Harry's Place

Well, at least when people are making hummus, they’re not shooting or bombing you. Who knows, maybe someday it will turn into a good-natured rivalry– like whether Kansas City, Memphis or Texas has the best barbecue.

Let’s not even get started on halvah. I read that there are 19 other contenders for cultural ownership of this Israeli confection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halva

Pease pudding for Guardian readers.

Surely all they are saying is give peas a chance?

“Well, at least when people are making hummus, they’re not shooting or bombing you.”

Hummus are worse than Hizbullah.

Have you even the read the Hummus Charter?

The conflict is about a tiny green peas of land.

Didn’t Sasha Baron Cohen already cover this in Bruno?

I didn’t watch the video but this is a satire, right?

It must be a satire!

I can’t help thinking — warlike Zionist that I am — that the world’s largest plate of hummus would make a very inviting target for the world’s biggest gefilte fish from, say, 30,000 feet. The surprise combination of Israeli targeting know-how with cutting edge heimishe food technology would really make a splash.

Remind me just when Lebanon lost its “right to manufacture hummus”?

Well, at least when people are making hummus, they’re not shooting or bombing you. Who knows, maybe someday it will turn into a good-natured rivalry– like whether Kansas City, Memphis or Texas has the best barbecue.

Chilli on the other hand, is serious business.

Strikes me that 65kilos is a pretty pathetic increment on a 2 tonne hummus. They’re just asking for Israel to retaliate swiftly here. Strategically they should have made the quantum leap to ‘as heavy as a double deck bus’ and really given the zionist usurper food technologists something to scratch their heads about.

“Chilli on the other hand, is serious business.”

You’re darn tootin’. Nobody better mess with New Mexico’s chile superiority. (Oh, and learn to spell it right, wontcha?)

When they replace the bullets in their tommy guns with custard pie pellets, then we will really be getting somewhere.

Just want to say I LOVE hummus. It, and toasted flatbreads saw me through my vegetarian week in 2004….

In Don’t mess with the Zohan, it is of course significant that he is an ex Mossad agent who has 37 different uses for hummus:

http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/06/having_a_hummus_party_with_mic.php

Tsk! Everyone knows that the best hummus in the world is at Sa’id’s place in Acco and the best tabouleh in the world is made by my friend Camilla in Julis.
Anyway, they’d better not touch Bamba, ptitim or shkedei marak, otherwise there will be trouble!

The number of localities in Italy claiming that they have the best risotto in the world is the same as the number of all localities in Italy.

The same with hummus in the arc extending from South Turkey to Egypt. The very idea that hummus is “Lebanese” is so infantile because hummus has been around much longer than the state, or even the abstract concept of Lebanon.

The genius (a word I am using with premeditation and deliberately) of Israeli cuisine is not simply in making superb hummus (and everybody will have their favourites) but in a unique fusion and explosion of tastes and flavours from Middle East, the Balkans and North Africa (note my omission of Eastern Europe, not a great culinary Mecca).

Not on hummus alone will a man live, not even on hummus with Iraqi pitta, fresh sizzling falafel balls, good greenish extra-virgin olive oil and plenty of s’hoog (some connoisseurs, in particular in Jerusalem, add a hard-boiled egg) . Although, on reflection, it ain’t altogether bad life…

Chef Ramzi

Funny, he doesn’t look Scottish.

Now that Hummus is Lebanese, I won’t eat it anymore.

Arabs win again! They are so clever. How could we ever beat their asses in each and every war? We must have secretly used Atomic bombs. There is simply no way to beat an Arab.

…in an honest fight.

1) Their attitude and motivation towards this world record is pathetic.
2) This is a continued attempt to present Jews as transplanted outsiders who do not belong in the middle east.

Myself, I prefer Teimani pita.

There’s a woman just in front of the shuk of Rishon that makes it and it is amazing.

Too bad she is a thief. She steals Arab culture. Because, you see, Arab culture is a thing that if you take a little for you, it diminishes in the same proportion in Arab lands. Just like when the West adopted the Arabic numerals. The Arabs quickly forgot afterwards how to add and substract, multiply and divide.

Just think about it. We are their misfortune.

‘(note my omission of Eastern Europe, not a great culinary Mecca). ‘
Agreed, SO Muffin!
As one of my nephews says every year at the Seder, ‘Praise be to the Lord that we’re not Ashkenazim -what would we eat?’

This sounds like some sort of parody. Israel should re-broadcast these pathetic boasts. It would have the whole world laughing at the Arabs. Pretty soon the Lebanese will be talking about the importance of maintaining the purity of their Hummus.

