Jerusalem's BEST Street Food Guide - PALESTINIAN HUMMUS NINJA + HUGE Old Jerusalem Street Food Tour!

jeez [Music] welcome to another episode of chopstick travel my name is luke martin and in today's episode we are in jerusalem this is episode three of our series where we visit tel aviv jerusalem and the west bank now the issues palestinians and israelis are grappling with here is far beyond the scope of this little youtube video instead we are here to learn and better understand the people and the culture through their food if you didn't check out yesterday's episode we had the most incredible food tour of the macha yehuda market here in jerusalem what an interesting creation it is a eggplant underneath there you can't even barely see it [Music] and today we are going to be visiting the old city here in jerusalem we have a lot of food planned to eat and a lot of things to see so let's get started behind me here you can see the damascus gate which is one of the main gates to enter the old walled city of jerusalem so yesterday we were in western jerusalem today we are spending our whole day in east jerusalem here in the old city this is an ancient and holy place and what a way to just enter it is such a grand and magnificent gate um so instantly as you enter here you're just taken over by the smell of spices and we actually spot a guy over here selling something that we want to try right off the bat what are we buying here so we're buying a little flatbread pita that we spotted just coming in from damascus gate and it's covered in satar spice so we're going to pick one up for breakfast we just picked up our breakfast or our first breakfast today we're going to be eating a lot today and just check this out it is warm out of the oven and it is covered in zatar which is like a mixture of spices thyme and you can see tons of sesame seeds on top there some salt and looks like maybe a little bit of oil too so let me just oh man i don't know i'm probably just gonna have to bite into it instead of ripping a piece we fold this and take a bite so the bread itself is actually a little bit dry but it's all about the spice on top there it almost has like a little bit of a citrusy flavor really earthy tasting and you can see it is completely coated in that satire let's go for one more bite that was tasty [Music] one of the biggest joys of the old city here in jerusalem is just walking the streets you can just feel the history you can feel the holiness and it's certainly a magical place and a thought-provoking place inside of the old city there are all these different souks or markets right now we are in one called the butcher's market and i can smell the smell of lamb cooking so we're actually going to go into this little shop here and order up some kebabs [Music] so for breakfast or our second breakfast i guess we are having some kebabs these are half beef half lamb mix kebabs decent size and lots of charred veggies on top looks like some onions some tomatoes just try one by itself first before i eat it with any pita bread actually maybe i'll go in with a little bit of tomato as well [Music] they're actually a little bit salty not spicy whatsoever but you can definitely taste lots of herbs going on in there super super smoky that's like the dominant flavor and really tender and juicy actually even though the look of them they don't actually look like they'd be that juicy they are quite juicy so this little restaurant that we're in right now is so tiny there's only four seats in here and they're really small we even got this little tiny corner table that's almost not enough for two people and then the grill is right in the restaurant area so it is tiny you can see everything so that was a good way to start our day here in the old city jerusalem and actually don't come across a whole lot of meat dishes here so that was a nice change and those were some pretty good lamb beef kebabs now we are heading uh down these narrow alleyways the bells are chiming and we are looking for some more food so for our next stop today we are sitting down at this really cool local cumbus joint we've got uh sapida some pickles and the homeless which looks absolutely incredible it is completely swimming in olive oil and then we ordered the mixed kind so that comes with the food which is these uh beans these sort of red beans and then chickpeas some stew chickpeas and it looks like a little bit of parsley on top and then underneath there is the hummus this is the jerusalem style homos so it's a little bit should be a little bit lemony and a little bit salty so let's break up a piece of pita here and get a nice scoop for my first bite try to get everything if i can oh man that looks delicious everything about that dish is just soft that's basically the number one word i can choose to describe this the beans the chickpeas and the glucose it's all just really really soft and tender and then swimming in oil but it doesn't feel like heavy or oily it's a little bit sour from that lemon and not too salty i'm gonna go in for one more bite i just love like look at the amount of olive oil in there that is crazy and the guy making this is a master he's doing it in record speed so since we've been here we have been experiencing