Hummus and the City
The appearance of hummus in “Sex and the City 2″ is great news for hummus lovers and hummus manufacturers in the US. Hummus is definitely on this year’s fashion collection
[Image credit: miss604 on Flickr.]
Sex and the City 2 was heavily promoted – huge posters showing the four shining girls could be seen everywhere.
After the movie came out, critics stormed the film. The general opinion was that the plot was lame, but that was expected. There were also accusations of politically incorrect scenes and even the clothes that Sarah Jessica Parker and her friends wore came under scrutiny. But we’re here to talk about hummus.
Hummus also had a small part in the film. Kim Cattrall, who plays Samantha, the liberal minded woman, has an encounter with chickpeas. Some thought that seeing her with hummus wasn’t a pretty sight. But lifestyle expert Colleen Mullaney of the Huffington Post did seem to like it:
I whipped up a big bowl of hummus and pita chips, ode to Samantha’s youthful quest, and I watched the red carpet fashion extravaganza we’ve been anticipating all year!
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
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).
Video Tutorial: Making Hummus like in New-York’s Hummus Place
In our new video Shay, one of the guys from Hummus Place in New-York, is sharing the recipe and showing how to make real hummus.
Hummus Place is a New-York restaurant serving mostly hummus and middle-eastern dishes. I never been there, but people who did say their hummus is pretty good, so you can trust Shay – one of the owners, and the guy explaining the process of making hummus in the video – to know what he’s talking about.
Who stole my hummus?
Hummus, Falafel and Shawarma ARE Arab foods. And they are also Israeli foods. Those who claim differently, too often lack the knowledge or the wisdom to see things as they really are.
I already addressed the issue of subjecting hummus and other middle-eastern foods to political disputes. You can read all about it in my post Hummus, is it Israeli or Arab. But I can’t help commenting on this piece, a column by George S. Hishmeh titled ” The undeclared war on Arab cuisine”.
Hishmeh says: “My niece, Irene, called me a few days ago indignant that some of her American friends, including some Jews, keep describing typical Arab foods such as falafel, hummus and shawarma, among others, as Israeli. She wanted to know how she can convince them this is not the case.” Read more
Hummus in Berlin
Here’s a place I’m sure to visit on my next trip to Berlin.
Just came across a place that combines two of my favorites, Berlin and Hummus:
Berlin’s HummusGarten. I was not aware that such place had existed, otherwise I’d probably visit it earlier, in one of my trips to Berlin.
It’s located between Rosa-Luxemburg Platz and Rosenthalerstr., two places in which I’ve been more than a few times. And you can be sure I’d visit and review it the next time I’m in Berlin (and by the way, if your home town has good hummus places, feel free to write something about it and send us – we’ll be thankful up to our ears).
To read about places in Berlin which combines 3 of my favorites, read this one: Berlin’s best falafel Joints.
Hummus Abu Dahbi, the Reggae hummus
In the middle of Tel-Aviv, a tense and busy city of business, politics, cafes and clubbing, a place of good hummus and good music is more then a haven – it’s oasis.
In the case of “Abu Dahbi”, it’s a Galilee-style hummus (as well as Meshawsha, Mahluta, Hummus-Ful and Falafel), accompanied with black music. Mostly hip-hop and reggae, some from abroad – including classics – and some of local artists.
Gal Eilam, one of the owners, says that the rhythm of reggae is the rhythm of heart-bits. His business partner, Samir Ayub, says the most important thing for him is that their clients will leave the place full and happy – and this why the portions are so large, and there’s a refill if you’re still hungry.
I don’t know which of these two sides of the same place make it so calm and friendly, but this is the place I chose to be interviewed in last week, talking on TV about hummus and The Hummus Blog (you can read all about it in my previous post, The Fame of Hummus). There are many hummus places I like, but this one really feels like a safe haven. In some strange way, it reminds me of Berlin.
If you get to Tel-Aviv, don’t miss it:
Hummus Abu Dahbi, 81 King George Tel-Aviv (10AM-8PM I think)
And here’s a beautiful video clip of Axum, a hip-hop twosome, taken at Abu Dahbi’s. It is mostly a Homage to some Israeli artists and cult-movies, and the words are in Hebrew, but I think you’d enjoy it anyhow.
Maker of the video is Asaf Billet (who’s been awarded Best Director of The Israeli Music Channel Awards 2007). You can download the full WMV version (44MB) from his site.
(BTW, I wasn’t even hungry before the shooting, but could not help myself from eating all the hummus in my plate only to regret later for not taking some back home with me.)
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