Abadi cookies

Sold in iconic red printed bags carrying the founding father’s portrait, Abadi’s savoury cookies, ka’ach bilmalch, are dangerously addictive and immediately recognizable by generations of Jerusalemites. It was the pleasant crunch, hard crumble and roasted sesame seed topping that made the ring-shaped cookies so popular when they first burst onto the scene back in 1838.

It all began in Aleppo, when one of the family’s ancestors set up a small neighbourhood bakery. In 1926 the family moved to Palestine carried on donkeys’ backs and settled in Jerusalem, where they ran a tiny bakery from their house near Machne Yehuda market. Yosef, the son, who was born in Jerusalem, joined the bakery at the age of 13, and worked there for years perfecting his trade.