Basya Tsybukmakher
Typical Israeli grandchildren, like all grandchildren everywhere, love visiting their grandmothers.
— Grandma, do you have any patties?
Typical Israeli grandmothers, like all grandmothers everywhere, adore feeding their grandchildren. Patties are sacred.
— What's that orange stuff? Carrot?!
Typical Israeli grandchildren have no great love for vegetables, so typical Israeli grandmothers have a knack for sneaking vitamins into ground meat in the form of onions, carrots, and half a green apple. To camouflage the whole thing, the onion is coarsely grated and the carrot finely grated; and if you bring all the components of the patty organism together with a tablespoon of semolina and a raw egg and beat it until light and airy, the result is pure music. Fluffy, juicy, tender, golden brown…
— Grandma, do you have any pitas?
— I have pitas, too.
— And hummus?
— I have hummus, too.
— And shemen zayit? And za'atar? And pickles?
Typical Israeli grandchildren use hummus, za'atar, olive oil, and pickles to put together an insanely delicious, typically Israeli dish, and treat their typical Israeli grandmothers to it.
— What's this? Pancakes? Pancakes need spread. Chocolate spread. Do you have any?
What are pancakes without spread? Typical Israeli grandmothers can never be caught off guard. Could they possibly disappoint their grandchildren by not having some chocolate spread?
— Listen, you've got everything here! — laughs the typical Israeli grandson. — What, are you all ready for war?
Recipe, story, and photo by Zinaida Vilkoritskaya
Ingredients
For 0.5 kg of ground chicken: 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of semolina, a medium onion (coarsely grated), half a green apple (coarsely grated), 1 carrot (finely grated). 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise wouldn't hurt, either.
