Reichot VeTeamim: Iraqi traditional cuisine to warm you up

Limor Oren and Oded Shaharabani, a couple in life and owners of the delicatessen, decided to delve into the Iraqi cuisine and offer more than the regular kubbeh.

By JONATHAN GILAD

JANUARY 7, 2021 14:55

Reichot VeTeamim (photo credit: AFIK GABAI) — Reichot VeTeamim

(photo credit: AFIK GABAI)

It is cold and we are back in lockdown, so there’s nothing better than home-cooked delicious meals that you don’t have to clean the kitchen after.

Reichot VeTeamim (“Scents and Flavors”) is a delicatessen in Ramat Hasharon that before the pandemic supplied local families with home-cooked meals. For the winter they decided to track down family recipes and create dishes that will make you homesick for Iraqi cooking even if you have no Iraqi roots.

Limor Oren and Oded Shaharabani, a couple in life and owners of the delicatessen, decided to delve into the Iraqi cuisine and offer more than the regular kubbeh. Alongside many dishes that have already taken their place in the Israeli eclectic cuisine, they prepare many unfamiliar and delicious dishes that you can only try if you have an Iraqi grandma. Cooking these dishes is Oded’s mom, Pirchiya Shaharabani, 75, who was born and raised in Mosul, Iraq, before immigrating to Israel.

The couple and Pirchiya delved into the cuisine, the stories and the people that were a part of Pirchiya’s life, coming up with a fantastic menu perfect for this time of year. The special dishes are available to take out or have delivered every Thursday and Friday.

We tried a few of the dishes and here are our favorites: Mishmeshia, a dish with over 800 years of history that is said to have been served to sultans. It is a slow-cooked beef dish with raisins, apricots, pumpkin and carrots, served over white rice. We also tried the Saloona Fish dish, layers of fish fillets baked with potatoes and tomatoes, onions and a lemony sauce. Delicious. Other dishes we liked a lot and that kept well for the next day were Arooki, fried patties made of green herbs, and the Iraqi stuffed mangold leaves, or yifrach, made from sun-dried mangold, ground beef, rice, celery and a lot of green garlic.

For dessert we tried two famous cookies: Zangula, a fried batter in syrup, and spice cookies with cardamom and almonds.

Everything came well packed with clear notes and explanations. We really loved it and plan to continue ordering from them anytime we don’t feel like cooking for Shabbat.

Reichot VeTeamim

Phone: (03) 516-4465

8 Haharash St., Ramat Hasharon

Sun-Thur: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Fri: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.