Ice Coffee (not to be confused with “cold coffee”)

Summer is pending. Or it has sort of begun in the Northern Hemisphere. And what happens in Israel when the sun appears? 4 out of every 5 people (I made up that statistic, it’s not an actual fact) will be parading the streets thirstily sipping an ice coffee. Make note. Ice coffee in Israel (said in an Israeli accent – איס קפה) differs to a regular iced coffee out of Israel, in that it is blended with ice and milk. The texture is so thick that it’s probably easier to eat it with a spoon and possibly with some sprinkles on top. If you are looking for a regular ice coffee, you need to ask for a “café kar (kar = cold)”, no surprises there.

Other varieties of this ice coffee include ice mocha, ice chocolate, ice vanilla, hazelnut, irish liquer, french vanilla and probably a whole lot more that I am unaware of. For someone who likes coffee, but doesn't like the coffee flavour (yes - there are many people like this) this is perfect – you can barely detect a coffee taste. On the flip side, for those who want an extra hit of caffeine, you can request to have an extra shot of espresso, making the texture a little slushier.

Nutrition wise? As you might have guessed, it isn't high up there on the food chain. Take a look at the nutrition information from an ice coffee in Aroma café (one of the popular coffee franchises in Israel). The coffees are usually given as a 500mL serve, sometimes there is the option of ordering a smaller size (like in Aroma). The amount of calories it contains is equivalent to about 4 slices of bread. Or a piece of steak. Or two slices of pizza. Or 10 carrots (yum yum). Anyway, you get the picture.

Where do these calories come from? The full cream milk and sugar, making you come back for more, and more, and more. So while you think you are simply gulping down a drink to quench your thirst, or satisfy that sugar hit – you are essentially eating a full meal. On a positive note, drinking through a straw might slightly alleviate the damage the sugar is doing to your teeth.

Fret not however; there are diet versions available in some cafés – depending on where - they use low fat milk and artificial sweetener. The diet variety has about ½ the amount of calories as a regular (150kcal). Then again, there has been many times where I've noticed the same machine being used for “diet” and “regular” so who really knows?

Nutrition Information

	500mL	100mL
Energy	308.33kcal	61.67kcal
Protein	6.82g	1.36g
Carbohydrate	51.19g	10.24g
Fat	8.50g	1.70g
Saturated fat	5.88g	1.18g
Cholesterol	17.79mg	3.56mg
Sodium	221.36mg	44.27mg

If you are looking for some ice-y alternatives this summer here are a few ideas:

-       - Previously mentioned cold coffee which is just milk, ice and coffee – assuming you don’t add too much sugar and use skim milk these have about 1/3 of the calories.

-       - Icy poles or “ices” depending which country you’re from. Ice, sugar and a bit of flavour on a stick – refreshing and low in calories at the same time.

-      - Frozen fruit – try freezing oranges/grapes/pineapple or anything really and the finished product is another thirst quenching addition to your summer menu.

-       - Vegetable juice. It may sound unappealing but is surprisingly good. Go to any juice bar and get a mix of carrot, celery, beetroot, and some ginger or mint for an added kick.

-       - Make your own iced coffee by blending up milk, ice, coffee or use fruit instead of coffee for a fruit smoothie.

-       - Add mint or fresh fruit to water with ice if you find water a little bit tasteless

-      ...... Oh and speaking of water – drink water!

    And in case you want to try making this at home (if you are not in Israel, or just feel like experimenting) - here's is a recipe:

     Ingredients

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 Tbsp instant coffee
• 4 Tbsp white sugar
• 1 packet vanilla sugar (2-2½ tsp)
• 1 bag milk (1 litre)
• 1 bag shoko (about 1 cup chocolate milk)
• 1 Tbsp chocolate liqueur (optional)

Directions

1. Stir coffee into water in a large mixing bowl, blender, food processor, or whatever else seems like a good idea. Add sugars and stir again until dissolved.

