Tel Aviv is a wildly vibrant and constantly moving environment. Every time I go, I discover something new. Malabie was my new culinary fetish from this year's holiday visit.
My first hit of malabie was while returning to Hummus Asli in Jaffo (see former blogpost).
At the end of the meal we were served malabie. It is a milk pudding, covered with radioactive sweet red sauce, rosewater, peanuts, pistachios and coconut, or some variation thereof.
After Amnon, Irad and I each had a portion, Amnon and I ordered another one. It was that good! Thomas Keller (of French Laundry and Per se fame) started a whole new food movement with the contention that after three bites of any food one exhausts the freshness/pop of the taste, so no need for more.
Not so malabie. One is not enough. Three bites is just the awakening stage.
And we discovered there is a place called the Malabi-ah right around the corner from our apartment!!! A few steps out our doorway, open seemingly 24 hours a day as we visited it after breakfast and after midnight.
It is a dumpy little third-world looking, well, to call it a storefront would be an exaggeration. You either sit inside a little porch, or go out to the tables in the street. Many of which have chess and checker sets to keep you occupied while savoring your malabie.
You basically get your malabie—customized at the counter —you choose your flavor of radioactive red (classic, cinammon lemon, and two other flavors I can't recall)
and choose your toppings—peanuts, sugared peanuts, coconut, toasted coconut and homemade cookie crumbs.
And because Tel Aviv is so hip and really not third world at all despite its grunge, grit and deterioration (the romance of decay,) there is even VEGAN malabie! And a malabie punch card so that your 10th one is free.
Needless to say our visit was punctuated with frequent refueling trips to the Malabiah.
No comments:
Post a Comment