Wednesday, April 22, 2009

corner view: breakfast




this is not an israeli breakfast. at least not a typical one. if i had chosen to show you an israeli breakfast today i could have shown you either a cookie, because lots of israelies like to start the day with a cup of strong coffee and a sweet cookie. and then after an hour or two they will eat the "real" breakfast. which would be the second option for me to show you. this involves - if classical - eggs, boiled or fried, israeli salad, which is a basic salad made of tomato, cucumber, onions and parsley. what makes it israeli, or more precisely what makes it middle eastern is, that all ingredients are finely chopped and sprinkled with olive oil, fresh lemon juice and salt. you might add hummus, because israelies like to add hummus where possible. you might add lebaneh, which is a white cheese, slightly sour. and you will definately add pita bread or whatever bread you prefer. bread is a big deal around here.

but i am not going to show you that today, since i usually don't eat any of these breakfast meals at home.

so, this morning i had one of my typical breakfasts, which is yoghurt with "something". today that something was this delicious homemade shesek jam. and this might just be what makes this breakfast israeli, because i have never seen this fruit outside israel. it grows on beautiful, big leaved trees. it’s a little bit like a cross between a peach and, well, something. and right about now it's ready to eat. we have four shesek trees around the house. and in the evening the bats are going nuts out there: they love it! i'm ok with bats, so no alarm, but since they’re stuffing themselves, they leave droppings like little airfighters dropping bombs all over the garden. natural compost, i guess, but not so natural for me on my garden furniture, so the furniture has to be covered during the night these days.

the jam we made is heavenly. not too sweet, spiced up with cinnamon and a little bit of lemon, also from our garden (i have to say this again: i LOVE all these fruits in the garden!). oh, and if anyone knows the name of this fruit in english, or danish for that matter, please do let me know.

update! a shesek is a loquat. thank you so much those of you who helped solve the mystery. yay!

so, bon appetit to you. or as we say here, beteavon!

other lovely breakfasts from different corners of the world:



Jane from spain daily is hosting the corner view project. next week´s theme is "modes of transportation" from the lovely ladybug-zen.

36 comments:

  1. that looks yummy, tho' i'm not as sure that i would be as ok with the bats as you are. :-) is it like a quince (kvæde)? they look a bit like that. maybe it's related. in any case, yum. i'll have to come back for the links, as i've got lots of work!

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  2. That fruit look familiar to me. We call it kaki. First it's very green, so you might think you can already take it from the three, but you have to wait till it's completely orange. But maybe I'm talking about something else here.

    Anayway....I would starve if I would eat only thàt!! I think I would join the Israeli -lol-

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  3. yummy! it all sounds really nice to me. even though it's not healthy, someitmes a cookie and a strong cuppa coffee really hit the spot.

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  4. I like the idea of cinnamon in jam. I might try that. C.T., in England we call kaki, persimmon. I had a big persimmon tree in my garden in Spain, which is the first place where I ever saw it.

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  5. looks so warm and sunny. almost can smell it.
    thanks!
    north salutes south!

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  6. this fruit is called loquat in english, and is originally chinese, though i would agree that it's very characteristic of israel! the apartment building in haifa that i grew up in had one or two of these trees in the back yard, and all the kids from the building would go there in season with plastic bags to bring shesekim to their families :)

    sadly i haven't had it in years. seems like a wonderful jam!

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  7. that's very interesting!
    and I think I would like the "real second israeli breakfast"... ;-) with salad...usw.!

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  8. Hmmm nice! I love how you make your own jam etc. I wish I had a garden like that! :)

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  9. We have lots of those trees in Argentina, I used to have three of them in my backyard, we call them "nísperos", nice fruit and little flowers... lots of bees arround all the time...
    Great breakfast!
    :D

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  10. Thanks for always sharing a background of your culture. I always feel like I have learned something when I leave your page. Also all of those breakfasts sound delightful. Oh and it cracked me up that you refer to the bats "air bombing"

    Thanks for such a great post! And for sharing your breakfast with me!

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  11. Hello, wonderful breakfast! It's funny, we have three large loquat trees in our backyard and I never thought of making jam from the fruit...probably because the seeds are so large... though your recipe sounds delicious - maybe someday I'll try it :)
    Thank you for your comment on my blog - so glad I discovered yours. I'll be back...

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  12. beteavon! thank you for sharing:)

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  13. I have a large loquat tree growing in front (actually, on the side) of my house. I had trouble myself finding the English word for it a couple of weeks ago when I posted a photo of my son climbing it! It's not a graceful tree, but it's evergreen, and the flowers in October have the sweetest of smells. I make my own jams, and never thought of using loquat fruits for them! I enjoyed your post thoroughly!

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  14. Great post! I love the name shesek jam. This was so much fun learning about your corner. Thanks!! Hugs-Jane

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  15. yum! it's almost making me want to go back to my daily yogurt breakfast. especially if i could get some of that shesek jam...

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  16. That looks really good!

    ps
    Thanks for the info on jule cake. I figured it must be a Christmastime food since here fruit cake is only found then and it seemed simalar.

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  17. Wow, you can grow different fuits where you are. Soo nice you can eat them for your breakfast. Thanks for you best wished for my lost camera. I really am in a grief cycle about it. I suspect a little person may have deposited it somewhere I will never find...
    Love your table cloth too :)

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  18. Starting the day with only a cookie and then waiting a few hours later would only make me eat twice as much than if I had just eaten when I first got up. Your jam sounds simply divine.

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  19. Oh, I love this bit of info!! And especially those photos!! Ok, your tablecloth too! I'd also love to try a typical Israeli breakfast... sounds so good!! Thanks for sharing a bit about your world!

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  20. homemade jam you said? I'll be over tomorrow for breakfast! I love the photos.

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  21. mmmmmmmm, sounds delicious, I want to taste this jam! :)

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  22. cookie and coffee....hmmm I think Icould do that.
    the description of your jam just wants me to have a taste.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  23. I love your bright striped tablecloth and the jam looks so sweet and tasty!

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  24. We call that tree a loquat in Los Angeles. I'm pretty sure it's the same because my Israeli friend always comes over and picks all the fruit from ours. Thanks for the lovely post!

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  25. I would love to try your shesek jam ... it looks so delicious. I remenber we had these fruits when we were leaving in India but I never found jam made of it.

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  26. Wow, I love the colours in this! They are so bright and airy. Makes me want summer.

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  27. Stripes and loquats...what's not to love?
    Nice entry!
    xo

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  28. Beautiful photos!

    I never heard of these fruits before but I would love to taste them.
    And there's nothing better than homemade jams :)

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  29. Wonderful photos ... and your jam looks so delicious. Do you have a recipe?
    I live in Andalucía and the fruit is rather common here - it is called nispero. In Danish it is called mispel, but I don't recall having seen it in DK :-)

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  30. I wonder if you can buy that jam here?

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  31. mm yummy... I love handmade jam!! My mother used to make apple jam when I was in child... it was delicious...

    Have a great weekend! ox

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  32. Hey Trine!
    Shesekim taste great if you put them in the freezer and eat them as a cold snack later.

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  33. I love the history and food lesson here! I mean with both...now I have to look that fruit up...

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