Sacha Baron Cohen is loose in Israel, and he's creating some confusion over the thin linguistic line between hummus and Hamas. Posing as his character Bruno, a gay Austrian rock star, Cohen has been interviewing unsuspecting Israeli and Palestinian political experts, leaving them flabbergasted by his "confusion" between chick pea paste and the militant political organization. This delicate differentiation has been dealt with before, most notably in West Bank Story, winner of the 2007 Live Action Short Film Oscar, and an official selection of Sundance Festival.

Hungry for more? Check out this video of Adam Sandler discussing the hummus factor in his recent flick, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus: with homemade pita chipsYou're gonna need to serve some snacks at your Sukkot soiree, lest your guests get sloshed on that Sukkot Sangria. This delicious recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Hummus is from La Dolce Vegan!, by the lovely and talented Sarah Kramer. There's a lot that's great about this recipe. For instance, it's really (really) easy to make, but it doesn't taste like it. Sure, they'll be soused, but your buddies will be impressed. Astounded reactions I've received upon serving this hummus have included, "You made this!?" and "Where did you learn how to cook!?"

The peppers and paprika create a rich, warm flavor and color, perfect for this autumn celebration. Balsamic vinegar, tamari, and apple cider vinegar add a tangy kick.

Make lots--it goes fast.

So yesterday night I arrived back in Nashvillle and did most of my unpacking right away. It got me thinking about all the times I packed and unpacked in college, and about the Jewish things that quickly fell by the wayside because they weren’t worth shlepping. A Kiddush cup, for instance, is of little use when you’re too young to buy wine. I mean maybe you’ll go out and get grape juice, but more likely you’ll end up at Hillel. And candlesticks for Shabbat are nice, but I don’t know of any dorms that allow candles, so it was always kind of a moot point. Anyway, while I was unpacking I came up with nine things to give a Jewish college student so that they can have their Jewish bases covered. And they're not what you think they are...
Hummus: Don't start college without it
1. Mezuzah These are pretty necessary, and the nice thing about living in a dorm is that you’ll only need to get one. Make sure to have a kosher scroll, too. You can buy fancy ones at the mezuzah store, which is where I linked to above, but you can also just ask the local chabad and they’ll get you one for cheap.
2. Tzedakah box You can buy a fancy one at a Judaica store, or you can make one from a box you buy at a craft store and some paint or whatever you want. It’s also nice to have a little discussion about how much tzedakah to give, and where the money will go at the end of the year. I like to give mine to the scholarship fund at Iowa, where I did my undergrad work, but there’s no shortage of good causes.
3. Siddur It pains me to recommend that you buy the superfrum Artscroll siddur, but it really is the most comprehensive and easy to use siddur. It has instructions for pretty much every Jewish ritual, and you can buy small size for fairly cheap. An irritating but ultimately worthwhile investment.
4. Tanach Every student should own a copy of the Bible if only so they can look up various biblical references in literary texts. The JPS translation is, I think, by far the best, and they sell small paperback copies that are great for students.
5. Luach Though it’s easy to access the dates of holidays and such with the internet, it’s nice to have it written down somewhere, and a Luach or Jewish calendar will make sure you don’t forget tomorrow is Rosh Hashana. This one also has tons of other helpful info in it for anyone who goes to shul regularly.
6. Hummus No Jewish child should be forced to live without good hummus. And by “good hummus” I do not mean that Athenos crap. I mean Sabra brand hummus, or something else genuinely Israeli if you live in an area where that’s available. These babies come in containers small enough to fit in your mini fridge, and are great with baby carrots, chips, pita, and cut veggies. The perfect between class snack.
7. Kippah and/or tallit You really don’t need to buy either of these items. You can score a kippah at your local synagogue or Hillel, and I’ve already told you how to make your own tallit. Good things to have on hand for the nights you decide to hit up Hillel for some free food.
8. Israeli Flag Yes, this is necessary. It doesn’t have to be huge, but a medium sized Israeli Flag says, ‘Don’t fuck with me or I will bring out my mad Krav Maga skills.” Tack it up on a bulletin board with a few things covering parts of it and you’re casually tough. Excellent.
9. Mivtza Savta Mivtza Savta literally means Operation Grandmother, but it’s basically a screwball version of Little Miss Sunshine done in Israel several years ago. It’s one of those cult classics that gets funnier every time. A nice thing to prove you’re one of those cool Yids.

Now you’ve got the tools to give charity, go to services, curb hunger, and stay amused. You may also want to buy books and bedding and whatever… That’s not really my forte.

Now get out there and make your mother proud!

Chickpeas, also known as Garbanzo beans, are those little flesh colored legumes that come in a Goya can. Sometimes they're mashed into a creamy paste by Sabra - or some other inferior brand of hummus. At least that's what I thought until tonight's dinner.

The blacker the chickpea, the sweeter the hummusI went over to a friend's apartment to make supper, and along with fresh green beans, ripe tomatoes, and multiple bulbs of garlic, she whipped out a bowl of what looked like dried out raisins. "They're heirloom chickpeas," she said. "My sister got them for me." WTF? On closer inspection these brown spheres did resemble a bean, but definitely not the plump spheres I occasionally tossed into green salads. But that's just the thing about heirloom vegetables. Most of the vegetables found in supermarkets are bred (or genetically modified) to 1. look pretty 2. stand up to the long distances they travel from farm to table. Heirlooms are, as their name suggests, an older variety of a plant that has been largely knocked off the agricultural playing field. If you've ever wondered why heirloom tomatoes often look so ugly, it's because they pre-date our cultural obsession for fat, uniform - and tasteless - produce.

