Its lunchtime here in Israel, and though it isn't a rainy day and there is no sign of what I know to be fall, I really wanted one of these squishy cheesy toasts. I don't know what it is really called, but the Americans I know (who don't speak Hebrew) refer to it as the smushed sandwich, the Israeli's refer to it as a cheese sandwich and I think the women who makes it calls it toast. So - smushed cheesy toast it is.
The woman who sells these speaks not a word of English, though I think she understands a lot. Or she is a good guesser. She greets me in Hebrew and (I think) asks me what I'd like. I say "toast with onion" and point at the bin of bagels...and expressionlessly she grabs an onion bagel. How did she do that? There are lots of kinds of bagels in there! Then she asks me (I think) in Hebrew what I'd like on it. Now I respond in half Hebrew, half English: "Cheese, agvaniot, pitriot, pesto sauce, that one...yiroque..yes!" Sometimes I'm not sure if I said green or blue - or if the word in Hebrew even uses the color - but she still gives me the green onions.
Once I've exhausted my Hebrew words and the options at her salad bar, she closed the bagel and places in a sandwich/panini maker. And i wait....and wait....and wait. It takes quite a while. Usually while I'm waiting I try desperately to remember the Hebrew word for sauce. I listen to other people order, hoping they say it. I know what it is, I just can't remember. It doesn't matter, because I remember the word "shum" and the only garlic thing she has is the delicious sauce.
After about a 10 minutes wait, this delicious crunchy, gewy, smushed, cheesy toast is mine. The toast is nice and firm and crunchy and contrast very well with the stringy cheese inside. Some of the veggies are crunchy and some are warm and mushy (and when your Israeli colleagues order for you, you get an extra juicy crunch in the corn).
This women should expand. Her delicious squishy cheesy toast is only US$5. I wish I could save half for later (because it is kind of big and if you put a lot of veggies like me it is very filling) - but of course, I end up eating the other half "while its warm." It would be the perfect rainy-day lunch...if it ever rained. Alas, here is to smushed cheese toasts on a not-so-rainy day!
The woman who sells these speaks not a word of English, though I think she understands a lot. Or she is a good guesser. She greets me in Hebrew and (I think) asks me what I'd like. I say "toast with onion" and point at the bin of bagels...and expressionlessly she grabs an onion bagel. How did she do that? There are lots of kinds of bagels in there! Then she asks me (I think) in Hebrew what I'd like on it. Now I respond in half Hebrew, half English: "Cheese, agvaniot, pitriot, pesto sauce, that one...yiroque..yes!" Sometimes I'm not sure if I said green or blue - or if the word in Hebrew even uses the color - but she still gives me the green onions.
Once I've exhausted my Hebrew words and the options at her salad bar, she closed the bagel and places in a sandwich/panini maker. And i wait....and wait....and wait. It takes quite a while. Usually while I'm waiting I try desperately to remember the Hebrew word for sauce. I listen to other people order, hoping they say it. I know what it is, I just can't remember. It doesn't matter, because I remember the word "shum" and the only garlic thing she has is the delicious sauce.
After about a 10 minutes wait, this delicious crunchy, gewy, smushed, cheesy toast is mine. The toast is nice and firm and crunchy and contrast very well with the stringy cheese inside. Some of the veggies are crunchy and some are warm and mushy (and when your Israeli colleagues order for you, you get an extra juicy crunch in the corn).
This women should expand. Her delicious squishy cheesy toast is only US$5. I wish I could save half for later (because it is kind of big and if you put a lot of veggies like me it is very filling) - but of course, I end up eating the other half "while its warm." It would be the perfect rainy-day lunch...if it ever rained. Alas, here is to smushed cheese toasts on a not-so-rainy day!
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