The Best Hummus Video Yet

Just in case you wondered – we go over YouTube and other video sites in search for new stuff on a regular basis. Rarely do we find anything exciting that is suitable for this blog.

Elahn Zetlin’s recent video was a pleasent surprise. Not only because it’s main theme is Abu Hassan, the hummus guru from Jaffa, but because it really captured the Jaffa’s (and Tel Aviv’s) special atmosphere. Watch this superb video, than go on reading.

The funny thing about Abu Hassan is that it isn’t really his hummus that made him so famous but rather his Msabbha (click to read more about this great dish). Read more

April 15, 2009 | Filed Under Hummus, World of Hummus | 6 Comments

Even GOD eats hummus in Tel-Aviv

Hummus is gradually becoming one of the Middle-Eats most successfully exported cultural-products. Very much as a result of tourists who experienced it while in the region, and became missionaries. It looks like even god eats hummus when he visits Tel-Aviv, and you know how powerful he is, when it comes to the publics opinion.

We got this movie, by Assaf Billet, showing just how much god favors hummus over other dinning options.

August 29, 2008 | Filed Under Hummus, Stories & Anecdotes, World of Hummus | 4 Comments

Hummus in Tel-Aviv

The hummus really has to be great in order to be the center of a complete meal. But when it is, and when accompanied with a few other local treasures, it makes some gourmet dishes taste like fast-food.

The residents of Tel-Aviv could always go for their hummus to Jaffa, which is minutes away by car. They still do, and some of them would go for their beloved hummus as far as Old Jerusalem or the old city of Acre, but it sometimes nice your hummus place just around the corner, and in recent years there are many options.

Tel-Aviv is my home town and I have many superb pictures of it’s hummus and hummus places, which I’ll probebly show in future posts. This time I wanted to show this one and say a few things about it:

Though not very common in this particular presentation, the combination of hummus or in this case hummus-foul (click for the recipe), falafel (ditto) and potato chips is mandatory in most hummus places in Israel today, especially in Tel-Aviv.

With a bunch of luscious pitas a nice salad on the side, and a cold drink, it’s a hit – a perfectly tasteful and nutritios meal, which in this case (Beit Ha-hummus, 119 Hashmonaim st.) costs as little as 24 NIS ($6.70 / 4.2 euro). You can usually have these with a nice piece of grilled meat of some kind, but you don’t really have to.

March 23, 2008 | Filed Under World of Hummus | 6 Comments

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.)