Along with minature batteries, here is another Israeli invention, the boycott Israel crowd will have to do without, a universal flu vacine. Link to http://simplyjews.blogspot.com/2009/10/biondvax-success-and-lesser-news.html

very funny. For what it’s worth, hummus has been a Mediterranean staple through most of civilised history, and has been traced back to both ancient Egyptian and Roman cultures – the latin for chickpea is cicero, as in the lawyer

I like Paul M’s gefilte fish targeting plans … and lo, in the last days, they shall turn their bombs into fried fish balls and their chemical weapons into plates of hummus. Nations shall go to war no more

At the risk of upsetting Fabian and Israelinurse, I should add here that my sympathy towards the state of Israel does not extend to the cuisine, which I’m sorry to say is gopping.

I’d prefer a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

What’s the Israeli position on couscous?

RE: note my omission of Eastern Europe, not a great culinary Mecca.

I noted it. It’s well known that ignorance is bliss, but haute cuisine snobbery puts one in Berlusconi’s world. Some of the tastiest food the world has ever known comes from Eastern Europe. Try a smoked meat on rye from Schwartz’s in Montreal, or some perogies or meat blintzes from Mazurka (also montreal) or anywhere in Green Point, Brooklyn, before making ignorant remarks. Better yet, the food is cheap!

Make hummus, not war.

In Orientalism, Edward Said begrudged Israelis’ claim to hummus. I remember thinking at the time I read it: perhaps Jews will have to give back bagels to the Poles, stuffed cabbage to the Russians, in fact all Ashkenazic and Sephardic foods. After all none of those nations were ours.

I like cholent, salt beef and chrayne. Stuff this veggie mush. If Israel had stuck with proper nosh, Yiddish and clarinets these Arabs would have welcomed them.

Some of the tastiest food the world has ever known comes from Eastern Europe.

Yeh, sure… Also from England.

Try a smoked meat on rye from Schwartz’s in Montreal, or some perogies or meat blintzes from Mazurka (also montreal)

The very idea of being in Montreal and eating anything but lobster (yes, I know, not terribly kosher) – grilled, thermidor, on sandwich, in salad, with fine, cold white wine, with good beer – or great Vietnamese… Perish the thought!

Best two places for food in Eastern Europe (if we count Hungary as Central Europe, as we should):

Latvia, maybe (dill with everything, true, but their cold summer variant of borsch is the best; and they are less into eating blood sausage or pig ears than their neighbours to the north or south, thankfully); and Odessa (where there is a utterly fantastic Lebanese/Armenian restaurant on what the…exuberant…locals claim is the most beautiful street in the world, Deribaskovska. Well, it’s pretty nice, true, not necessarily number one though, well, maybe…).

I grant you, Balkans food is generally not so great…too greasy, almost always.

Anyway, Lebanon and Israel arguing over which foodstuffs are theirs is the way forward, all things considered. My school (for quite inexplicable, as it was a good few hundred miles from Cornwall) reasons was dominated by a bunch of Cornish Methodist teachers, who would occasionally and en masse get publically get all het up with their one Devonian colleague about as to whether pasties should be crimped along the top or the side.

I drink to the border between Israel and Lebanon becoming in character as that of the River Tamar! (I see, Wikipedia claims “A traditional Cornish tale claims that the devil would never dare to cross the River Tamar into Cornwall for fear of ending up as a pasty filling” It’s not gonna happen tomorrow, but let us hope we will yet see such a state of affairs.

From Ken Albala’s book Beans: A History (p. 85):

The origins of the dish are of course unknown, but one could probably trace an ancestor back to an earlier cuisine, most likely to Egypt where a similar dish is made with fava beans (ta’amiyya). That any one people could own falafel is of course a ridiculous notion, but it nonetheless illustrates a very common tendency – to associate a people with a particular food and then claim it as an integral part of national identity.

The same row was aired this time last year.

But, Vildechaye, in an ecumenical spirit: where exactly in Montreal can I find Schwartz and/or Mazurka? In case I find myself there on my own, morose & lost and they have run out of lobster – just in case…

I drink to the border between Israel and Lebanon becoming in character as that of the River Tamar!

There is already Nahal (i.e. River) Tamar in Israel, alas at the other end of the country, near Dead Sea. But I’ll drink to this as well. And if it makes the Lebanese happier, I’ll drink Arak Zahlawi.

‘What’s the Israeli position on couscous?’
Another Penny: in my house – prostrate on the sofa for at least two hours after eating it!

