Monday, March 28, 2011

How Spicy Do You Like It?

22 of the Twelfth Month (Beth) 5771

Probably the best falafel I have had in Israel comes from Shalom Falafel on Betzalel Street (Jerusalem Rabbinate - Pareve - Mehadrin). Only a few toppings are available: tehinah, pickles, salad, peppers, and, of course, harif. Actually, it is s'hug, the Yemenite version of a spicy sauce. Like most Israeli restaurants, they use the generic word for something spicy, harif. The limited toppings enhance the falafel; they do not overpower it. And, the falafel is always made fresh. It is also vegan (pareve without eggs or fish), and avodah ivrith.

The owners recently renovated the place, one of the results of which was the addition of a chart painted on swinging double doors leading into the back. The chart includes 32 responses to the question, "Would you like harif on your falafel?"

Zhug Chart

I thought it was pretty funny. So, I attempted to photograph it with the web cam on my laptop. It's a horrible set of pictures pasted together. You can click on it if you want. Instead I recommend looking at the chart I typed up, and translated. If you know Hebrew, you will see what I mean about how funny it is.

Please feel free to critique my translations, by leaving a comment. Figuring out how these terms should be translated into English is half the fun!

Spicy


5 comments:

toby said...

That's tremendous - great find!
One thing though - #28 (katan alai) means "that's nothing for me." I guess a good translation to English might be "piece of cake" or something similar...
Oh, and in #20 you skipped the balagan part - I think you could translate that one as "it causes chaos in my stomach." I mean, that sounds kind of weird, but it's not terribly normal in Hebrew, either.

I really want to go and see this!

Isreview said...

It is a fun sign, it must be a Shalom Falafel "thing" because I saw it at their Pisgat Ze'av Branch (I think they are franchised actually) but I enjoyed reading it there
Fun that you translated it:)
--
Daniela
http://isreview1.blogspot.com

Esser Agaroth said...

Toby, thanks, and I took care of the absence of "balagan."

Isreview, Thanks. Yeah, it's a franchise, I think. I'm pretty sure that the original one is the one on Betzalel. I guess the sign was a management decision for everyone then.

rutimizrachi said...

I don't have anything genius to say. This just makes me utterly happy. (Simple pleasures and simple people, I guess.) Tell them to add chatzilim to the choice of toppings, and I'm in, for a #29. ("I know I look Irish; but I was Temani in a former life.")

Esser Agaroth said...

Ruti, (giggle)

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