2. Add milk, chocolate milk, and liqueur if using, and mix until evenly combined. Store in the fridge or freezer

Communal Dining

On this blog of Jewish food and nutrition there has been different categories of things I have written about: Traditional Jewish foods and their significance, foods pertaining more specifically to Israel and general concepts around food in Judaism like fast days and the separation of meat and milk. A common thread among all these things is that the combination of food and Judaism - will undoubtedly result in some sort of communal dining experience. Jewish holidays – both festive and serious, celebrations and commemorations, Israels Independence Day, the Jewish New Year and so on and so forth. When there is food, in come the aunts, the uncles, the 3^rd cousins once removed, the friend’s friend and the neighbours dog.

We don’t even think twice about having two large meals with 15 people every week. But is there a benefit to communal eating other than the social aspect?

I recently read an article talking about this very topic. It compared the dining experience 

of a single person eating alone each night, to a family or group of friends eating together.

Scenario 1: Person comes home from work. Person is lazy to cook for him/herself. Person sits in front of the TV or computer and eats a packet of food “x” or orders in pizza, or doesn't eat all together.

Scenario 2: Person comes home from work. Person is lazy to cook for him/herself – but decides to invite some friends over for dinner. Friends cook dinner together, eat slowly, talk and end the night feeling happy and satisfied.

Ok, so maybe the two situations are a little exaggerated but you get the gist.

Back to the article – conclusion was that eating with other people has been shown to have health benefits as well, and this goes for all age groups. In nursing homes, having a communal dining hall will inspire the elderly to eat adequately compared to sitting in their room on their own. School kids are more likely to eat a nutritious dinner when eaten together with the family.  Adolescents are less likely to develop eating disorders and skip meals. Children also eat by example and will learn healthy eating habits from their parents.

And then you have the miscellaneous group of people aged 20+ that live on their own and are more likely to skip dinner/eat quickly/order take away food/eat a  tub of ice cream for dinner. 

While one may argue that having large meals with a lot of people might result in over consumption (hello – Jewish world) – it also  brings the opportunity to consume foods like salad, soup, roast chicken (as opposed to a burger and chips) and in general – less processed foods. People are less likely to binge eat in the company of others (usually) and may be inspired to try new foods. Food usually tastes a lot better when eaten with others. Although, now with people posting their lunch on Instagram, it sort of replicates the experience of sharing a meal in real life (does it?).

There has also been a trend for communal dining restaurants that offer the opportunity for strangers to eat a meal together at one table to benefit from this experience.  

Yesterday in Israel was an example of communal eating being brought to life. Israel celebrated its independence and it seemed like the entire country filled any single outdoor area despite the not-such-great weather. Family and friends sat together over a BBQ and enjoyed the fresh air, food and company. Nothing else quite like it..

 

Quinoa - The Passover Solution

Quinoa (keeeen-wa) has been in the food media for quite some time. It's been hyped up to be a “superfood”, great for vegetarians and vegans, coeliacs and pretty much anyone. I would have to agree that it certainly is a healthy grain to be consuming. However, what I am more excited about is the introduction of this new food source to the Passover diet.  As an Ashkenazi Jew, for as long as I can remember the only two sources of carbohydrates we eat each year for Pesach are: Potatoes and Matzah. And if you want to count potato starch and the plethora of try-hard baked goods that include potato flour or ground up Matzah. The Sephardim know what they're doing by including other grains like rice, corn, peas, beans, lentils and legumes. But alas, we must complain no more – because now we can all merrily eat this super grain – quinoa! Hip-Hip-Hooray! Thank you South America.

* Please note - not everyone agrees that this is acceptable, as with all things Jewish, it continues to be controversial.

Where does quinoa come from you ask? I will tell you.

It originated about 3000 years ago by the Incas (Indigenous South Americans), where the crop was thought to be sacred. It was known as chisaya mama – or “mother of all grains”. Then it got the boot. When the Spanish invaded South America, they mocked the grain and called it “food for the Indians”. They forbid the cultivation of the grain and the Incas were forced to grow wheat instead. Look how far we have come since then.

