The Hummus War has Begun
Last Sunday, the Hummus Was has finally began. Unlike other wars, this one is going to be fairly harmless, because the fighting will be done by means of marketing, advertising, giveaways and special prices.
Calcalist is the #3 business publication in Israel, a relatively new and small newspaper. It’s a very mainstream, nevertheless, so it usually deals with mainstream business news - nothing like that main headline on August 3rd. The headline said: The Hummus War.
It’s seems like a very common news item: two major local companies fighting over a market. The point is that these two companies, Osem and Strauss, are fighting over the American hummus market. Read more
Fetteh: the Cousin of Hummus (plus recipe)
Fetteh, a warm dish of thick yogurt with soft chickpeas, is a delicacy you ought to try. If there are any good Lebanese restaurants near you, that’s a good place to start looking. If not - make it yourself.
The concept of Fetteh (or “fata”, depending on who you ask) may sound strange to you at first. Basically, it’s a combination of soft cooked chickpeas (like the ones used for hummus and msabbha), with yogurt and toasted pita bread.
Read more
The Yemen Power: Zhuk (plus recipe)
Zhuk, a Yemen paste of hot green peppers, is one of the hottest things to spice your food with. Very easy to make, and there’s also a story.
Until 1493, the only pepper outside the American continnent was the one we know today as “black pepper”. And when Christopher Columbus brought the first chilis to Europe, no one seemed to care.
It took some 150 years until the old world came to it’s senses, but after that the tiny veg was caltivated and quickly spread to all Europe (espcialy Italy and Hungery) and from there to North Africa, the Middle-East and Asia, where it was engineered into over 2000 species and varaieties of peppers, and dozens of different spices.
Hot peppers are very common in all Midlle Eastern cuisines, where it is eaten fresh, cooked or pickled. In most hummus places in Israel and Arab countries, hot peppers are an integral part of the course - fresh or as part of a sauce of some kind (NEVER as one of the hummus ingredients).
In some places the hummus is served with Tatbila, a thin sauce from ground green peppers with lots of garlic and lemon. Many Israeli hummus places serve it with Harif (”hot”), a local variation of the North African sauce called Arissa, in which red chilis are the main ingredient. Read more
A Hummus Girl Blogger
I’m going through dozens of blogs every week, reading tasteless posts about hummus and tasteless hummus recipes. This one was different.
When commenting in other blogs, I often use “the hummus guy” as a nickname. I guess it describes well what I’m known for, and it’s a good way to differentiate myself as a blogger, since there isn’t really many competitors in the field of hummus related blogging.
I found one, though. A girl blogger called Mercedes, who has a blog called Desert Candy (an ancient nickname for dates). She describe herself as a blogger who’s “exploring a passion for cooking/baking and a love of the Middle East”. And in many cases she combines both her passions in posts about Middle Eastern food and with relevant recipes (Not all of her recipes are Middle Eastern, but some are. And there’s an index too).
Hummus in Japan
We hadn’t even have the chance to get used to the idea that there’s falafel in China, and now we’re told that there’s hummus in Japan. A lot of it.
It’ll be old news if I’d tell you that we’re fashionably late after Japan in many of the things we do. And it’s always fascinating to see how Japanese trends and inventions find their way to the west. Read more
The Hummus Rap
Several times before I adressed the subject of how the Hummus Culture affect the west. On the one hand, there’s no collision of civilizations here - people from different regions fall in love with hummus just the same, regardless of their beliefs. On the other hand - we all know that hummus is far more than just “food”. I guess we are withnessing a Peaceful Rise, than.
“…Clap your hands really fast
If you think hummus is the best
Now shake sh-shake shake your pita
If you hit the hummus with paprika”
Falafel, from Washington to Shunyi
In a post called Competing Falafel Unbleached Brun, an American blogger, reviews two Middle Eastern restaurants. One is called Old City Cafe of Jerusalem. The other’s name is Amsterdamm Falafelshop. Both are places making falafel in the US capital, the guy’s hometown.
Judging from the pictures (you should certainly visit brun), both places make decent foods - and that’s includes the hummus, that looks like something I would try to eat. Brun was more detailed about their falafel offering, which sounds reasonable - pretty much what every falafel joint in Israel has to offer, more or less.
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