The Israeli Salad

There is not a Shabbos that goes past without the Israeli salad; in fact I just cannot even comprehend a Shabbos dinner in our house with out The Israeli Salad on the table!

Preparing this salad is an art in my opinion. Only because I find that there is a difference in taste as to how it is prepared and I am extremely sensitive to this (don’t get me wrong, you can put anyone’s Israeli salad in front of me and I will guarantee you I will eat it!) I just truly appreciate the time and effort that goes into a well made Israeli salad.  When I have prepared this salad at my partners parents house for Shabbos there have always been surprise questions around the table asking who made the salad, and I can proudly confess that I have, and as much as most people find it a chore, it only gives me great pleasure!

There are many who make it with a machine or other kitchen utensils that does all the chopping work for you but I pride myself with doing it all by hand and take my time in doing so and give it all my attention.

Here I am going to share with you the basics of an Israeli salad. I remember when I first was introduced to The Israeli Salad I did not even know where to begin to make this salad as I was in awe as to how they managed to finely chop the ingredients.

So here I have tried to show you step-by-step the process by hand. You need to ensure that you have a knife that you are very comfortable to work with and well sharp for the best results. I work with a medium sized tomato knife.

For the best results you need to ensure that you have the firmest tomatoes to start with or it can be rather challenging and messy.

Cucumbers should preferably by the little Israeli cucumbers and should be as straight as can be to make the cutting work easier (but the local one we get here in Cape Town call English cucumbers will also do).

Season with salt and pepper to your taste, lots of lemon juice and drizzle of olive oil.

This salad is lovely with a good serving of freshly chopped flat leaf parsley.

For variations it is also lovely to add finely chopped Green Pepper or Celery to the tomato and cucumber.