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33 Flavors at the Mahane Yehuda Market – Part I

Touring Israel - Mahane Yehuda Market Vendor
This is the man that makes what is arguably the best granola in Jerusalem. Come to the Mahane Yehuda Shuk on Sunday and the whole place will be full of the aromas of baking granola.

By Deena Levenstein

Read part II of 33 Flavors at the Mahane Yehuda Market here

Walking through Jerusalem’s famed outdoor market Mahane Yehuda Shuk with Chef Tali Friedman is like walking through a toy store with a child who has learned the toys off by heart and knows exactly which are his favorites and why. As part of her spectacular culinary tour, Tali took us to eight vendors and stores in the shuk, telling us the stories of the owners and giving us an abundance of tastings.

For those of you who have not yet experienced Mahane Yehuda for yourselves, here is a picture that will do it no justice since nothing can get across all the colors, the fragrances, the characters and the interesting produce and food for sale at this amazing market.

Touring Israel - Walking along the lively Mahane Yehuda Market
Walking along the lively Mahane Yehuda Market

Chef Tali Friedman, the guide of the day, is a fascinating Jerusalem personality. Born and raised here, she trained as a chef locally and in Paris, and her approximately 20 years of culinary experience include work under some of Israel’s finest chefs. As one of the members of the Mahane Yehuda Market committee, she is very much in the know when it comes to this fascinating place where she has been giving culinary tours for around eight years.

And then to pull it all together perfectly, after taking guests around the shuk, she invites them up to a beautiful studio apartment with a state-of-the-art kitchen where everyone prepares a gorgeous Middle Eastern style meal.

And yes, I counted – in total I tasted 33 different foods and drinks that morning. In this post and in Part II I’ll give you some examples.

Click on the photos for a slideshow view and descriptions.

Read Part II where we prepared and partook in a beautiful gourmet meal.

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Author

Deena Levenstein

Deena Levenstein is a writer and social-cultural entrepreneur in Jerusalem. She creates and hosts events and runs "Things to do in Jerusalem," a Facebook group of handpicked cultural events in the city. In her spare time she blogs at http://deena.co/.

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