A Friendlier Kind of Middle East Conflict
Neil Sinhababu offers us an example of “the kind of Middle Eastern conflict I can get behind,” the latest blow in the Israel-Lebanon hummus dispute:
Lebanese chefs prepared a massive plate of hummus weighing over two tons Saturday that broke a world record organizers said was previously held by Israel — a bid to reaffirm proprietorship over the popular Middle Eastern dip.
“Come and fight for your bite, you know you’re right!” was the slogan for the event — part of a simmering war over regional cuisine between Lebanon and Israel, which have had tense political relations for decades.
In the interests of bolstering my pro-Israel credentials in advance of the J Street conference, let me observe that Sabra hummus is my preferred brand. That said, from a diaspora perspective I continue to be distressed by the declining availability of traditional Ashkenazi cuisine—properly made bagels, proper kosher deli, etc. There’s more to Jewish cooking than fighting with Arabs over chickpeas.
40 Responses to “A Friendlier Kind of Middle East Conflict”
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October 25th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
If there’s one thing I learned from my time living over there, it’s this: whether you’re in Jewish or Palestinian company, unless you want your evening ruined by long strident political diatribes, DO NOT bring up the topic of who invented what food. Those people will agree on who gets Jerusalem before they agree on who invented falafel.
October 25th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
You can do the same thing to a table full of quebecois over poutine.
October 25th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Not if you’re Sephardic! Then it is all about the hummus. And the baba ghanouj. And the falafel. And the stuffed grape leaves. And the sambousak. Mmmm….
October 25th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Precisely. If God had wanted us to focus on chickpeas, his dietary laws would have lovingly described how we should grow, stew, mash, spice and stir chickpea goo. Instead, he tells us how we should make brisket. This leads us to the iron-clad conclusion that, while these various goo o’ chickpea or goo o’ eggplant concoctions might be very tasty, the real deal is the corned beef.
October 25th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Try and find pickled herring in a Montreal supermarket now. Eat it everyday here in Denmark, and go into withdrawel when I’m in Montreal.
October 25th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
That photo looks like foul (pronounced “fool”), not hummus.
October 25th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I’d have to agree that Sabra is the best commercially available hummus by a wide margin. That said, hummus is very easy to make and is much, much better when homemade.
As for Jewish deli food, much of it is very unhealthy. Shouldn’t we levy high pastrami and corned beef taxes to discourage consumption and fund health clinics?
October 25th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
“There’s more to Jewish cooking than fighting with Arabs over chickpeas.”
But not a lot more.
Pasty white waterlogged fish turds aren’t food, even if you wash them down with concord grape wine.
October 25th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Why you would prefer Ashkenazi food to Sephardic food is a mystery to me.
October 25th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Corn bread (dense rye- no caraway seeds) seems to become extinct.
October 25th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
If you want good Ashkenazi food, go to Newark, NJ. Yes, I said Newark. Got a problem with that?
The place is called Hobbys. http://www.hobbysdeli.com Bring a cardiologist with you.
October 25th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Nobody has mentioned Latkas yet, the horror
October 25th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Re: You can do the same thing to a table full of quebecois over poutine.
Try listening to a Greek, a Turk, a Lebanese, and a Chaldean arguing over who invented baklava.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:05 am
“There’s more to Jewish cooking than fighting with Arabs over chickpeas,” but, as someone noted above, not much more.
Ashkenazi food is German/Polish/Russian. Well, even in Russia they admit that they have only two good cuisines — Georgian and Ukrainian.
As for German cuisine, I was eating at one of NYC’s only two Yorktown authentically German restaurants with a friend when he observed something to the effect that maybe everyone would eat like this if Germany had not lost the war. And I said, yeah, that’s why Japanese restaurants are so common, because they won.
German ethnic food sucks. Russian ethnic food sucks. Polish ethnic food sucks.
Jewish Ashkenazi food does not do better than its antecedents.
And I haven’t even gotten to the gefilte fish…
October 26th, 2009 at 12:25 am
Falafel, hummous, tabouleh, etc. all existed long before the state of Israel. The idea that any of these foods are Israeli, as opposed to Arab-Levantine, is an invented tradition. I find it frankly baffling that someone can argue otherwise.
Ben-Gurion was wary of the “levantization” of the pre-state Zionist population, but apparently when it comes to food, these Arab dishes just appear after 1948. Sure.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:46 am
German ethnic food sucks. Russian ethnic food sucks. Polish ethnic food sucks.
Unless you have a penchant for smoked and cured sausage and pickled vegetables. Though they do have pretty good cakes, pastries and similar desserts to make up for the savoury courses. The Hanseatic League did lots of impressive things, but the Mediterranean ports got the best food.
The idea that any of these foods are Israeli, as opposed to Arab-Levantine, is an invented tradition.
Oh, I don’t think you’ll find many (or any) Israelis arguing that with a straight face — even during the first intifada, you’d get Israelis lining up at Arab hummus restaurants. They would claim to have invented hummus/falafel foodie-ism.
The “big plate of hummus” thing is a publicity stunt born from the trade rivalry between two Israeli companies — Strauss, which co-owns Sabra with PepsiCo, and Osem, which recently acquired Tribe in the US. The Lebanese decided to take it a wee bit personally.
Frankly, I like the spirit at the Humus101 blog, run by Israelis and read by Palestinians: “may the hummus flourish regardless of who makes it and who eats it – and who the hell cares who made it first.”