Grain (uncooked)	Fat (per 100g)	Protein (per 100g)	Calories (per 100g)	Fibre (per 100g)
Quinoa	6g	14.1g	368	7g
Rice (white)	0.5g	6.3g	351	0.7g
Rice (brown)	2.4g	7.2g	368	3.2g
Couscous	0.6g	11.6g	357	5g
Buckwheat	2.7g	11.7g	361	10.3g
Barley (pearl)	2.4g	8g	325	11.7g

This is a table comparing quinoa to a few other grains that would be used in a similar way. Ironically quinoa is technically a seed of the Chenopodium or Goosefoot plant (I also never knew such a plant existed).  Calories between them all are pretty similar. While quinoa does have the highest fat content, it contains the good fat that helps lower bad cholesterol. Not only does it have the highest amount of protein compared to the other grains, it contains the best quality protein. Best quality, meaning it has essential amino acids which are usually obtained from protein foods like meat, eggs and dairy. It also has good amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium and phosphorus and high in fibre. In a word – it’s good stuff (even if you don’t agree with the word “superfood”). There are a few different varieties of quinoa that come in different colours – giving them all a slightly different nutrient profile.

A lot of people get turned off quinoa because they don’t know how to prepare it. It ain’t that hard. The first thing to remember is to rinse it before cooking to remove the bitter coating (saponin). Even though the manufacturing process usually removes this coating, there is sometimes still a bit of a bitter residue. The rest is similar to rice – for every 1 cup of quinoa, add 1 ¼ cups of boiling water. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Let it stand for 5 minutes and fluff. The end! You can serve it hot or cold. It has a really interesting nutty/grainy flavour. Try it in a salad, or with roast vegetables, with fish, as a stuffing, in a stir fry, veggie burgers, tofu, nuts, on its own with spices or even served as a kind of porridge with cooked fruit, nuts and cinnamon. 

Or maybe with Maror? 

Feed the man bread.

Bread is one of the most basic foods. It crosses through an abundance of cultures. It is a food that can start any meal, make up majority of the meal, or be crushed up in various forms and used as an ingredient in many dishes. It is a food we find comfort in, a food with a tantalizing smell yet has so few and basic ingredients. In Judaism, we use bread or different forms of bread at almost any occasion. We have the Sabbath bread – Challah. Then there is the flat bread of Passover, Matzah. We also have the deep fried, oily bread of Chanukah – doughnuts. In Israel, in addition to all the festive breads and the Middle Eastern breads like laffa and pita – we also have the bread you find in majority of the supermarkets. Take a quick peek at the bread section and you will be overwhelmed by the choices presented in front of you. No more is it simply “white” or “brown” bread – but now there are about 20 other options. I have made it my mission to try and de-code some of them:

Starting with the most common bread, that Israelies usually term it as “normal” bread – also called Lechem Achid.
Lechem Achid is the closest thing to white bread in Israel, not including Challah. This bread is subsidized by the government (4.76NIS) – hence why it is so popular. It is similar to light rye bread that you find in the US, made from unbleached white flour and you will generally see it being served in many restaurants and sometimes find half loaves sitting on top of garbage bins. Not really my cup of tea, but probably goes right up there with pita in terms of its popularity. 

Another bread that is hard to miss is “Lechem Kal” – light bread. This bread has half the amount of calories a regular slice of bread has (about 35kcal/slice) – resulting in many people eating 10 slices of bread in one sitting and justifying that it’s “light” bread so it doesn't count. Most of the nutrients are comparable to regular bread, with only the amount of carbohydrates being the main difference (light bread has less carbs than regular bread.)

Coming up next, is what we called “Lechem Chai” – literally translated as live bread or bread of life. It is made from sprouted whole grains and is relatively high in fibre. Some claim that sprouted grains have 50-1350 times more minerals and vitamins than non-sprouted grain. Could be...very well, could be..

‘Lechem Einan’ – seen that one around? This is a variety of bread that is made from wholewheat flour, before it is sprouted, also high in fibre. However, it does have a high GI (meaning it will raise blood sugar levels quickly).

The old basic rye bread is called “Lechem Shifon”. Phew, nothing too confusing over here. You may get confused when you see the word “Shiffon” and think of “chiffon” – different words. 

“Lechem Dganim” – wholegrain bread. Again, pretty straightforward. It is made with wholewheat flour, high in fibre and other good stuff.

