Hummus war

from an AP wire written by Zeina Karam:

Oct 7th, 2008 | BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The latest conflict simmering between Lebanon and Israel is all about food: Lebanese businessmen accusing Israel of stealing traditional Middle Eastern dishes like hummus.

Fadi Abboud, president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, said Tuesday his group plans to sue Israel to stop it from marketing hummus and other regional dishes as Israeli.

"It is not enough they (Israelis) are stealing our land. They are also stealing our civilization and our cuisine," said Abboud.

He said his group also seeks to claim the eggplant spread baba ghannouj and tabbouleh, a salad made of chopped parsley and tomatoes, as Lebanon's own.

Hummus — made from mashed chickpeas, sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic — has been eaten in the Middle East for centuries. Its exact origin is unknown, though it's generally seen as an Arab dish.

But it is also immensely popular in Israel — served in everyday meals and at many restaurants — and its popularity is growing around the globe.

While Abboud cites a history of complaints by Lebanese businessmen about Israel exporting and marketing Lebanese dishes as Israeli, it's not clear where the Lebanese might file suit since the two countries are officially at war.

The answer is obvious:  they should settle this on Iron Chef!  Tonight's secret ingredient is... tahini!  Let the battle begin!  *zaghareet*

 

dancing birds

Just learned on MySpace that Wade Robson got an Emmy for the Hummingbird and Flower choreography--that makes me so happy!  It's so deserved.  I just wish the dancers could share in the award, because it wouldn't have been the same piece with anyone but Hok as the hummingbird.  Jaimie was good too, but he made it special.

Speaking of dancing, I had a blast performing at Ceremony last night.  Thanks to all of you who were there to help create a wonderful supportive audience!  I've been working with that song (Siouxsie's Into A Swan) for a while but that was the first time I performed it in front of people.  I was happy with how it went and I'm really looking forward to performing it again at Raks Spooki after working on it some more. There is just something about that song that grabs me and pulls, the way all your best "OMG This Is the Best Song Ever" songs do.  I felt like I was able to get some of that across in my performing.

I am also very glad I did not take out the disco ball or any of the lighting with my wings.  To my great relief, I was able to keep my windmill turns stationary enough to stay underneath the small bare area of ceiling just behind the disco ball ;-)