Stone fruits yield delectable summer bites

Stone fruits like apricots, cherries, peaches, nectarines and plums are some of my favorite kinds of fruits to work with during the summer. After buying some meesh meesh (apricots), available for three short weeks in Israel, and a container of locally made goat cheese in Tel Aviv’s Shuk ha Carmel, I dreamed up a new dish: grilled apricots with goat cheese and spicy silan syrup, one of a few suggested recipes in this week’s What’s cooking?

 Surrounded by crowds of elderly men, soldiers and vendors hawking their goods, I dipped out of the chaos to seek out a shop favored by local private chef and beloved friend Gil Cohen, who showed me lesser-known secret spots with honest prices and quality ingredients.

I found myself meandering down a bleak alleyway lined with butcher stores to find Supermercado Ladino, a spice and sundry shop owned by a jovial Yemenite man named Yuval.  

Yuval offered up a friendly smile, lively conversation and the best in freshly-ground Middle Eastern spices, herbs, peppers, lentils, legumes, nuts, candied and dried fruits and unusual ingredients for Israelis to find, like plantains.

Cooks from nearby restaurants ran in for an extra can of this or a jar of that, shouting, “I owe you 50 shekels, Yuval!” He’d pipe back, “No, no, just bring me some chips,” the way Israelis describe French fries.

It was hard not fall in love with Yuval. With his easy demeanor, fair prices and warm smile, I could have chatted the day away while he filled my bag with shatah peppers, dried nana (a type of mint popular in Israel), bright green pistachios and his own special blend of spices recommended for seasoning any kind of meat, fish, chicken or lamb.

There I bought silan, a molasses-colored date syrup, which I infused with a dried pepper. After grilling the apricots, I drizzled them with syrup and served them with tart goat cheese and chopped pistachios.  

Check out this and other ways to work with summer stone fruits. Enjoy! From my kitchen to yours.