IgenMigen Chalavi Bistro
has opened up in this week behind the famous Zion Square in the heart of Jerusalem. IgenMigen’s kitchen is lead by renowned chef Yochanan Lambiese who has taught many chef’s the art of cooking and has been cooking himself for over 30 years.
IgenMigen is a dairy European fusion style restaurant with many types of dishes. The heart of the menu, comes from the Hungarian kitchen, including a dish like Langos: deep fried bread with and assortment of fresh cheeses to top it off. IgenMigen is trying to set a new trend in kosher dining by giving classic dishes a new twist by taking old country food and bringing them into 2015.
IgenMigen is Kosher Mehadrin, under Rabbanute Yerushalayim.
I knew that the word Igen (pronounced IG-gin, rhymes with friggin’) means “yes” in Hungarian. But I wanted to know what the restaurant’s entire name meant. After a little Googling, I found out.
“Igen, migen” was a derogatory term some Israelis in earlier years would use for Hungarian immigrants (Yiddish speakers would say “Igen-migen, khap di fligen” [Igen-migen, catch the flies]). The same way a Romanian immigrants would be called a “Romeiner-ganev [Romanian thief], and Moroccan Jews would be called Shvartzes. (Information taken from the book ‘Israeli Folk Narratives: Settlement, Immigration, Ethnicity’ by Hayah Bar-Yitshak.)
So there you go. Now you know. It’s like calling an Irish restaurant Paddy, or an Italian restaurant Wop. It is a great restaurant.