Saturday, January 16, 2010

We Won the Latest Battle in the Hummus War





Shalom Yeladim:
You won’t believe this – Lebanon has declared a “Hummus War” against us. If you’ve ever eaten hummus, you know it’s delicious. I love taking a dip in this mashed up mixture of chickpeas, olive oil, sesame paste, lemon juice and garlic. It’s not only healthy, it’s fun to eat because you don’t use a fork or a spoon. You scoop it up with pita bread. So why have the Lebanese declared a “Hummus War” on Israel? Here’s the scoop. It began a year-and-a-half ago when some Lebanese businessmen took Israel to court. They said that Israel was making and selling hummus as an Israeli food and because of that, Lebanon, the originator of hummus, is losing millions of business dollars. It’s true that hummus is eaten all across the Middle East and its popularity has spread (oh, I’m having fun with this) to Europe and the United States. But to say it was originally made in Lebanon???!!! That’s like saying the Egyptians can sue the world for making bread because rolls and bread loaves have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. But the Lebanese insisted and they went on to prepare a HUGE plate of hummus weighing over two tons. They told their fellow countrymen to “Come fight for your bite. You know you’re right.” They fought to have the largest bowl of hummus in the world by making a new Guiness World Record, and they won. But the victory proved to be an uphill battle because last week we slam dunked them. There’s an Israeli-Arab village near Jerusalem called Abu Gosh. In Israel, this town is known as the hummus capital and the owner of the most famous hummus restaurant was not bowled over by the Lebanese success. “We can do better than that,” he declared, “much better.” An Israeli telecommunications company gave the restaurant a satellite dish 20 feet in diameter to fill with hummus. A week ago Friday, people living in Abu Gosh and all over Israel came to the restaurant to make hummus with their own hands. All together they used 2.5 tons of chickpeas, 1.5 tons of sesame paste, hundreds of freshly squeezed lemons and a vat of crushed garlic. A Guinness official was present and at the end of the day Israel’s Abu Gosh Restaurant broke the Lebanese record with a new record breaking 4-ton hummus dip. So here’s what I have to say to the Lebanese: Stop the war and let’s make chickpeace.

Hey…that reminds me. Israel Independence Day is only a few months away. This year’s celebration falls on April 20th. To start the celebration early you can buy my book, ZVUVI’S ISRAEL and get a 10% discount when you shop at Kar-Ben’s online store. Use the special code TAMI when you check out. This offer is available until April 20, 2010.

Rega (that's Hebrew for wait a minute)...here's another idea. Would you like to meet me around the time of Israel Independence Day? You can if you book a virtual Q&A with the Author. Visit Tami's website and go to the top right-hand banner that says "NEW" to find out how to do this.
You book the visit and I'll be there.
Lehitraot…Zvuvi

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