The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden
(Also cookbooks by Israel Aharoni and Shmil Holland-but those are in Hebrew)

I was in Budapest in late October and I really liked the food at Cari Mama (get the "langos" and the palacsinta for desssert-very good).
I also ate at Frohlich Cukraszda which is one of the last kosher pastry shops in Hungary. It was also quite good.

Huh. I've lived here for 8 years, and did not know that was technically illegal. Learn something new every day.

The owner of Topolino is one of the only restaurant owners I would trust. I personally would eat (and have eaten) there. I also understand if people don't want to take her word for it.

That's a great story about the place in Meah Shearim. When it comes down to it, the whole system of kashrut is really based on trust anyway.

It had a teudah for many years and only recently decided not to have one any more. I do know the owner and trust her. I did not mean to imply that every tourist should take any owner by their word. Nor do they need to take mine.
Also, they are not advertised as kosher. If you ask the owner she will say it is kosher without a teudah. In terms of the legality- it is possible that to advertise a place as kosher when it is not is illegal, but I don't think a teudah needs specifically to be from the Rabbanut. There are plenty of places in mea shearim/geulah that don't have teudot from the Rabbanut. They have their own kashrut system. And I don't think that's illegal.

Carousela on the corner of Aza and Metudela is a wonderful little cafe (though the service is slow).
Topolino on Agrippas is one of the best restaurants in Jerusalem (it is Kosher, but does not have a teudah- don't know if that matters to you or not). Te'enim is good, as is Cafe Mizrachi in the shuk.

sorry I didn't mention it. Thanks for all your help. I'd send you a muffin, if I could :)

thanks!
I have been using fresh peaches.
I also had a long discussion with my uncle who mentioned that perhaps the issue lies in the fact that Israeli products have different acidity levels than American ones and were interacting differently with the leavening agents. Since then, I switched the sour cream for plain yogurt and have not had a problem. Very odd.

Kosher fish needs to have fins and scales (hence the need to see the fish).

Alright. Let's go back to the leavening theory. I've been using Argo baking powder which is new to me. I know it's supposed to be super great- aluminum free, double acting etc but is there any chance is reacting weirdly with my ingredients? This issue is still bugging me.

I can't live without em.
There's a Powell's in Hyde Park, Chicago that I used to frequent often (my favorite was their box of free books out in front). I try to get there whenever I'm back in Chicago.
The particular bookstore where I bought the Oliver cookbook is in Jerusalem, though. Bit far from Portland and Columbus I'm afraid

The Book of New Israeli Food- Janna Gur

Good to the Grain- Kim Boyce

Something for the Weekend- Jaimie Oliver (a little slip of a book I picked up in a used bookstore for about 3 bucks)

Hey all- Sorry for the delay.
So...the second batch came out better, though there was still some residual saltiness and they didn't have quite as much height as the first batch. The bitterness was gone. I still don't know precisely what is causing the little bit of saltiness (maybe my crystallized ginger?) who knows? In any case, I'll continue playing with the recipe.

As for the pans- the muffins were baked in plain old muffin tins, the cake was baked in a ceramic dish and I assume I baked the cookies on a cookie sheet with baking paper.

I'm not sure I'll ever get to the bottom of this, but I just hope that should it happen again I can catch it before I serve the offending item.

@Bethcooks- "pine mouth"- ha! No, I didn't not eat pine nuts before tasting or making. Alas, pine nuts are pretty expensive around here and don't find themselves hanging about my house much.

Thanks all for your help.
T.

Thanks. I also thought that 2 teaspoons of leavening seemd like a lot.

Actually, what is bizzare about the whole thing is that one recipe called for both baking soda and powder (the muffins) another called only for powder (olive oil cake) and the third called only for soda (cookies). Hence, the lack of common denominator. In addition I have made the olive oil cake again without any trouble.

The book does not recommend a particular type of baking powder and the powder I use does not contain aluminum.

In any case, I'm going to give these muffins another try tomorrow and cut the salt (and possibly the baking power, though I'm nervous about playing iwth the leavening agents). We'll see what happens.

Hey there,

This weekend I made Kim Boyce's Peach Ginger Muffins, they would have been great except for the fact that they had an odd salty/bitter after taste. This has happened to me before with other baked goods (not just muffins) and I have no clue what is causing it. I can't really find any common denominator between the recipes (one was an olive oil cake, the other cookies and the third being these muffins. Most of the ingredients that I used in the muffins were new (except the baking soda). Ideas anyone? I'd really like to avoid this problem in the future.

Thanks.
T.

Hi. I've eaten in a few really good places in Jerusalem in the last little while (I live here). Lara on R' Shimon ben Shetach is a great new(ish) meat place. The food is very good and the atmosphere is lovely.

Topolino near the the Machaneh Yehuda Shuq is our favorite dairy place. It's small and often crowded, but very good Italian fare.
Also if you are near the shuq- check out Mousseline-(17 HaEgoz- inside the shuq). It's pretty much the best ice cream I've had ever. (Seriously. Their Saffron ice cream will change your life)

My favorite little neighborhood cafe is Carosela- on the corner of Binyamin Medtudelah and Aza St. It doesn't have an extensive menu and the service is pretty slow, but the food is better and more inventive than your typical Israeli cafe food. It's a nice place to just sit and loiter for awhile

Where can I find cheesecloth in Jerusalem? Regular everyday supermarkets don't seem to carry. I assume I can find it somewhere in Machne Yehuda, but that place is such a maze- it would help to know where to look.
Thanks.

Thanks. I live in Israel and I don't think they carry Ball or Kerr around here. I suppose I can ask around for generic canning jars though

Do I need to sterilize glass jars before using them to preserve limes? How would I do that without shattering the glass? Thanks.