Of course each N. African community has its own version, but the Moroccans, Algerians and Lybians all collectively look down on the Tunisians, who make it with fish.
When we lived in Be’er Sheva many years ago we had a Tunisian neighbour who used to make couscous with fish every friday. She would then bring my husband a portion as she felt sorry for him being married to an English woman whom she presumed did not have a good culinary heritage, but although hubby always thanked her politely, he never ate it. She would then walk to the army base Mahanay Natan, just outside the town, where her son was serving in the army, with his portion of couscous and then all the way back so as not to break the Shabbat.
I make a Moroccan version for common or garden Shabbat meals and the Lybian version with Mafroum for holidays.

I miss Blooms in Whitechapel…. chicken noodle soup rocks! (Jewish penicillin)

“…Tsk! Everyone knows that the best hummus in the world is at Sa’id’s place in Acco…”

You mean at Souhilla’s place in Acco.

“in my house – prostrate on the sofa for at least two hours after eating it!”

:-))

I certainly understand the wars of the couscous.

The best couscous I’ve found is in the restaurants of the Jewish quarter of Paris. However, if my mother-in-law should, by some fluke, find her way to this page, it is most definitely in her house a la her own Egyptian-style interpretation.

Similarly, if my brother-in-law (of Moroccan heritage) reads it, then it’s in his house. Or my sister-in-law (of Tunisian heritage) then it’s her house:-))

My mother-in-law cooks very typically Sephardi style. It’s rare to sit at her table and eat a meal that doesn’t include something stuffed. One of my first encounters with her tendency to stuff stuff was her vine leaves – which I actually don’t like. But, new to the family, I praised them to the hilt. She never forgot that praise – now I get the darned things every visit. Fortunately, there is copious amounts of wine to wash them down with. She never seems to notice that the only time I leave her house tipsy is post-vine leaf noshing.

RE: The very idea of being in Montreal and eating anything but lobster (yes, I know, not terribly kosher) – grilled, thermidor, on sandwich, in salad, with fine, cold white wine, with good beer – or great Vietnamese… Perish the thought!

Just as I thought… food snob. Not to mention that you can eat nice lobster (i personally don’t care for seafood, but whatever) and get good vietnamese food anywhere, but Montreal Eastern European Jewish food and baked goods (bagels, kimmelbreads and cheese danish etc.) are unparalleled. Nice Portuguese and Leb stuff too. It’s heaven for cheap eats, which are the only eats I care about.

Sorry SOS just saw your question. Schwartz’s and Mazurka are close to each other: Schwartz is on St. Lawrence Blvd (Blvd St-Laurent), one of the most ethnically diverse commercial streets on the planet, between Duluth and Pine, if memory serves me correctly. Mazurkas is a polish restaurant on Prince Arthur, a walking street, just off Blvd St. Laurent. This is an extremely lively hopping area at all h ours, and Mazurka’s serves full means for about $8.
By the way, if you go to Schwartzes, two other places are worth noting on the same block, same side: 1-Moishe’s steak house, arguably the best steak house anywhere; and 2-Coco Rico’s, where the Portuguese immigrants do rotisserie chicken sandwiches that are divine.
PS: I knew that somewhere in that food snobberei there was a hankering for some good old Jewish deli…..

The stupidest thing about the whole sad mess of the Middle East is that, of all the countries there, Israel and Lebanon ought to have the greatest natural affinity for each other. Both are multi-confessional, multi-ethnic, western-looking and open to a degree that no others in the neighbourhood are. It should be natural that Israelis and Lebanese would share each other’s cuisines and compete over them in friendly rivalry, rather than this idiotic, childish, my-hummus-is-bigger-than-your-hummus paranoid kind of way.

This Lebanese chest-thumping is the height of stupidity. Not only that, but their cholent is rubbish.

Oh Paul – thanks for that last comment. That will keep me chuckling through my nght shift.

This fight over “national” cuisines is silly.
Many’s the time have I come across Palestinian bloggers and activists seemingly frothing with rage over the calumny that Israel has “stolen”, not only Palestinian land, but Palestinian food as well, in the form of pita bread, hummus, falafel, etc. Yet these foods are REGIONAL foods – they can be sampled all over the Middle East/Levant, and each nation/culture in the region has its own variation on them. And Israel is a Middle-Eastern nation – something I wish more people would realise. Mizrachi and Sephardi Jews have most likely been eating falafel and hummus for centuries, and Ashkenazim have added their own spin as well (falafel and sauerkraut anyone?)

“What’s the Israeli position on couscous?”

We will not be the first to introduce couscous in the Middle East.

Humus is like Middle Eastern sunshine and belongs to everyone.

You have all forgotten about taiglach and ingberlach which we will gladly lend to the Lebanese to make for their festivals if only someone will continue making them for ours.

Fabian from israel don’t want to eat hummus again? Good for your health!

“Yeps, hummus 100% lebanon’s”

Reminds me of an Argentinian folkloric song from -IIRC – Atahualpa Yupanqui: “Las penas son de nosotros, las vaquitas son ajenas”.