some extreme prices everything has been super expensive but apparently that's just the way it is but luckily for this spot this is super cheap compared to everything else we've had at 15 shekels it is a steal so one key ingredient to a good hummus is the tahini which is the sesame paste gives it sort of like a nutty sweetness almost and you can definitely taste that it's probably quite a high percentage of tahini in this [Music] what did you think of that hummus that was so good and really cheap and like not very dry there was a lot of oil in there so you didn't even need a drink and the pickles were perfect yeah are you full now i'm super full but we have so much to eat today yeah we wanted to make kind of like a comprehensive food tour of the old city so we have a lot of different things planned actually the next thing is right over here it's another bread let's try this out this one what do you call this ditch huh that's that's right okay one yeah one how much ten sugar thank you so this is something we've been seeing a lot here in jerusalem and it's sort of like a bun and it's packed with dates so you can see inside there there are some dates it's in this really unique shape and it's also got a yellow color so i'm thinking there may be saffron inside if you know what the name of this is let me know down the comment box it smells really good smells a little bit sweet let's try it that's pretty good so it's definitely a sweet bun and i love the date in there the date is kind of like juicy almost and the bread is quite dense actually i'm not sure if there's saffron in there it could really taste a lot but there's definitely quite a bit of sugar in it but it's quite beautiful actually [Music] so we're at the spice shop and they have like a million different spices here apparently you can try them out we are coming here to get satire but we kind of want to sample a few different ones does that taste like pizza spice it does taste like pizza spice yeah water stick steak oh wow that one is really good that one's really strong and flavorful this mix four grills for what grill anything you put in the oven you use just this mixture oh yeah wow how's that oh yeah that one's a little bit spicy oh it's really good just a little spicy [Music] so there's like different nuts and stuff in that it's not even it's not just spice it's different it's so good with onions potatoes chicken fish yeah so we actually asked for a different mix that would mix well with sausages so we're going to see what he puts together for us and takes the sausages for it's actually for our friend reed so reid we're giving this to you when we come back to taiwan this is good that's fine so we got ourselves three different bags of spices quite a bit and it's really cheap only 15 shekels for all that we got one that is a mixture for the sausages the other kind we got is sumac which is a local spice almost like citrusy a little bit sour almost and then the third is the zatar the thyme sesame seed mixture which we had on the bread this morning really really delicious and these guys are super friendly they're from palestine and helped us out big time you can order online from this shop specifically too to get your spices so if you guys are looking for some really good high quality spices i recommend this place order online i'll leave the information down the description box those guys were so friendly they let us sample all kinds of different spices my mouth is like tingling almost like on fire with all these different flavors and that shop just smelled so good too yeah it smells amazing and actually it's all over my hands so my hands felt really spicy too so the old city here in jerusalem is today a very touristy site especially with older western people lots of pilgrims come here being such a holy place and because of that there is not a lot of good food we did hours and hours of research to find all the spots we're visiting today so this can be like your guide to find real authentic food here in the old city and all of the information for these spots will be down in the description box [Music] so we've stopped for some coffee this is fresh arabic style coffee there's a little boy making the coffee for us actually and he's really quick so the way that they do it is they actually use like a special kind of pot that they mix the coffee grinds directly and mix the sugar in hot water and then over an open flame and it just smells absolutely incredible drew us right in so i'm going to try it out here oh yeah come on man that is strong a little bit bitter and cardamom you can just taste that cardamom almost like floral almost like smoky at the same time that's really good the reason i love cardamom my coffee so much is that it gives me kind of the same taste i got from the chai in india so little hints of india in this as well oh that is so great is it burning your hand yes my fingers are blistering that was some seriously good coffee i love that with cardamom in it i wish everywhere put cardamom in their coffee gives it almost like a mint sort of menthol flavor my mouth feels nice and fresh and i am energized and ready to go we are heading to the western wall now so we are here at the western wall which is one of the most