Holy Land Gluten-Free?

[picketyfence]

Your experiences in Israel?     thanks.

[brendygirl]

Hi, I live in Israel. There is an amazing gluten free since 1954 FALAFEL place, called Johnny’s Falafel in Tel Aviv! He will prepare yours separately from the rest and use ingredients from the back so no cc. Just tell him you have celiac/allergy. 

The Hazi Hinam grocery store has entire gluten free aisles! With THE BEST Frozen gluten-free CHALLAH loaves! Many packaged foods have a symbol for gluten-free on the back label- it’s a yellow and white flower or a sheaf of wheat with a line through it.

 Most traditionally Israeli food places serve several items that are traditionally gluten-free and bread is usually separate so cc is lower risk than USA. Items such as the tomato/cucumber salad, hummus, cabbage salad (similar to cole slaw), , egg salad, olives, eggplant/baba ganoush, chicken, lamb, rice (they don’t cook it in broth), lentil soup, lamb, stewed vegetables, fruit, yogurt. There is a healthy store called Anise in the fun mall/food court called Sarona Market in Tel Aviv that sells gluten-free products. Look on the gluten-free restaurant app and there are lots of restaurants. Raq Bsr (Brazilian steakhouse) and Vong (Vietnamese) and Bretonne (crepes) are faves of mine.

 That said, due to the kosher thing, dietary restrictions are very common here and taken very seriously, which is nice. Hotel buffets usually have plenty and in Jerusalem the breakfast buffet at The Grand Hotel had tons of gluten-free options! Amazing! Most sit-down restaurants can suggest gluten-free options. JUST SAY “LELO GLUTEN” (pronounces Lay-low gluten). 

Street food is tougher to get gluten-free. In the Souk/Arab outdoor bazaar/market called Carmel Market or HaCarmel Market, (Tel Aviv)across from the bagged beans/legumes vendor is a tiny Venezuelan AREPA stand that is 100% gluten-free! Amazing! There are also ubiquitous fruit smoothies, fresh-squeezed juice stands, and frozen slushees. There is a fantastic popsicle that is orange with a white filling in most convenience stores. 

I bring my own bread or crackers to dip in the baba ganoush, etc. 

Enjoy your time here.  Caesaria is a favorite, the children’s outdoor monument at the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem, and the Friday flea market in Old Jaffa. The Monastery of St George is awesome too. (Besides The Dead Sea, Masada, Jerusalem, and the other must-sees.)