Holy Molé: Things Get Spicy in the Holy Land
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Contrary to popular wisdom, spiciness is not one of the basic tastes. It’s actually a form of pain.
It is the feeling caused by the presence of capsaicin, the chemical that makes peppers hot. It is usually found in pepper seeds and in the white fiber that goes through it. Peppers are usually hotter in summer than in winter, but anyone who has tasted them recently knows that this summer, the peppers are particularly scorching. A small tip and a word of caution: red hot peppers are ripe, so they are relatively less hot than green hot peppers. If you got one of those, put salt on your tongue, eat some bread, drink milk or even an alcoholic drink. Even an ice pop will help.
Since sharp flavors tend to crowd out other tastes, we tried to find the best dishes whose sharpness did not overpower the other flavors, so everyone who likes it hot will manage to come out of the experience alive.
Ah, it burns: Shishko
The concept of Shishko was born in one of the Bulgarian restaurants in Jaffa. The idea was to take the hamarot – small, intimate and lively eateries in the area of the Levinsky market – add air conditioning and silverware, a little music and Bulgarian-Jewish food, and end up with an inexpensive place to drink alcohol and have something to eat with it. The result: a Bulgarian hamara that has taught all the other restaurants in the market how to live it up.
Read More at Haaretz.com.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
