Market Prices

 120 nis
18 boxes 

Market prices

200 nis

This should have costed 160 nis plus 2kg of onions
Result of mis calculation and my inconfidence. Well you live and learn. 200 nis is still a good price for this lot

 

Knaffi

Vegan Knaffi

Recipe:

Filling
Cashew - soaked and blended
sugared water from the syrup

Top & Bottom
Knaffi hairs
White sugar
Margarine
Water
Rose water
Pistachio nuts for garnishing

Cook sugar and water till boiled. Boil for further 5 mins. Cool. Add rosewater

Break, loosen hairs.
Melt margarine and add. miss well. Make sure there are no clumps.
Melt a tablespoon of marg on small frying pan
Place some hair on pan, on low heat.
Cook on LOW heat till crispy brown, shaping the edges and pressing down the hairs
Add "cheese" in centre, leave a generous gap around the edges for the cheese to "bleed' spread around.
Top with rest of hairs.
Check the bottom is nice and brown. 
Flip or
Slightly oil a plate =, place on top of frying pan and flip onto place.
Now slide knaffi of the plate back onto the pan and cook the other side till brown.
Once both sides are done. Slide on to place.
Spoon over sugared water and garnish with crush pistachio nuts

Market prices

120 nis  = 15 boxes ( =100 nis) + bananas, cabbage = 

 

Market at the end of the week,  end of the day.
Finally dawned on me, the shuk will never go back to the same. At least will take along time
People are afraid to go out, and if they do, are afraid to go to possibly crowded areas. The stands remain empty and closed. Not only peoples livelihoods are erased, also their meaning of existence. This was not just a job, it was a reason to breathe. Where will they go. What will they do?  What chance has humanity if places that was the very cloth and thread that life weaved through simply withers away?  It was the essence, the unbreakable force of Life energy, unstoppable and energising.  To me it was therapy, it woke my spirits and ward me from sadness and depression.  

 

Food prices Shuk Ha Carmel - lost wallet

235 nis groceries (fish 25 nis not in pic)

Lost my wallet (bought @35 nis)
+ 60 nis inside at the shuk - 
Total cost  320 nis

Dragon fruit - very tasty, pineapple=box, potatoe bags = box, 2 small asparagus @ 20nis
Bought way too much today, 2 boxes of cukes,  2 x boxes courgettes, 3 x boxes of peppers!
Persimmons, Beets, Carrots, Pears, Kohlrabi, Baby Fennel


Different seller: 4 boxes of mushrooms =20 nis, broccoli 15 for 2
grapes 10 nis

Aubergines - a.k.a. Eggplants

 

Topped with dry spices: Korkum/Turmeric, Cumin, Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Panko

Crispy done

Juicy inside

Dont forget to score the eggplant!

For a really hearty dish, top with spicy minced meat with caramelised onions

Classic favourite in our house.
Sliced eggplant sprinkle of salt and oil. (No need to salt first to draw out liquids)
Grill in oven 200oC till brown. Flip brown on other side
Cool. 
Drizzle Balsamic GLAZE.
Sprinkle chopped fresh greens.
Enjoy!

Food Prices - Levinsky Market

102 nis - First visit

Realized we needed more Salad ingredients and bummed I never bought 1+1 baby leaves.
The shop would closed in another 30 mins. Mmm. anyways veggie shops never closed on time. I grab my bag and decided to go back!!
Bought 4 bags of baby salad leaves, shitake mushrooms, straw mushrooms all 1+1 for good measure. A further 50 nis

Total 152 nis

Was recommended to try Levinsky market for end of week shopping.
Verdict bought more 'boutique' ingredients, baby leaves etc, Shitake; Straw; Oyster mushrooms as the only bargain prices (for me) were the refrigeration items at a reduced 1+1 prices

Other items such as aubergine, carrots were either at a lower quality or my usual place are better priced.

All in all, a good experience. It's always refreshing to try something different, and education to evaluate and compare, even if just to re-affirm what you knew all along. Now confirmed, confidence renewed, restored, and resurrected. Yeah worth it..

