Loading ...The Israeli-Arab Hummus Wars
“In Israel, everything is political, including the hummus.”
My guide, Yuval Zelinkovsky, said this as he tore off a piece of pita and expertly folded it into a small, origami-like boat — a technique that, as he demonstrated, provided for optimal dipping. We were sitting in what is generally regarded as the best hummus joint in Tel Aviv, Abu-Hassan, a family-owned and operated business on one of the ancient side streets of Jaffa.
I guess in some ways what we were doing might be viewed as political: Jews breaking bread with a demographic mix of customers at an Arab-run establishment. But fortunately, the only territory we had to fight over was a space at one of the few narrow tables in the otherwise tiny restaurant (if the term restaurant can even be applied to Abu-Hassan, which serves precisely three dishes: hummus, a variation of hummus, and a creamed fava bean dish named fal which also includes, you guessed it, hummus).
When we arrived on a weekday at lunch time, a line stretched out the door and perilously into the narrow cobbled street. It was not the kind of place to get huffy about tables: if you weren’t willing to grab the next available seat at a shared table, you could take your hummus at the curb. Abu-Hassan was my first stop on what would become, truly, a magical exploration of Israeli culture, primarily through food.
Although it was my third trip to Israel, I’d never taken the time to appreciate this side of the country. Like so many tourists on a limited schedule, I’d largely skipped Tel Aviv in favor of the major historical sites in Jerusalem and beyond. On one of my journalistic visits, I’d met with Arab and Jewish spiritual leaders; I took tea in a Palestinian house on the West Bank, and that same evening dined with Israeli politicians to discuss the unceasing, troubling issues of peace.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com