important sites in all of jerusalem this is the site of the former jewish second temple which was destroyed during the first jewish roman war so today it's a very popular site for bar mitzvahs all kinds of religious events extremely holy place and it's a quite a spectacular sight too nice little quick stop at the western wall also known as the wailing wall you can just feel in the air here is such a holy and historic place lots of good energy here and good food so we are heading now to get some dessert so tucked off one of the main streets here in the old city is this legendary sweet shop serving mootabak it is right underneath of this little staircase hidden away from the public we're going to go in order ourselves up a nice dessert [Music] this wildlife [Music] way i don't know where where where work i know i know i need to work good you have two boys two girls yeah where are you from from jerusalem your whole life yeah do you want drinks coffee tea oh no just just uh 200 years old this shop opened 200 years yes really my grandfather and father and family and your [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] what is it um yes how long five ten minutes oh yeah okay yeah cheese so we're sitting down the shop now this is such a cool place it's almost in like a cave it's this 200 year old sweets shop owner is super friendly it's called zalatimos it's sort of like a hidden gem here in the old city of jerusalem and they serve one thing one thing only and that is which is an arab pastry so you can see we have it here we ordered the kind with cheese they only do two different kinds one with cheese and one with nuts so you can see there's some powdered sugar sprinkled on top and it's just this super super thin like phyllo dough that he makes in the same way that they kind of make roti chennai in malaysia he thins that it's super super thin stuffs it full of cheese and then just bakes it for five or ten minutes he said and then sprinkles it with some sugar and it looks like a little bit of liquid sugar as well so mutabak is popular all through the arab world but also in into asia in indonesia we eat murder which is not really like this to be honest but i guess it's just a common name for some desserts so let me break off a piece here oh man and let's try that out this just looks so good this place is legendary 200 years old [Music] so what do you think of the mood walk super good it's like a really nice balance between a little sweet and a little salty and kind of liquidy and crunchy at the same time so that is a super good and super authentic dessert probably one of the coolest restaurants we went to in our whole tour so far today it is expensive but the owner is really friendly and he only serves one thing he wants to keep the tradition of that shop going he said he was gonna hand it over to his son after so i think the price is reasonable and it's definitely worth it just to taste that authentic delicious mootabak we are now at one of the most holy sites in all of jerusalem this is called the dome of the rock this building behind me here we are in an area called temple mount this is important to christians jews and muslims alike and you can see this is beautiful building behind me just draped in gold the dome at the top and uh it you can just feel it in the air here it's really special so you can't actually enter inside the dome of the rock and the whole grounds here are only accessible for very specific hours throughout the day so from 7 30 till 10 30 a.m and then from 12 30 to 1 30 p.m so i'm definitely not an expert whatsoever on religious studies or history we are more here to just take in the beauty and it certainly is beautiful the blue mosaics on the side of the building are absolutely gorgeous and then that massive golden dome on the top is quite a spectacle what do you think samir i really love islamic architecture and this is no exception this is absolutely gorgeous the blue colors are really gorgeous with the blue skies in the background yeah they are so clear here so it's just a really nice sight we have been seeing pomegranate juice everywhere here it looks super fresh they just make it fresh and they squeeze it there on the spot so we are going to go try to find some we are so thirsty after being out in the sun so behind me here is a very important site for christian pilgrims so this is allegedly the handprint of jesus christ so while he was carrying his cross up the hill he was struggling and he leaned on this rock to rest so pilgrims come here now and also touch this hanford and it's kind of created an indent that is just one example of how amazing and holy the city is just walking down to get some pomegranate juice and the handprint of jesus christ is on the wall so it's incredible so we just got our freshly squeezed juice this is a mixture of pomegranate and orange juice and as you can see he was just squeezing them fresh cutting them fresh open for us so this is actually quite pulpy there's no ice but it feels pretty cold just from being outside that is lovely a little sour from the citrus orange but very naturally sweet and quite a lot of pulp in there that is really refreshing i can't tell you how thirsty i am all refreshed after that nice pomegranate orange