Work through the list in order. Hide the notes when you know what to do.
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Eat hummus in a hummusia
Warm chickpea purée with tahini and olive oil in a deep bowl, with a topping and pita. Hummusias open early and close when the pot is empty.
Turn the pita around the rim, scooping in a circle. The toppings are masabacha with whole chickpeas, ful or a boiled egg.
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Try meorav Yerushalmi
Chicken hearts, liver and meat fried on a flat-top with onion, turmeric and spices, served in a pita or on a plate. A dish invented in this city.
Ask for tahini and pickles; without them it is too heavy. The best places are in the market, run into the evening and close early on Fridays.
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Eat knafeh
Stretchy cheese under crisp pastry, soaked in syrup and topped with pistachio, served hot straight from the pan. The Nablus school is the benchmark.
Eat it within five minutes, while the cheese still pulls. It is cut from a large tray, so ask for an edge piece if you like it crisp.
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Try musakhan
Chicken roasted with a great deal of onion, sumac and olive oil on taboon bread, scattered with pine nuts. The Palestinian national dish.
The bread soaks up the oil and juices and is eaten with the chicken rather than left. The sumac provides the acidity that keeps it from being heavy.
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Try maqluba
Rice with meat and fried vegetables cooked in layers in a pot and turned out onto a platter in one piece. The name literally means upside down.
It is flipped at the table, and that moment is much of the point. Yoghurt and salad come alongside to cut the richness.
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Try kubbeh soup
Dumplings of bulgur or semolina with a meat filling in a sour beetroot, lemon or pumpkin broth. An Iraqi and Kurdish legacy, served in market canteens.
The beetroot broth is pink and sweet-sour; the lemon one clear and sharp. It is usually the dish of the day and gone by two.
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Get burekas
Flaky pastries filled with cheese, potato or spinach, served with a boiled egg and a pickle. The shape tells you the filling.
A triangle means cheese and a round one potato, consistently. The egg and pickle come free and always.
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Eat a sabich
A pita with fried aubergine, boiled egg, potato, salad, tahini and amba. An Iraqi-Jewish Shabbat breakfast turned street food.
Amba, a pickled mango sauce, is what makes a sabich a sabich. In the proper version the egg is long-cooked and brownish.
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Eat shakshuka
Eggs poached in a thick tomato, pepper and spice sauce, served in a cast-iron pan with bread. A North African dish and the default local breakfast.
The yolks must stay runny, and that is the test. The green spinach and cheese version is a different dish; try both.
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Walk Mahane Yehuda
A market of spices, halva, dried fruit, cheese, fish and a dozen places cooking on site. Trade by day, bars in the same lanes by night.
It closes early on Friday and does not open on Saturday, so plan ahead. Tasting halva and spices before buying is standard.
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Buy halva at the market Desserts and pastries
Sesame halva in dozens of varieties — pistachio, chocolate, coffee — cut from a huge block with tasting encouraged.
Fresh halva crumbles and melts rather than sticking to your teeth. Take small pieces of several kinds; it is very rich.
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Try baklava and maamoul Desserts and pastries
Pistachio baklava and maamoul, shortbread filled with date or nut paste and marked with a pattern. Sold by weight in the Old City's confectioners.
Maamoul is baked for festivals but sold all year. The pattern indicates the filling, and the seller will explain which is which.
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Try malabi Desserts and pastries
A milk pudding set with cornflour, topped with rose syrup, coconut and crushed peanuts. Cool and un-cloying, from street counters.
It comes in a cup, which is the normal format. The rose water is prominent, and that is the flavour.
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Drink limonana Non-alcoholic drinks
An iced blend of lemon juice and mint whipped to a slush. In summer it is sold at every kiosk and market stall.
The real thing is pale green with ice shards rather than syrupy. Its relative is fresh pomegranate juice from the market.
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Drink cardamom coffee and mint tea Non-alcoholic drinks
Cardamom coffee in small cups and mint tea in a glass: what the Old City drinks all day. Sweetness is stated when ordering.
Ask for sada without sugar or mazbout for medium. A glass of cold water often comes alongside and is drunk before the coffee.
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Try Judean Hills wine and local beer Local alcohol
Wines from the Judean Hills, dry reds and whites off the limestone slopes around the city, and Israeli craft beer. The market bars pour both.
Kosher wine does not mean sweet; most of it is dry. The market's bar quarter runs in the evening, except Friday and Saturday daytime.