October 26th, 2009 at 2:38 am
[...] That’s a lotta hummus! [...]
October 26th, 2009 at 3:32 am
people turn chickpeas into hummus because they have not learned to cook
October 26th, 2009 at 4:17 am
As a Chicago gentile transplanted to the south, I must agree. However, you don’t know how good you have it in D.C.! Here in North Carolina it’s a desert with very few oasis’. At least in Texas they have German food. Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a corned beef sandwich with real schmaltz…just kidding, sorta.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:33 am
German ethnic food sucks. Russian ethnic food sucks. Polish ethnic food sucks.
As far as German food goes, two words: Pennsylvania Dutch! Look it up! Being 1/4 Polish I’m just offended by the Russian/Polish statement, on general principle. And because the other part of my heritage demands it: try some Slovakian cuisine, jellied pigs feet, anyone? Unless you keep kosher, in which case you get a pass, I guess.
October 26th, 2009 at 10:07 am
I make my own hummus 2-3 times a week. I put cumin in it. Some of my Middle Eastern friends (and my Israeli brother in law) say this is a total violation of good hummus making. Other Middle Eastern friends say cummin is traditional (as well as certain other spices).
Anyone want to weigh in?
And does anyone use injera to eat hummus?
October 26th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Sabra. The best. There’s really nothing more to be said here.
October 26th, 2009 at 11:05 am
DJ Moonbat #6: The photo shows hummus with pine nuts and paprika (I think)
As for Sabra brand, I don’t like the flavor or the texture.
October 26th, 2009 at 11:11 am
“German ethnic food sucks. Russian ethnic food sucks. Polish ethnic food sucks.
Jewish Ashkenazi food does not do better than its antecedents.
And I haven’t even gotten to the gefilte fish…”
Blasphemer! – gefilte fish is the food of the gods! And after you get your beat-down from fans of Ashkenaz cookery, the fans of Polish and German cooking are just waiting to beat you up again.
October 26th, 2009 at 11:59 am
I don’t like Sabra hummus. It is too buttery (taste and texture-wise) for me. I guess I got used to a grainier-type hummus.
October 26th, 2009 at 11:59 am
And does anyone use injera to eat hummus?
Now that’s just crazy talk. That’s like making a Korean enchilada or Indian lutefisk.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
The best corned beef sandwich I’ve ever had, and probably the cheapest as well, was at Shapiro’s in Indianapolis. Better than the Carnegie Deli, better than the Stage Deli, and better than Katz’s. And sized so that a human being can actually consume an entire sandwich without winding up on a gurney.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Danton: First you said cumin, then you said cummin. I think the first one sounds delicious, and the second one, downright unsanitary.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Try listening to a Greek, a Turk, a Lebanese, and a Chaldean arguing over who invented baklava.
Maybe, but only the Turks seem to be able to make it well
October 26th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Hummus out of a plastic container is egregious as salsa out of a jar.
October 26th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Seriously, as long as we are on the subject, can anyone tell me where to get a good bagel and lox in DC?
October 26th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Now that’s just crazy talk. That’s like making a Korean enchilada or Indian lutefisk
Korean bbq tacos are huge in L.A. Don’t know if that’s crazier to you than a Korean enchilada, but they’re delicious.
Also, the best pastrami sandwich — no, the best sandwich, period — in the world is at Langer’s in L.A. It’s not a strictly kosher deli, but the pastrami on rye naturally is.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Korean bbq tacos are huge in L.A.
I know! I was riffing off of that idea.
Also, the best pastrami sandwich — no, the best sandwich, period — in the world is at Langer’s in L.A.
Langer’s really is excellent stuff.
October 26th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Let’s not forget the other records the Lebanese broke recently: 7000 pounds of tabbouleh and the world’s largest kebbe!
I just wonder how much longer they have to go before breaking the record for most drawn-out cabinet negotiations…
October 26th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
John (comment #15) wrote that “Israeli” foods could not have existed before the state was established in 1948. Jews lived in the Holy Land (to keep it neutral) in large numbers for decades, centuries and millenia before 1948, albeit marginalized by a long list of conquerors. Their culinary traditions lived on and in the region throughout, adapting with others as the crops and cultivation evolved.
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October 27th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Why all these people seem to think Sabra hummus is edible, let alone good, is beyond me. It is (by far) the worst hummus I’ve ever had, and they often make it worse by sticking gobs of sub-quality olive oil and bits of stuff on top. Yuck.
There are many fine brands of packaged hummus out there. I think Asmar’s (at Whole Foods) is good (their baba ganoush is better) and even the Trader Joe’s brand is passable. But I think it’s easier (and cheaper) to make good hummus yourself than to buy it. Chickpeas, oil, garlic, salt and tahini aren’t that hard to mash up and squeeze a lemon into.
MY, I expect better of you – as a self-proclaimed foodie – to have Sabra as your preferred brand. For shame!
October 27th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Also, dj moonbat, all then foul I’ve ever had is made with whole beans, lightly mashed (or sometimes whole). That picture looks obviously pureed. Also, foul generally has chunks of whole herbs and served in a pot (or bowl), not on a plate.
In short, that picture looks nothing like foul to me. Definitely hummus.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
I’m surprised no-one has mentioned Max’s Kosher Cafe in Wheaton, outside DC. They have good knishes. And schwarma too.