“הצרות הן שלנו, הפרות של אחרים”

“The sorrows are ours, the cows are theirs”.

Modern version by Divididos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8qVHuWizdQ

(after the 52 seconds drum solo)

S.O. Muffin & Israeli Nurse,

I take what you’ve said about Eastern Europe as personal.

Any rational being (and many irrational ones) knows that the world’s best cuisine is the Hungarian. Where else in the universe could a regime be named after its most famous dish? Think of “goulash socialism”. Now, take “socialism” out of the expression, add more paprika, and you’ll know what real paradise (whether the worker’s one or not) tastes like.

And, if you don’t want to go the whole way to Buda & Pest, pay at least a visit to the Gay Hussar on Greek st. Then you’ll stop talking about things your poor, tasteless tongues are ignorant about.

Long live the Hungarian stuffed cabbage! Long live the Hungarian cholent! Long live the Dobos torte and the Gundel pancake!!!

“Lebanon was set on Saturday to set a new world record and mark a new victory on Israel by preparing a two-ton plate of Humus (Chick-pea), thus beating an Israeli record two years ago when the Zionist entity prepared an 800kg plate of this pure Lebanese appetizer. ”

So you just know whats gonna happen next don’t you? – Israel does a 4 ton one and is accused of disproportionate retaliation.

M&S do a sweet potato hummus – absolutely gorgeous.

What do the Greeks think about all this?

That battery development sounds fantastic!

Margie: I do miss Teiglach from my SA Litvak childhook, they are unknown in England. I paid £5.00 for a small tub imported from SA this Pesach past. But imberlach I can do without. My grandmother made them, and even then we ate them grudgingly as there were no Kosher for Pesach commercially produced sweets available. Now that there are, there is no reason ever to eat this concotion of grated carrots, sugar and ginger, hardened into squares.

Thanks, amie, I will try imberlach. I didn’t know then since nobody in my family made them, but I will try my hand at it.
http://auntsadiescandies.com/proddetail.php?prod=18-002
They sure look delicious and healthy.

What a bunch of dumbfucks. Even with something as uncontentious as food (which could bring people together with something to enjoy in common) they are haters.

B

Round here, we get chipotle hummus: Sheer ambrosia. Take that, Hizbullah. All your hummus belong to us, now.

Pardon my English. All your hummus are belong to us, of course.

@ Miyabi: Yeps, hummus 100% lebanon’s

Why?

@ Israeli Nurse & Ben: “…Tsk! Everyone knows that the best hummus in the world is at Sa’id’s place in Acco…”
You mean at Souhilla’s place in Acco.

First, is Sa’id’s place in Acco called Souhilla’s place, or are they two different hummousiyot? Secondly, have those of you who claim Sa’id’s or Souhilla’s Acco hummousia(iyot) to have the best hummous in the world, ever sampled Abu Hassan’s (Ali Karavan’s) hummous in Yaffo, which is by far, the best hummous I’ve had to date?

There is no thing as a good hummus and a bad hummus. The “good” hummus is good just because it is served kind of warm. The bad supermarket hummus is bad just because you eat it always cold from the refrigerator. Just refrigerate for a day or two your “good” hummus and it wil taste just like Tzabar or Ahla.

There is no thing as a good hummus and a bad hummus.

Tzabar, Ahla and even Rishon’s Madyani Miki all make decent hummous which does taste better when warmed, but even when warmed they still don’t compare with Abu Hassan’s, even when the latter is taken home and refrigerated. I can also assure you that the store bought hummous available in Western Canadian supermarkets, while not necessarily bad tasting, have textures that qualify them as some type of chickpea spread, but not hummous.

And if you still doubt whether there is bad hummous, I can take you to a houmoussiya in the shuk Hapishpishim in Yaffo, where after eating a serving of their dry and thick pitas and bland and heavy misabicha, I have no doubt you will reconsider your current disbelief in the existence of bad hummous.

That said, I’d much rather invite you to Yaffo for a serving of Abu Hassan’s misabicha, or hummous ful.

Oh dear; the hummus record doesn’t seem to be enough for some:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256557976891&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Lbnaz – I only know Sa’id’s in the old town in Acco. Unless they’ve changed the name since I was last there, I don’t know Souhilla’s.

Sa’id’s is in the shuk of the old city in Acco. Souhilla’s is on the main street of the old city. Both are very, very good, but a few years back Souhilla’s won a national competition for best hummus in the country. That show was compered by Yehoram Gaon on TV, on what used to be his regular Friday evening programme.

Thanks Ben & Israeli Nurse. I know where I’ll be eating the next times I’m in Acco.