Hummus, Tabbouli and Shakshuka

It's our first night in Israel, and we've driven for hours through traffic so heavy it seems like a scene from Godard's Weekend, to visit family in a suburb north of Tel Aviv.  We're tired, jet-lagged and hot.  And where do they take us for dinner?  To a gas station!

And the food is fabulous, a dream-like sequence of hummus, salads, pickles, tabbouli, eggplant, peppers - all the classic Arab foods that once defined the cuisine here, followed by skewers of grilled meat.  But, as I am about to discover, things here have really changed.

Yes, my favorite place is still Abu Hassan (or as the locals call it, Ali Karavan), a tiny place in Jaffa that's been around since 1959 and  still serves what I am convinced is the best hummus on the planet.  What you want is a triple - hummus, ful and masbacha.  It comes with raw onions, a lemony hot sauce  and piles of pita, and you have to eat fast; people are lined up outside, eagle eyes scanning your table, willing you to move on.

But Israel has discovered food in a really major way, and blessed with fabulous ingredients the chefs are being endlessly creative.  Just look at the still life at HaSalon, piled onto the bar, enticing you with its voluptuous rawness.

Then the food begins to arrive, as gorgeous as the display.

This is where Eyal Shani - Israel's hottest chef - is at his most creative. He's famous for his roasted eggplant (more about that later), but here he revels in the ingredients of the moment.  I loved this- such delicious eggplant - served in a puddle of sweet tomato sauce with shredded egg on the side.

And this elegant pasta with zucchini and fish eggs

A big generous pot of crab and shrimp....

A grouper head (the body came later), swimming in a rich tomato sauce that we practically inhaled.

And a big, rare, charred ribeye, carved at the table into thick rosy slices.

There were desserts too, and wonderful wine.  But we did our best to restrain ourselves.  Tel Aviv rocks late into the night, and we were headed for Shani's more modest Miznon,

and a taste of his famous cauliflower.

It's so famous, in fact, that you can find the recipe, here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4etH6ANhc4Y

The cauliflower's wonderful, but if you take my advice you won't miss the chicken liver in pita, which is mind-blowingly delicious.

We had breakfast the next morning on a kibbutz: shakshuka and salad.  If there's a better way to start the day I haven't found it.

Tomorrow: lunch in a Bedouin cave, dinner in the market...and more.