Of Hummus, Sweets and Peace
Sharon, a good friend, brought us these lovely looking Syrian sweets last week. She just came back from an Arab-Israeli gathering, held in Jordan, where they discussed some regional ecology issues, especially water issues.
A few days back, I told Sharon about a high-school student who contacted me recently, and asked if she could conduct a survey among the readers of my Hebrew Hummus Blog. She’s making a film about hummus places and their role as places where Arabs and Israelis meet. She wanted to ask my readers if they think hummus is helping use in getiing closer.
The guys in the convention, mostly academicians like Sharon, thought that writing a blog about hummus is a funny idea. And they were especially emmused with the idea of hummus as a peacemaker, Sharon says. Read more
Pseudo hummus
It’s not enough to call a certain dish “hummus” for it to become hummus. If I had a nickel for every strange looking hummus I saw, I would probably have some… 20 bucks by now.
When I say “pseudo hummus” I refer to dishes which may look like hummus, or even have somewhat similar ingredients, but do not taste anywhere near the real thing. Of course, when something don’t even look like hummus, this may be a good indication for it not being hummus. Unfortunately, having tasted some of these hummus-mutations, I can assure you they do not come close. Read more
The Hummus Revolution
For me, hummus is more than a dish. It’s a passion, an ideology and a way of life. Also, I believe hummus to be an Archimedic point, from which things may turn and change for many people.
People had asked me, on many occasions, why did I decide to write about hummus. As if there aren’t other burning issues - especially in the middle-east, where I happen to live - if you know what I mean.
True, there are things that might seem more important. But for me, as I already stated once or twice in the past, hummus is more than a dish. It’s a passion, an ideology and a way of life. Also, I believe hummus to be an Archimedic point, from which things may change for many people.
Yeah, I know, this sounds pretentious. But let me argue my points and than decide. Read more
Falafel with Dada, Hummus with Nasrallah
Berlin hummus special, part II
After a week in Berlin, without real hummus, I was ready to go a long way - literally - to eat my favorite dish. Finally, after some scary experiences, I got what seemed like a second best: a great Falafel.
In the second week of our current visit to Berlin, we met David, a former Israeli who lives in Berlin for many years now.
David was very sympathetic to our sad story about not being able to find good hummus in the city. He suggested we go to Casalot, a Palestinian place in the Mitte quarter, serving traditional Arab dishes (here’s their German site).
Berlin Hummus Special: Part I
Berlin 2007 is huge cosmopolitan metropolis with a population of 4 million, and a feeling of endless choice. Dozens of different tongues are spoken through the city streets, in which people of all nations can be seen and delicacies from all continents can be eaten. Only the hummus sucks.
Ironically, it seems like 9 of every 10 Berliners are fans of Israel. Most Germans living today were taught to loathe nationalism, and detest racism and chauvinist thought of any kind. They are usually very pro-Israel, though, and are eager to express that.
Most Berliners with whom I spoke, had visited Israel at least once, or have Israeli friends, or at least know a word or two in Hebrew - usually “Shalom” - and do their best to use it in a conversation.
Add to that the fact that Berlin has a large population of immigrants from the middle-east - Israelis, Lebanese, Egyptians, Syrians, Palestinians, Jordanian, Iranians and mainly Turkish - and you’d understand how come they know what shawarma, falafel and pita are. And yes, they also ate hummus - but the chances are it did not have Tahini in it. Read more
Anti-Bush Voting for Hummus
Some of you may have already seen this hummus-related-humor video; Elon Gold, a stand-up comedian, is talking about hummus and politic. Well, I decided I have some things toI want say about it. And for those of you who didn’t: be patient. It’s pretty annoying in the beginning, only to become VERY funny in the end.
Gold’s theory explains how come the Palestinians voted for hammas, and American elected George W. Bush. It sound perfectly reasonable - and very funny, although you might get a little upset at first (Especialy if you didn’t vote to George W. Bush.
Watch it, then read the rest of the post.
So, ironically, it turns out that Gold is an Anti-Bush activist…
Or some would probably classify him that way.I’m not that much into Anti-Bush humor myself (in Israel we have many evil politicians of ourself). Also, I don’t think W. is as stupid as some people say he is, which make some of the Anti-Bush jokes less funny and actually pretty dumb.I do think, though, that George Bush Junior is the worst president US could ever had such a time in history, when it could benefit from being not only bold, but also smart and humane and generous - which it isn’t. And that’s bad for people all over the world, not just for Liberal Democrats in Americans.Plus, I saw Fahrenheit 911 [Trailer], and “Supersize America”, and read Joseph Stiglitz’s book (which I might talk about more in a future post). I hate Neo-Conservatism and Evangelism and Fascism - no matter what form they take, and if they occur in Israel, the US or any other place.
So is eating hummus an Anti-Bush act? In some way it is, at list for me - and maybe also for Gold, I don’t know. Because it reminds us how Palestinians and Israelis - as well as rich and poor people or Muslims and Christians - are already bound together, so they ought to have to learn to live with one another.
Bushism is about making other people more like you - so it’s about McDonald’s hamburgers. Anti-Bush kind of thought is about eating hummus, which is a demonstration of our rewarding co-existence with people and cultures different of ours.
Above all, in my eyes Elon Gold’s stand-up is beautifully naive, in a good way. His “characters” are good people, from both sides, who can’t understand whygood people elect bad leaders. This is how many people in Israel also feel about our current leadership, and also about the given alternatives.
Hummus Place: 3rd time the charm
And since we already mentioned Hummus Place, it’s in place to add the they have two more NYC branches now. Jessica from FoodMayhem wrote about it and linked to a Google Map with all three locations marked on it.
And if you haven’t seen th Hummus Place video yet, than you definitely should.
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