Ilan Ben Zion

  • Ramen Has Finally Arrived in Israel

    The absence of pork ramen at Mian Noodles represents the chef's willingness to forgo gustatory greatness in exchange for accommodating Jewish customers’ dietary restrictions.

  • Meet the Bagel Guy of Buenos Aires

    Jacob Eichenbaum-Pikser, a former geophysics student and Manhattan transplant, has introduced handmade bagels to Buenos Aires and can’t bake them fast enough to meet demand.

  • Tasting the Highs and Lows of Ethiopian Honey Wine

    Tej is Ethiopian mead—a honey wine flavored with a hops-like herb and often made at home or at tej houses. The stuff for tourists is sweet and smooth, but real-deal tej carries notes of diesel.

  • A Trip to the West Bank's Cheesy Dessert Capital

    I recently traveled to the West Bank town of Nablus, the home of one of the Middle East's favorite desserts: a cheesy, obscenely sweet pastry known as knafeh.

  • Shamburak Is the Most Beloved Comfort Food of the Kurdish

    For Kurds living in Israel, shamburak—dough stuffed with ground beef and spices—tastes like home. “It’s an experience which gives me the shivers thinking about it.”

  • Drinking with the Druze in Majdal Shams

    Traveling through the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, you might encounter a community of the Druze—a religious offshoot of Islam—that's still loyal to Syria. And they sure know how to pour a mean drink.