You can also find sourdough bread in some of the specialty bakeries like ‘Teler Bakery’ or ‘Lechem shel Tomer’. I am still trying to work out the Hebrew term for this bread (I think it might be ‘Lechem Saor, or Chometz?’)
Of course there is the staple ‘Lachmania’ a long bread-roll, akin to a hot dog roll but slightly more squishy. If an Israeli isn't eating Pita with chummus, he will be having his lachmania with some tuna and chopped tomatoes and cucumber. Don’t be fooled by some of the brown pitot that are sold fresh in the Shuk. Some of them are simply dyed flour and may not be whole wheat. It’s hard to know seeing as they are sold freshly baked from the oven with no packaging.



What should you look for when buying a loaf of bread?
A few important nutrients to check.
Firstly, as I have mentioned multiple times - FIBRE. Fibre is what makes this world go round, well not literally but it's pretty important. Make sure that the bread has more than 3g of fibre in 100g (in Hebrew - סיבים תזונתיים).
Secondly - try and choose something that has less than 300mg of sodium in 100g.
Thirdly - check to see that sugar isn't listed as one of the first three ingredients.
And finally, the less ingredients in the bread - the better..the original bread was just flour and water.


*** please note - there is no hidden agenda to secretly be marketing certain brands of bread.

Pass the Honey, Honey.

Reporting from the land of milk and honey. Here’s some food for thought on the seasonal ingredient (honey that is). The month of September/October is a festival fun land for the Jews. Every week is another celebration, beginning with the Jewish New Year and ending with outdoor booths and lots of greenery. One thing that surrounds this period of time is the simple and timeless food substance, honey – which accompanies every meal. In fact, in September 2011, 2000 tons of honey was consumed by Israelies. And just to add another fun fact – 150 million text messages were sent as the New Year approached. Lucky phone companies.

 

A Little Bit of History…

Simple reason we drizzle (or soak) our bread in honey and use it in abundance throughout this time period? It was a tradition instituted by all the Jewish dentists to increase their client base. Not really. More along the lines of being hopeful that our year ahead is as “sweet” as honey. Honey chicken, honey cake, honeyed carrots (tsimmes), honey soup (just kidding), the notorious apple dipped in honey, and some even enjoy mixing chummus and honey. This custom actually dates all the way back to the 7^th century, probably even earlier than that, although this was the first recording of the tradition. The vague term ‘sweet’, is an umbrella for all good things – fulfillment, happiness, security, peace, contentment and serenity. It also serves as a reminder of the Jewish homeland, otherwise known as the land flowing with milk and honey. Traditional honey from Israel is made from over ripe dates, rather than bee’s. This honey remains popular in Israel, also called silan.

--Random halachic note—

Most products that are produced by non-kosher animals (e.g. camel milk) are considered not kosher. Even though bee’s aren't kosher, the honey from bees is still given the stamp of approval. The rabbis explain this is because the sac in the bee that contains the honey is only a storage place, rather than it being an integral part of the bee’s body. In contrast, milk-producing organs (like in a camel) are an integral body part of the animal, meaning the milk is an integral part of the animal, while honey is not.

And now for some nutrition:

A Spot of Nutrition…

Honey always seems to be a hot topic in the media. Bad for our teeth, but then again, it’s natural so it must be good for us right?

Here are the facts, starting with the good…
- While sugar contains 46 calories per table spoon, honey contains 64. However, honey ends up being a slightly better choice calorifically, because it is a lot sweeter than sugar and therefore you end up using less of it.
-  Honey has had medicinal properties dating all the way back to the old days, including its ability to help cure a sore throat, heal wounds and mixing it with tea to assist with sleeplessness..
- It also can act as an anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-parasitic and anti-fungal (what a mouthful).
- Honey contains vitamin B2, B6, iron, calcium, phosphorous and manganese.
-  Honey has a lower GI than sugar – meaning that it is absorbed more slowly into your blood stream.

What about the bad?
- Regardless of this fun fact, according to many opinions - neither of the two sweeteners are a ‘better’ option when it comes to diabetes.  They both raise blood sugar levels and should be consumed as an ingredient, rather then on their own.
- For anyone younger than 12 months, honey should be completely avoided because it could cause botulism, a type of food poisoning which happens to be lethal.
-  A lot of enzymes and nutrients are destroyed by the process raw honey goes through to give is a clear appearance.
-   Watch out for tooth decay. All that sticky stuff is not good for your teeth. 

