Sabich: a must try sandwich combination

When I was in Israel the one thing everyone kept on telling me to try was Sabich (pronounced sa-BEE-ch). Sabich is a pita that contains similar fixings to a falafel sandwich - cucumbers, tomato, onion, tahini, hummus. Except instead of having falafel as the main component of the sandwich, it has eggplant and a hard boiled egg.

Despite everyone telling me to try Sabich, the meal never really appealed to me since I do not like eggplant and I do not like hard boiled eggs. However I was on Ben Yehuda street (a popular tourist shopping area in Jerusalem) with my friends who said this was a must try vegetarian dish. I was in an adventurous mood so I decided to go along with her and try it.

The story of how my friends and I found this sabich place is actually quite funny. We were buying t-shirts from a man on Ben Yehuda street and wanted to know where a good place to eat was. He thought we were asking for a restroom and started shooing us away. However, after a quick back and forth he understood what we were asking for and pointed us in the direction of Sabiach.

I would not call Sabiach a restaurant - it’s more of a window with an elderly man just going back and forth making Sabich. There are two things on the menu: sabich and sabich with a drink. I got the sabich with a drink option which was only 30 shekels (about $9.36). After I ordered, the man immediately started assembling the sandwich, layering the egg, freshly baked eggplant, hummus, tahini, and vegetables in a thick and dense pita.

My first sabich experience was nothing short of incredible. I was worried that the eggplant would be overcooked and have a mushy, stringy texture. Rather, it was perfectly baked to the point where it had a nice, crisp contrast to the soft egg. The eggplant was also perfectly seasoned so it added a nice salty flavor which complimented the fresh vegetables. This Sabich sandwich was both filling and easy to eat. The best part was that all the fixings were layered so you got a bit of everything in each bite. The flavors mixed so well that I forgot about my dislike of both eggplant and hard boiled egg. This sandwich was a much better combination than I had expected and I would definitely recommend hunting down a place to get sabich if you are ever in Israel!