Instructions: Several local and American food writers and chefs are claiming to have discovered the "true Israeli cuisine." After a visit several years ago, American chef Roseanne Gold became poetically inspired about her discoveries. So enthusiastic was Gold that she talked about American chefs who are currently adding "Israeli dishes" to their menus.

Todd English of "Olives" in Charlestown, Massachusetts offers a dish of baked lamb with cucumber sauce and pieces of flat bread that are topped with goats cheese and tomatoes; Andrew Nathan, chef and owner of New York Citys "Frontiere," makes his own harissa to serve with merguez sausage and couscous salad; Monique Barbou of "Fullers" in Seattle lists one dish of "spicy falafel with lemon-techina dressing, homemade pita and dukkah spice"; and Don Pintabonna of New Yorks "Tribeca Grill" says he has created a halvah parfait.

What seems to have escaped the attention of Gold and her colleagues is that there is precious little Israeli influence in these dishes. Lamb and cucumber sauce is a traditional Syrian combination; harissa sauce originated in Tunisia; merguez sausage and couscous are from the cuisines of Morocco and Algeria; and dukkah spice was probably first made in Egypt. The closest that any of these chefs have come to anything really Israeli is the halvah parfait. Even though halvah itself has its roots in Turkey, credit for the parfait must go to Tsachi Buchester, who invented the dish.

What Gold, who is the consulting chef to several of New Yorks most prestigious restaurants, actually discovered during her two-week visit to Israel was not so much Israeli cuisine as the cooking styles and the ingredients of the Middle East and North Africa. As to the "real" Israeli cuisine, most Israeli chefs and restaurant critics acknowledge that the last time all Israelis shared a common cuisine was during the forty years that they wandered in the Sinai desert.

The truth is that fifty years after the founding of the modem State of Israel, the Israeli table is still graced with dishes of people who have immigrated from some 80 different nations and a host of distinct culinary backgrounds. While there is a kindling of awareness of the more developed cuisines of France, Italy and the Far East, many of the dishes served have their roots in the peasant traditions of the countries of people who brought their favorite dishes with them when they immigrated.

The most pervasive culinary influences in Israel are the cooking styles of the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, and Central and Eastern Europe. So devoted are many to the food of their origins that there has been little cross-fertilization between these varied styles.

Of all these cookery styles, probably the best-known throughout Israel remains that of the Middle East. Because most of the inhabitants of the Middle Eastern nations are Moslems and are, like Jews, forbidden to eat pork, Israelis have been readily able to adopt these culinary styles to their own tables. In addition to the indigenous cookery of Israeli Arabs, Jews from Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, Egypt, Libya and Yemen have all made unique contributions to the national table.

A second major influence on Israeli cuisine comes from the peoples of the Maghreb, the North African nations of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Among the most renowned dishes of these countries are couscous and shakshouka. Originally devised by wandering Berber tribesmen millennia ago, couscous is a stew based on hard wheat semolina, topped with simple-to-prepare meats and a variety of vegetables and accompanied by side dishes. As with nearly any stew, couscous comes in an infinite number of varieties. Algerian versions invariably include tomatoes; Moroccan offerings rely on saffron; and Tunisian couscous is highly spiced. The side dishes also vary widely, depending on the whims of individual cooks. Wherever it is served, however, couscous will be accompanied by a bowl of hot sauce to be added to each diners portion in accordance with his or her tolerance for such condiments. Side dishes include steamed chickpeas, meatballs, sausages, lamb chops and a variety of fried or grilled vegetables. Shakshouka is another beloved dish of the Maghreb. In this dish, ubiquitous in Israel, eggs are poached over tomatoes that have been sauteed together with onion, garlic and a generous variety of herbs.

Balkan cookery forms another important element of the Israeli table.

Greece and Turkey have come such popular dishes as moussaka (a baked eggplant, cheese and meat pie), dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) and incredibly light, honey-soaked baklava pastries. Israelis are also fond of the Greco-Turkish style of frying or grilling fish after seasoning with fresh herbs and lemon.

Because it reflects a blending of European and Middle Eastern influences, and because of substantial numbers of immigrants from these countries, the cookery of the Balkan states, Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria, is particularly well-known in Israel. Mititei, the thumbshaped minced meat patties of Romania, and the mixed meat grill kebabsha of Bulgaria are both grilled on skewers and are not dissimilar to Middle Eastern shish kebabs. Other well-known dishes include Romanian tarator, a cold yoghurt and cucumber soup sprinkled with chopped walnuts and dill; Bulgarian djevetch, a medley of stewed vegetables similar to ratatouille, sometimes served with yoghurt; and Yugoslavian sarma, a variety of meat mixtures stuffed into cabbage leaves that have been pickled in brine. Especially popular are ciorba, the somewhat sour and hearty Balkan meat or fish and vegetable soup, and mamaliga, a sweetened solidified cornmeal Romanian dish similar to the Italian polenta. The culinary style of Central and Eastern Europe that has made itself most evident is that of the Eastern European kitchen. Diverse but rarely subtle, having evolved primarily in the shtetls (the small towns and villages inhabited primarily by Jews in Eastern Europe), these are the foods that most Americans and Europeans consider to be typically Jewish.

Much in evidence are dishes like gefilte fish (fish balls made of finely minced carp, pike or a mixture of both, generally served in their own jelly and often accompanied by horseradish); cholent (a slowly simmered beef stew traditionally prepared for the Sabbath meal); kishke (a peppery blend of bread crumbs, chicken fat and onions prepared sausage-like in beef casings); and knaidlach (egg and matzo meal-based dumplings). Other popular offerings from this variegated kitchen are kreplach, dumplings filled with ground meat or cheese and boiled or fried; latkes, fried potato pancakes; and a large assortment of salted, pickled and matjas herring dishes.

Immigrants from Russia, Poland and Hungary brought with them dishes from their countries of origin and have also made a major contribution to the culinary repertoire.

From Hungary, whose cookery is marked by the liberal use of dozens of types of paprika, have come goulash soup and stew, a variety of carp dishes, dumplings and tarhonya (a kind of noodle). Polish cooking, from which Israelis have adopted freely, features the heavy use of sour cream and dill as main cooking ingredients.

A variety of cooking styles has come from the former Soviet Union. The dishes from Russia itself include borscht, the famous beet-based soup served hot or cold and sometimes containing meats, other vegetables or sour cream; golubtsy, stuffed cabbage rolls often served in a tangy tomato sauce; kulebiaka, a salmon mousse baked with a flaky pastry dough; and several chicken dishes including Chicken Kiev and Chicken Pojarsky. Among the best-known Russian dishes throughout Israel are pirogi, miniature turnovers stuffed with chopped meat, vegetables or fruit.

From the Ukraine come kasha (buckwheat) dishes and vareniki, dumplings stuffed with a savory or sweet filling such as cheese, potatoes, meat or fruit.

From the Caucasian republics of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan have come barbecue specialties such as skewered lamb shishlik and tabaka, pressed fried whole chicken served with a walnut-based sauce.

Other culinary styles that have made themselves felt, albeit on a lesser scale, are those of India and Ethiopia. With the exception of commercially prepared food products and the abominable fast-food joints that are developing in Israel as in the rest of the world, American culinary trends have not developed and the best culinary endeavors of the United States remain largely unknown locally.

Daniel Rogov is the restaurant and wine critic for the daily newspaper Haaretz. He also writes a regular column for Wine Magazine and contributes culinary and wine articles to newspapers in Europe and the United States.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.