Whisky & Food

Sabich, a pita stuffed with fried eggplant, hard-boiled egg, amba, and tahini, ranks among Tel Aviv's most beloved street foods. It's a great starting point for pairing whisky with food from Israel. The name traces back to the Iraqi Jewish community, who originally ate the dish as a Sabbath breakfast before it became a fixture of Tel Aviv's street food scene. The sweet-and-spicy amba, a pickled mango condiment, and the creamy tahini call for a whisky that works with them rather than against them.

M&H's fruity Classic Single Malt pairs well here. Its stone fruit notes lift the amba without amplifying its heat, and its light texture keeps the tahini from feeling heavy. A more powerful, peated whisky, by contrast, would simply overwhelm the pita's delicate flavors.

Shakshuka, poached eggs in a spicy tomato-pepper sauce with cumin, has long been an Israeli breakfast classic, with roots in North African Jewish cuisine. The sweetness of the tomatoes and the warm spices find their match in the Elements Sherry. Its raisin and nut notes don't drown out the sauce but complement it, while the acidity of the tomatoes balances the sherry cask character. Some restaurants in Tel Aviv serve fresh flatbread alongside for mopping up the sauce, a ritual that seems to come with the dish automatically.

With a Meorav Jerushalmi, the Jerusalem-style grilled platter of chicken offal, onions, and generous spicing, or with grilled eggplant and tahini, things can get smokier. The peated M&H expression, with its forty ppm, brings enough smoke to hold its own against the charred, grilled flavors without either side overwhelming the other. A glass of water on the side also helps keep a clear head between the spicy bites and the smoky whisky.