textbooks, we stumbled upon heaven.  In the Jewish Quarter.  A red awning framed bakery.  I lost all sense of control and sampled more than a few of what was offered among the glimmering rows of pastries and cookies.  I left nearly 15 US dollars poorer. That’s not shekels, people.  US Dollars.  On sweets.  The damage wasn’t too bad until I decided to sample this chocolate cookie before leaving.  Hands down, the most delicious thing I have tasted in Israel.  It may rival any sweet I’ve previously had. 

 These cookies are round, about the size of my palm…which is now a universal unit of measurement if you didn’t know.  A rich chocolate color, with a slight swirly pattern on the top. They had been just taken out of the oven and the slightly firm exterior broke marvelously to reveal a warm, gooey, lava cake, chewy dark chocolate center.  Woah. Unfortunately up to this point, baked goods have been a bit lack luster, with a few exceptions.  (See previous posts) It being finals week, I justified gathering 4 more of these cookies.  I had to restrain myself to not get 12, and to not eat them on the mile walk home.  I was honest with myself and admitted that my level of contented bliss on our stroll home was directly tied to that cookie. I have been using that self-control to painfully ration myself to one cookie a day. Let’s not take bets on whether that was accomplished or not.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes.  The only good way to cope
with finals.  Or life.  Or stress. Or Wednesdays.  Or any
other sort of emotion. (I realllly like food. And pictures of food)