#1 food in Israel: hummus

When I first came to Israel, many years ago, I met a German young woman who was on her way back to Germany. As we met in the guesthouse, she decided to pass on to me some of the knowledge she had gathered during her stay in the country and took me out into Tel Aviv streets in the evening hours. She explained me that the Israeli specialty was called "humus" - like the gardening soil, which sounded very strange to me and not really appetizing. Much later I found out that it is an Arabic word and that it is called "hummus" or "chummus". (For more details, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummus).

Hummus is a very simple dish that is not so simple to prepare with success. Most Israelis will never even attempt to prepare it by themselves and rather go out looking for the best hummus in town, wherever that is in the country. If you live in a big city, you will fancy to find "your" best hummus in town. Freshly made, if possible, by hand (not with a food processor), by an Arab - or at least served by an Arab. If you live somewhere in the suburbs or in a small town, you will mostly find an oriental Jew named, Moshe, Chayim or Shalom, who runs a small takeaway food restaurant serving hummus in pitta bread with chips and oriental salad (diced or chopped tomatoes and cucumbers); there you can get a "chumus be-pita" at the price of 10 or 12 NIS, a complete meal, even for a laborer.

Although it is pretty basic, made of mashed chickpeas with tahina sauce, it is delicious and nourishing. Very Israeli, although the Lebanese claim that it is a Lebanese dish. But Lebanese hummus is a bit different, mostly a side dish, more delicate, with pine nuts. So there is a typically Israeli version of hummus. When you come to Israel, it is a must!

Why write about everyday life in Israel?

Israel is almost daily featuring in the news. As a European who has been living in Israel for several decades now, every time I come to visit my relatives and my friends in Europe, I realize how little they know about REAL life in Israel. So time has come for me to tell people a little about life here in Israel through my personal and humble perspective.

What do people outside Israel mostly think of at first, when talking about Israel? The middle eastern conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, of course. Well, enough has been written about the conflict and about the war. I shall not even attempt to tell you about the conflicts and their reasons.

What I want to focus on is the little things of everyday life, the casual, regular encounters, blissful moments, whatever is part of regular everyday life as I see it. I hope that this may outbalance somewhat the imbalanced and very partial pictures you see in the news spots.

The first theme I shall talk about in my coming posts is food - food as a place where cultures meet and mingle.