After spending Passover (one of our favorite and most family-fun holidays) in lockdown, we are so thrilled to be able to celebrate Shavuot properly. This holiday celebrates the anniversary of the Jews receiving the Torah, as well as the harvest. While there is so much to say about this special holiday, we're going to zero in on what we know best: the food!
In most Jewish communities, Shavuot is associated with eating dairy meals. This comes at a particularly good time in Israel, as Shavuot falls in May or June, right around the time the weather in the ‘Land of Milk and Honey’ is getting too hot to handle.
Dairy meals (although not all of them are diet-friendly!) leave us feeling light and energized in these hot and humid days. Crispy cheese bourekas and creamy cheesecake are especially popular choices in Israel! We take our dairy very seriously here - so much so that there were mass protests when the government raised the cost of price-controlled cottage cheese.
We want to take you on a little journey across some of our favorite markets to visit our favorite cheese spots. Since living in Israel means never being too far from amazing dairy products, the only difficulty was picking just one spot in each market! (For our favorite Israeli dairies around the country (who also deliver!) check out this post)
We’ve picked out our faves in Tel Aviv’s Carmel, Levinsky and Hatikva Markets, in Jaffa, and in Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda Market - we’ve got you covered.
Jaffa: Shifra Delicatessen
The cheese section of beautiful Shifra delicatessen in Jaffa. Photo via Shifra
Shifra gets double points for not only having some of the best cheeses in town, but because its name comes from the bible, extra appropriate for Shavuot. In a nod to two heroic midwives mentioned in the Torah—Shifra and Puaa—Shifra is the sister delicatessen of a fun and funky restaurant called…you guessed it— Cafe Puaa—next door!
This gorgeous delicatessen is located in the bustling Jaffa Flea Market, which might sound funny to your ears. While the Flea Market itself is still the go-to place in the city for antiques and second-hand buys, the area around it has literally blossomed with high-end shops like Shifra, which sells Israeli and imported cheeses, wines, olive oils, flowers and much more.
What to get: Bryndza sheep cheese or jameed (“yogurt stone”)
Where to find them: 8 Yehuda Margoza St., Tel Aviv-Yafo
Carmel Market: Pinat HaGvinot (“The Cheese Corner”)
At a busy intersection at the bottom of the Carmel market (take the main road and walk down all the way towards the David Intercontinental or Dan Panorama Hotel) you’ll find a low-key corner stand with a blue sign—but inside is the best cheese around. The real name is “Pinat HaGvinot Ve HaYayin’, meaning “wine and cheese corner”, and that’s exactly what you’ll find. In the beautiful display case, you’ll find all the cheeses your heart desires. Despite gruff grunts of welcome, guys running the shop are nothing short of lovely and will be very helpful in getting you the perfect cheese for that cheesecake, salad, pizza—you name it. This shop sells Israeli and imported cheeses, from the simplest Israeli tzfatit to the most exotic French varieties.
What to get: Goat cheese with wine rind, truffle manchego, or baby smoked gouda nuggets
Where to find them: 14 Carmel St., corner of Ya’avets, Tel Aviv-Yafo
Hatikva Market: Ofer Delicatessen
Cheese (and amba up top!) for days. Photo via Madaney Ofer
If you haven’t even heard of the Hatikva Market, do not be embarassed! Many Israelis—including Tel Avivians—have never ventured over to this amazing neighborhood market, where many of the same Carmel Market products can be found, just at much lower prices.
Ofer Delicatessen is located in the butcher’s alley of the Hatikva Market (you’ll know by the red floors and the sudden array of butcher after butcher) and sells both meat and dairy products in its store, but all of them are kosher-certified, as is the store itself. In addition to the gigantic selection of salads and dips, Ofer is underrated as a great place to find harder-to-find specialty cheeses used to make traditional ethnic foods. Prices are lower than you’ll find anywhere else for similar products.
What to get: Iraqi jibneh, Georgian sulguni, and their famous house-made amba!
Where to find them: 10 Nuriel St. (Hatikva Market) Tel Aviv-Yafo
*They have a branch at the Levinsky Market too (where you can also buy delicious frozen pasta products), but we recommend taking this wonderful opportunity to explore a new area. We promise you won’t regret it. And when the time is right, we’d love to take you on an exclusive Delicious Israel tour of the Hatikva Market!
Levinsky Market: Yom Tov Delicatessen
Eitan and his mother Simcha at their beautiful shop. Photo via Yom Tov Delicatessen
What hasn’t been said about this incredible delicatessen? This teeny-tiny shop is packed to the brim with delicious goodies, imported products (like their amazing cheeses!), and smiles. Tell Simcha, Eitan or Yomi that Delicious Israel sent you, and you’ll be sure to receive an extra treat.
This third-generation family-owned and operated Turkish-tinged delicatessen is known for importing specialty products that often seem impossible to find in Israel (hello, Maldon sea salt flakes!) and foodies flock here for the best delicacies.
There is another branch of Yom Tov (a few shops down the street), where you’ll find a smaller selection of cheeses and ready-to-eat products and more frozen and dry goods, but we love the original, including its sign brought over from the original shop in Istanbul.
What to get: Turkish kashkaval, feta with pesto, and pickled dried fruits stuffed with cheeses
Where to find them: 43 Levinsky St., Tel Aviv-Yafo
Mahane Yehuda: Basher Fromagerie
Need we say more? Photo via Basher.
The fine folks at Basher Fromagerie (known as Basher) are true leaders in the Israeli cheese scene, helping Israelis discover new and different types of cheeses, more exotic in flavor and texture than they had ever encountered. Fun fact: for decades, Israelis essentially spoke of cheese as either “yellow” (hard) or “white” (soft). With over 1,000 (!) types of cheeses, Basher is proof that for many, those days are long gone.
This gorgeous flagship shop (Basher has expanded around the country, but there’s nothing like the original) is located smack dab in the middle of the action in Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda Market. Basher prides itself on specializing in regional cheeses produced only in that region - the Cheddar comes from England, the Gruyere from France—only the best!
Please note that while the shop itself does not have a kashrut certificate marking it kosher, the cheeses themselves are kosher, meaning that for many buyers, this is the only place to get certain kinds of kosher cheese in Israel!
What to get: Raclette or Parmesan aged 36 months. And don’t forget the truffle butter!
Where to find them: 53 Etz Hayyim St. (Machane Yehuda Market) in Jerusalem, and across the country. Or better yet, on a Delicious Israel ‘Eat Jerusalem’ tour of the Machane Yehuda market!
Now that you have that cheese, wondering what to do with it?! Check out our post on Cheesecake Two Ways!
Background photo courtesy of Basher Fromagerie