According to Madhur Jaffery, author of the James Beard Award Winning, World Vegetarian cookbook (and one of the fiercest foodies out there): "Chickpeas originated in ancient times, probably in the southern Caucasus region, helping to feed Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Armenia...The early chickpea was probably small and dark, and was eventually bred to be large and pale."

These chickpeas were not gorgeous, but upon tasting one I was more than willing to overlook trivial things like surface beauty. My friend and I made fresh hummus, which resembled a black bean dip and literally made my night. Check out the recipe below.

Heirloom Hummus

(This recipe is very loosely based on Jaffrey's "Bead Hummus." Like a good bubbe's recipe, the quantities are approximate. Just fuss around with it until it "looks right.")

• 2 cups chick peas (black or "kala chana" if you can find them - otherwise Goya will do the trick)
• 4-5 cloves garlic (whole, skins removed)
• 4-5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 sprigs fresh mint
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 3/4 teaspoon salt

Puree the chick peas and garlic cloves in a food processor until roughly chopped. Add all other ingredients and process again until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning, tahini, etc. until you reach the right consistency and flavor.

Continue reading...

Laurel already wrote a great post this week about how hard it is to make Yom Haatzmaut, (Israel’s Independence Day) meaningful. It’s a tall order, especially these days, when, frankly, I have lots of ideological problems with Israeli politics. But I’ve come up with a few things you can do to focus your day on Israel and on freedom.

1. Say Hallel
Hallel is composed of psalms 113-118, which you can find online in both Hebrew and English here. The chapters are full of gratitude and faith, joy and salvation from enemies. Experiencing Hallel in a synagogue is ideal because it tends to be a raucous and unruly affair that’s especially fun for kids, but if you just want to say them at home, it’s cool. Hallel is one of those awesome prayers that doesn’t require a minyan, so saying it on your own is totally fine. And I think saying Hallel for a newer/more recent event than Hanukkah just reaffirms that we still think God is hanging around and acting on our behalf. It’s like saying, “Hey, these psalm things really work!”
Buy This Book: It has pictures of Israeli bumper stickers with translations and explanations. Awesome!
2. Recap the Haggadah
I don’t know why no one has made a Yom Haatzmaut seder yet. It seems to me like a totally obvious thing to do. We were slaves, we were oppressed, and now we’re free, and we get to be in charge of ourselves. It’s the same story. And instead of matzah eat pita, and instead of charoset eat hummus. This idea is so good I have to go write up something real for next year, but in the meantime, retell the story of the exodus, and of the obstacles the Jews had to face amongst themselves in the desert. Remember that getting out of slavery doesn’t automatically mean we’re home free. We still have lots of work to do.

3. Give a couple bucks to the Israeli economy
Head to the grocery store and look out for products that were made/grown in Israel. If you need some hints check out Israeliproducts.com where you can find all kinds of lists of yummy Israeli treats. I’m a big fan of Wissotzky teas, but there’s plenty of variety to choose from. Supporting the economy means supporting Israel’s democracy. It’s giving to other Jews, which is pretty Jewish.

4. Listen to some rockin’ Israeli tunes
A big part of most Jewish holidays are the songs we sing for them. Yom Haatzmaut doesn’t quite have a modern liturgy, but I like to celebrate with the music of Shlomo Artzi, who’s known as the father of modern Israel songwriting, and who has been around the Israeli music scene since the sixties. He’s patriotic, but never in an idiotic way. I’m also a huge fan of Gaya, who sing that insanely catchy song Od Yavo, and it’s cousin, Yachad. You’ve heard them both relentlessly from youth groups in the past five years.

5. Stay involved in Israeli life
Even when it seems like a drag, and when you are so embarrassed by Moshe Katzav and irriated by Ehud Olmert that you can’t imagine ever wanting to hear about the Knesset again, keep reading the papers and blogs and talking to people who’ve just come back from trips to Israel. Whether you like it or not, Israel’s survival and success have a big effect on any and every Jew. Stay informed, have an opinion, and duke it out (verbally) with others.

Chag sameach!

PS- To buy the book pictured above head to stickingtoisrael.com.

• Hummus is like crack to New Yorkers, really. [Ynet]
• A Feast of Jewish Learning always entails a plentiful amount of grub. How else do you rationalize the guilt over the price of admission?[Upcoming.Org]
• A blogger laments how he much he wishes he could have grown up in the 60's and fucked a lot of women. Instead, he writes a blog post about it and will most likely make sweet love to Rita Hayworth later. [Jew Eat Yet?]
• No. Food is not a lifestyle. But being the one girl who isn't sticking her finger down her throat at the Matzo Ball is just not cool. [All The Way From Oy To Vey]
• Chef Anthony Bourdain has a thing for "jamming" a can of Cheese Whiz into certain orifices and pressing hard. Hey, we're just repeating it...[Blogging Out Loud]
• There do exist female editors who work for Jane magazine who haven't had their cherries popped. Go figure! [Gawker]