juice that was really really good um now we are heading to another one of the most famous sites uh trying to fit in as much as we can today we are heading to the church of the holy sepulchre [Music] so behind us here is the church of the holy sepulchre the most religious holiest site in christianity we did a little bit of research on this place so we're going to go inside we don't want to film too much there's a lot of praying going on in there so we will try to show you a little bit and try to teach you a little bit too so let's go inside so the first thing you're going to see when you enter the church of the holy sepulchre is the rock of anointing you can see behind me pilgrims come here to touch this and pray as they touch it and this is actually the rock that jesus's body was laid upon to prepare him for his burial [Music] so behind me here is the site that's identified as the tomb of jesus christ you can see lots of people lining up to go and touch the tube [Music] we just finished off in the church of the holy sepulchre as you saw there are some seriously important sights in there it is absolutely incredible to be here and just really grateful that we can see all that with our own eyes so actually before we leave let me show you one little hidden thing that we found here at the church of the holy sepulchre so if you're looking at the church right behind me here off to the right side there is a little doorway that leads up to the roof so let's go up there so as you can see behind me there's no one up here we escaped all of the tourists that are downstairs and the pilgrims that are kind of going around the church but up here it's quite peaceful you can kind of escape and get some peace and quiet so that's my little secret spot here at the church of the holy sepulchre just go past the chapel and up the stairs to the roof we just came back outside and you can see there's just so many tourists here so that's a nice little peaceful oasis i think now we're heading to get one more snack today [Music] [Music] so for our final snack today we are at a legendary uh sweets shop called jafar the sweet shop and uh we are having a palestinian arrow dessert you can see here this is called kunefe and it is a semolina dough that has been fried stuffed with cheese and then topped with some some crushed pistachios and tons of sugar syrup and then also you can see it's kind of orange because they use an orange blossom flower so let me break this we have this in turkey but this is served quite differently actually here and you can probably see the cheese underneath there check that out oh man look at that that is gorgeous and it looks warm so let me try this out [Music] that is dangerously delicious wow sweet and savory the cheese is so creamy a little bit of a nutty pistachio flavor and very very sweet from all that liquid syrup it's going for one more bite this stuff is just too good i loved it when we tried it in istanbul and here it is just as good if not better oh and our tea has arrived thank you [Music] thank you oh man this is sinfully delicious and minced tea oh man perfect way to end the day and the craziest thing is they have a massive plate of this cooking thing and he said that in five minutes they'll have sold out the whole thing so contrary to most people it's not my favorite i don't actually like that combination very much but what i do like is this tea which actually has fresh mint leaves so that's my favorite part that is a legendary shop within the small alleyways of old jerusalem really really good kunefe and if you want to have some authentic palestinian dessert that is the place to try it it is certainly not good for you though let me tell you it's basically fried dough stuffed with cheese with a bunch of sugar all over top of it but it is delicious okay guys that's going to be it for today's episode from this incredibly holy city of jerusalem we had such an amazing time learning and experiencing all these uh holy sites and also eating tons of delicious food like i said we are putting all the information down in the description box it's a little bit difficult to find some of these places just because the lanes are so narrow and winding but we'll do our best to leave some detailed instructions and directions on how to get there so our next episode is going to be coming at you from the west bank so make sure if you haven't already hit subscribe and hit the bell icon so you're notified when we do post a video let us know down in the comment box what you thought looked the most delicious and we'll see you again on an episode of chopstick travel bye bye

Channel: Luke Martin

Views: 1,490,778

Keywords: food, luke martin, jerusalem, street food, chopstick travel, israel, palestine, israel food, palestine food, palestinian food, israeli food, street food jerusalem, jerusalem food, jerusalem street food, old jerusalem, what to eat jerusalem, tel aviv, tel aviv food, jerusalem travel guide, try, foreigner tries, hummus, kanefe, church of holy sepulchre, temple mount, western wall, muslim, muslim food, halal, muslim street food, food ninja, fruit ninja, knife skills, fast chef

Id: xsUl9T-kovw

Length: 28min 5sec (1685 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 14 2019