Consensus? As with all things nutrition, and I feel like I have
been saying this a lot lately. It's all good in moderation. I guess
at this time of the year, we would probably be over that point
of "eating in moderation" in general, so what's a little honey
gonna hurt?

Sweet year people!

Too tired for life?

“Ein li koyach” – or “אין לי כוח” (English – I have no strength/energy), might be something you would hear strolling down the streets of Israel. A more familiar term is the notoriously Jewish sigh “oyyyy (vey)”. This word carries a lot of weight with it, implying a feeling of exasperation, exclamation, exhaustion or pain. Today, the most common symptom that people complain about is being tired. Lack of sleep, too much sleep, lack of food, too much food, extreme heat, extreme cold, too much stress, not enough stress, boredom or just a conversation filler – the feeling of fatigue, lethargy and exhaustion pervades all of our worlds at some point.

So what does this all have to do with nutrition? Well, from the viewpoint of food and nutrition and all that other “health-freaky” stuff,  there are a few ways to combat or avoid that feeling of constant tiredness.

1. Wash it down with water:

Our bodies need 2-3L of water a day (8-10 cups). (Seriously? Yes). Fluid helps to carry all the nutrients around our bodies to be used for energy. Lethargy, along with nausea, headaches, dark yellow urine and a dry mouth are some of the symptoms of dehydration. While tea, coffee, milk and other forms of fluid all count – water is the best. So remember - summer or winter: keep drinking. Carry around a water bottle with you and drink a few cups of water at every meal.

2. “Ironned” out:

Another cause of fatigue could be from a lack of iron in the diet – causing iron-deficiency anaemia. The best sources of iron are found in animal foods like red meat, liver, fish chicken and eggs. For vegetarians, plant foods like spinach, broccoli, nuts, lentils and wholegrain cereals contain iron that isn’t as easily absorbed by the body. Eating something high in Vitamin C like a tomato or lemon juice can help absorb the iron. There are also some nutrients that decrease iron absorption – like caffeine, tannins in tea, calcium and fibre. Women need more than double the amount of iron compared to men. If you think you might not be getting enough iron – take a blood test to check it out, and try and include more of these foods in your diet.

3. B for Vitamin B!

There are 8 B-group vitamins that play a huge role in energy production and making red blood cells. Being deficient in any of these Vitamins might result in fatigue. It’s important to remember – the B Vitamins do not provide the body with fuel, they help release energy from nutrients that do (like carbohydrates, fats and proteins). Vitamin-B supplements are available, but check your diet first.

4. Don’t forget to eat:

Skipping meals can also cause feelings of exhaustion. Food is like the fuel for our body, and if we don’t feed it regularly, we will run out of energy. It’s important to eat every 3 or 4 hours, so if you’re leaving 7 hours between breakfast and lunch (or skipping either meal all together) – it’s very likely that you will be feeling tired and finding it difficult to concentrate.

5. Crack onto complex carbs:

Another food myth that people haven’t seemed to be able to let go of, is that carbohydrates are “bad” for you. False. Our body needs glucose (the most simple form of carbohydrates) for energy. Out of all three major nutrients (fat, protein and carbs), our body uses carbohydrates first. More specifically, our brain need glucose for energy. This explains why people who eliminate all carbohydrates from their diet experience poor concentration. However, while carbohydrates are essential – it is ideal to be eating foods that are rich in complex carbohydrates, like wholemeal breads and cereals, brown rice, sweet potato, oats and legumes. Complex carbohydrates are absorbed more slowly into the body, providing a slower release of energy.  This means that you end up stretching out the release of energy into your blood over a longer period of time, compared to something like white bread which gives you a short burst of energy followed by – you guessed it – another feeling of lethargy.

6. Cut out the coffee:

Other then sleep, the tempting thing to do when you feel that wave of tiredness is grab a fresh, steaming cup of coffee to increase your alertness. Hate to break it to you, but caffeine is like a bandaid. You’ll feel extremely awake for a period of time, followed by yet another wave of exhaustion, followed by another urge for coffee. And the cycle repeats. Caffeine also affects your sleep, making it harder to fall asleep at night – and yet again, making you feel tired the following day.

