Acre:Akko,Israel,Food,Crusader City

Me outside the Akko Fort,on the Acre sea wall

The Israeli Food is always a search ,always an excavation ,always a look , always an interpretation we never understand because each person understands it differently.In Israel,you are never just a Jew you are either a Jew who has come from Yemen or Morocco or Iran.Some people are half Yemen and half Moroccan. The youth is a fusion of all cultures and hence the culinary scene is a mix of all.

The Yesteryear Crusader City as Buried
The Mediterranean sea crash on the thick Sandstone walls making splash as we cross the tunnels that run through underneath the Crusader city and walked fast in curious wanderlust.Captured by Crusaders,and then Ottomans and then Napoleans,this place has a past rather mischievous but beautiful.

I told you about Hindi movies in my first post

Can you see 'Aradhana','Dosti' here at Akko Market

Yes ! The world is connected.

If you remember my previous post,I talked about how we were driving towards Northern Side Of Galilee from Haifa to Acre(called Akko in Hebrew). Acre is the meeting point of the East and the West,the Old and the New,the so called cultural Israel.To check my previous posts on Israel click here:

Shalom From Israel:The Land of Mysteries
Haifa:Bahai Temple And Just Entered Israel
Finding Christ:My Journey To Jerusalem
Israel:First Time Israel and Things You Must Know

Posts From Other Bloggers are

Israel By Nisha Jha

Acre or Akko is a UNESCO world heritage site

Acre:Fish,Hummus And Knafeh

Over 5000 people in the city consisting of Arabs(75%) and Jews(25%) coexist beautifully;So much are the cultural peaceful coexistence over the years between various communities that

In 2000,all the clocks were changed and renovated having the seconds as Roman numbers,minutes and hours in Hebrew and Arab and till date remains the same.

Knafeh and Coffee in Akko

Akko has a happening food market where we get the Mediterranean fish in all its glory due to the big port.These fishes taste unlike the Sea Fish but more like a Big lake Fish as the sea on the western part is enclosed by Morocco making it a very big lake.The second famous food item in Acre is Hummus.

The third is Knafeh. Knafeh is orange in color and a classic Ramadan sweet .Knafeh is neither Israeli nor Lebanese but comes from the mountain of Galilee mostly found in the northern part of Israel and Southern part of Lebanon.

Knafeh is made of three important parts - The outer part is Goat cheese then we have Kadaif which is  strings of dough,sugared water,and little bit of carrot(not carrot flavored but carrot for the color itself),sometimes they put rose water,geranium sometimes and pistachios

Baklawas and Delights

Knafeh and Baklavas were originally eaten during the Ramadan time. Ramadan is a one month fast that Muslims have every year.The fast is from sunrise to sunset,so first thing you have after sunset is a sweet,then you will have a big feast of beef.So the Knafeh and the Baklavas were originally done in the month of Ramadan before and after.But nowadays you get it all year around in the shops.

Acre:Sacred For Muslims And Prophet Mohammed

The Mosque of Jezzar Pasha is a significant religious site for Muslims in Acre.A box(also called the sacred or the holy box) in the fenced off area( shrine ) on this mosque contains a single hair from the prophet Mohammed's beard.It is shown on ceremonies shown to public only on 27th day of the month Ramadan and 15000-20000 people come to be part of the event.It is a magnificent event each year.

Acre:The Story Of  A Carat

We measure Gold in Carat.But did you ever wonder what's the story of the present day Carat?

Spread all over Israel,Middle East and Mediterranean,is the story of the present day Carat.In these areas,there is a tree called a "Carob" tree. The Carob tree has fruit called Carob beans. The long green beans have beans/seeds inside all nearly identical in size. As ancient traders traveled around the Mediterranean and surrounding areas, they turned to the carob bean as a unit of measurement.Now Carob seeds today is used as an ingredient in chocolate.

First attested in English in the mid-15th century, the word carat came from Italian carato, which came from Greek keration meaning carob seed (literally "small horn") and potentially from Arabic qirat

The Carob Festival Is Celebrated In Israel During September.

Acre: Souvenir to Get:Carob Honey

One of the interesting souvenir to get back from Israel would be small jar of carob honey.Most of them just pick them off the tree and eat,its all over Israel and the Middle east and very commonly found.

Acre:Food Market

'Gems' in Abundance.Kids would love it!
During the end of October and the Beginning of May, most of the markets are filled with herbs specially in the Galilee and the hills around Jerusalem where farming is very very popular in local families.Driving down 5 minutes from Akko to the upper and lower Galilee you will find many kinds  of  fresh and variety of food .

Bread that Looks like our pooris..

Culinary scene in Akko is very very different.Everything is green, blossoming and fresh ingredients on display.Apart from these we have Galilee fishes,Cardamom,Chilies,Incense,Spices,different types of Bread and Antique markets you can have a look at.

Antiques

                                                                   ...And Spices

Since Israel has been conquered and re-conquered by Arabs and various communities,the culinary scene in a Akko is a mix.Also every sect of Judaism has different recipes that adds onto the culinary culture.

Markets in Akko

Guys these are not cakes but soaps..

Acre:Crusader Fortress

Such a nice idea(plant on a used shoe) at many of the homes in Akko

Close to the sea,the ruins of the Crusader fortress was a Crusaders' Royal palace and main headquarters after retreating from Jerusalem.The Knight Hall complex,The Dining Room,The Courtyard and The Prisoners hall are interesting places to visit inside.

                                                         How Acre looks like

One of the best ways to enjoy and take full advantage of Akko is to walk through the Tunnels to the Crypt where only one person can walk through at a time.

It is said that this tunnel was used by the Crusaders in order to allow underground access between the fortress and hidden armory caches.During excavations,a lot of coins,valuable items has been found.As per the map,it goes from one castle to another however one of the castles is closed and now the other side opens out in the ocean.You can also feel thin stream of water going underneath from the sides.On the other side along the sea is the fortress sea wall and the ruins.

                                                                 Lighted at its best

The Templar Tunnel

Opening up to the other end,we have the sea! Damn.

Now that we have little information about food and spices, tomorrow we are going for culinary adventure and have past life regression(not kidding) and taste some olives :)