102 nis First visit
Later, went back for more

MORE
2nd visit 152 nis

4 bags of baby Salad Leaves 2/10nis ; 2 bags of baby Spinach  2/10nis, 2 packs Straw Mushrooms 2/15 nis ; 2 packs Shitake Mushrooms  2/15 nis  ; Oyster mushrooms 2/ 15nis;  4 packs of corn!  2/17 nis?  (see below pic) 2 small packs of baby potatoes 10 nis each;
All above were 1+1 packs

Bananas 6.90/kg Beets 3 nis/kg? Lemons 9 nis/kg

Food market prices

200 nis

Arrived 16:00

Everything was already closed!  Just a few usuals at the end.


3 boxes for 20
Tomatoes - 1 box= 7 nis
Cukes  - 1 box= 7 nis
Grapes 1 box @ 7 nis
Small Grapes  1 box @ 10 nis
Greens 2 nis a bunch instead of 3
corn 3 for 20 nis
Potatoes 3 for 20 nis!
Lettuce 2 for 15

Total 200 nis

 

Food market prices

140  Nis  

Another Chag (Yom Kippur) Another Friday AND another lockdown till Tuesday (five days)   So went to the open market at 12:45 -13:00 as everything must close at 14:00

Big bags (1.5kg) of baby potatoes 15 nis each (usually 8-10 nis/bag) -
Its the last of the season, so figured it will be the last time to enjoy for a while.

Cucumbers in packs -  5 nis each got these AFTER I bought the loose ones in the meanwhile. No household is without the ubiquitous finely chopped Israeli/Arabic tomato and cucumber salad.

Aubergines  bought at  3 nis/kg  -  usual price 9 nis/kg

Bell peppers 3.9/kg usually 14 nis?

Mushrooms 2 boxes for 10 nis

Lemons 1 bag at 8 nis/kg

Then saw lemons at  6nis/kg explains the second bag. 
Can never have too many lemons. Always good for lemon mint granita.

Greens coriander full price at Rami levy as the shuk was out @ 3.90 a bag

This Friday saw a lot of people doing their last-minute buying, making the most of the end-of-day, end-of-week sales.  Alot of produce were already sold out. Many people picking from discarded piles. Feeling the sign of the times. The city's many restaurants, cafes, hotels, banquet/event halls, cinemas, theatres, all completely closed. Second total lockdown.  All the usual busy workers once again not working. the whole infrastruce, eco-sytem of  vital employment and activity are out of income AGAIN. The visable signs of neglect and stagnation in many establishments are clearly showing during this second nationwide stop. Even during the months between the two lockdowns, reports of people who were "not effected" were not spending so readily, eating less out because of Covid-19. Could it be because of  lack of open space? Or just general avoidance from any possible crowds? 
The new code.
The young are more anxious about job security, or more precise job insecurity. Only now, the cracks are beginning to show, at least in the centre of this once carefree city. 

Once upon a time, not so long ago, this city was  too impatient, too young and  too damn fun-driven to worry. Tel Avivians rightously held the city in a bubble, unstoppable and impenetrable. Now Covid is here to stay. It's not going anywhere for a while yet. And the new Jewish year is only just beginning.

I feel a situation of "The elephant in the room"

No one is talking about, within the home, cut back spending, money saving skills, budget lifestyle .. long term, because honestly, who knows what is for the long run?   Online shopping provides for the necessity of not going out, but how do you save on online shopping for groceries? Digital sales? Will last minute, bulk buying  come to be another artform of selling and buying? Even more time spent in front of  screens, searching for virtual credits to accumulate, stored and traded for crucial currency. Customers held hostage to large online chains by their 'loyalty' schemes.

Humungous malls are empty, a few souless bodies silently shuffling through the hollow passages of darken shops. Laden with nyon bags heavy with groceries from the inside supermarket.  A Kafkaesque scene. Reminds me of what a modern Bonnard would be - "And but for the grace of god, there goes you in a worn out drab robe"

 

Green sauce for fish

Recipe

Chili
Garlic 
Salt
Sugar
Fish sauce
Vinegar
Olive oil
Chopped green onions
Coriander
Limes/Lemons 

Mix all and let to rest. 
Taste amazing on served just baked fresh mullet fish.