7. Check for food intolerances?

Certain food intolerances can cause the symptom of tiredness. This is because certain nutrients from the food that you may be intolerant to (e.g. lactose, fructose, gluten) aren’t getting absorbed properly. It might be worth writing down what you are eating for a week and checking to see if you have any other symptoms (such as bloatedness) after you eat certain foods.

8. Exercise for energy:

It’s a vicious cycle. You’re too tired to exercise, but then a lack of exercise makes you lethargic. Studies have shown that any form of regular exercise play a huge role in reducing fatigue. Even though it’s probably the last thing you feel like doing, you’ll start to feel a whole lot better pretty quickly. Exercise released certain energy-promoting and mood-enhancing neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. More simply, it allows the oxygen to move around your body more quickly which is used in energy production. So – get moving, and your body will love you for it.

Then again, you might just need to sleep a little more…

The lentil: a triumphant tale

The lentil is one of the earliest foods to appear in the Bible, excluding the “forbidden fruit” that Adam, who must have been extremely hungry at the time, decided to munch on. Fast forward a few chapters and we arrive at the story of Esau and the infamous lentil soup.

A little bit of History…

It all started one fine day when Isaac's older son, Esau (a redhead), returned home after a long, hard day of hunting in the fields. His brother, Jacob, greeted him with the tantalizing smell of freshly cooked lentil stew. Esau, obviously ravenous from all the hunting demanded a bowl of “that red stuff” or in Hebrew terms “האדום הזה"  . Being the smart brother, Jacob sneakily bargained a bowl of soup for Esaus birthright. Now, I don’t know about you – but if I was starving, and all I had to do was give up my birthright in return for some food, I wouldn’t think twice.  On a side note, we can learn a lesson here – in times of hunger, people will do anything for food. Either that, or it was some damn, good lentil soup. I wonder what magic ingredients Jacob used in that soup.

So, Esau got his bread and lentil stew, while Jacob received the rights of the first born. In those days, the birthright was a huge deal. The family name was passed along to the eldest son along with most of the family’s inheritance. In this case, it was particularly a big deal, because it meant Jacob was continuing the lineage of Abraham, who happens to be a pretty important guy in history.
 

There is also the theory that Jacob cooked the red lentil soup for his father, Isaac, who was mourning the death of his father, Abraham. The lentil symbolizes mourning because of its round shape. Just like the lentil rolls, death and mourning constantly roll among men, from one to the other. (I’m not so sure I like this analogy).

A Spot of Nutrition…

Maybe it was the all encompassing smell that seduced Esau to swap the lentil soup for his birthright, or maybe it was the exceptional nutritional qualities that the lentil has to offer. I doubt it, but it's time the lentil comes out of the nutritional closet it’s been hiding in for all these years.

To start with, lentils are cheap, easy to prepare and absorb the flavour of anything they’re put with. They’re extremely high in fibre (16g per 1 cup), which is great for keeping you full for a long time and maintaining a healthy digestive system. They also prevent blood sugar levels from rising rapidly after a meal and at the same time, are really high in protein. After soybeans and hemp, they contain the most protein out of any nut or legume. Perfect for any vegetarians. They’re virtually fat free, making them relatively low in calories/energy (1 cup of cooked lentils have 230 calories). There's more! This tiny, nutritional giant is rich in other nutrients like iron, magnesium, folate and vitamin B6. 

And so, the humble lentil has made it's way up the foodie ladder from the early biblical days, to showing up in modern day veggie cuisine (the much loved lentil burger) and finally making a star appearance in one of my favourite YouTube clips by marcel the shell:

Quote: “Guess what I wear as a hat? (what?) A lentil.”

There is also an excellent non profit, vegetarian eaterie in Melbourne, called Lentil as anything, where customers can give however much money they think the food is worth. 

Well done Mr. Lentil, well done.

Handy tip: when cooking lentils, remember to wash and soak them before.

There are many versions of lentil soup, both red and green – but here is a recipe that a friend of mine created. It seriously has magic powers, eat it – and you will feel full for hours and hours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz_0Wky6fv8&feature=youtube_gdata_player