Allelujah ([info]basicblack) wrote,
@ 2007-09-24 12:49:00
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Current mood: defiant

Trouble from the Middle East and other lunchtime occurrences
I can't win with Middle Eastern food!

I try to eat falafel and get told by an Israeli the way I'm eating them is insulting her country and culture (though I suspect, coming from [info]zehavit_lamasu, that was quite a compliment,) and in the office I bring in houmous and my coworker gives me a very suspicious look, as if I had just casually inquired after the quality of her life insurance.

Bring on the dietary defiance, then! I will eat what I want, how I want! Avert thine eyes, native consumers of houmous and falafel! HERE COME THE KNIFE AND FORK!


(22 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]meus_profiteor
2007-09-24 12:15 pm UTC (link)
I suspect that the only way around this is to devise some kind of meal that is deliberately offensive to as many religions and cultures as possible.

You should include:
Steak (Hindus)
Bacon (Jews)
Falafel (Israeli's)
Houmous
If it's not Friday, then Fish (Catholics)...

...and now I'm out of ideas, but it's a start ;)

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[info]basicblack
2007-09-24 12:51 pm UTC (link)
Hmm, I don't know, I think I would find a lot of that stuff offensive to eat... ^_~

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[info]zehavit_lamasu
2007-09-24 12:39 pm UTC (link)
I hope that you are using the right kind of pita bread for this homous... otherwise you will not be allowed into Israel when I take you there to visit. *watches you closely* >:D

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[info]basicblack
2007-09-24 12:52 pm UTC (link)
It was the right sort of houmous, anyway! It was the same stuff you fed me. Of course it's not the same without Raphael there, but I made do.

I didn't eat it with pitta bread though, I was eating it with........ wraps!

Am I going to get set upon by angry mobs in Haifa?

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[info]zehavit_lamasu
2007-09-24 12:57 pm UTC (link)
*sighs dramatically*

well... we will just have to put you through basic humous eating training and if I take my top off at passport control they might let us through without too much trouble...

And the airport is in Tel Aviv which smells slightly better than Haifa but not by much... My uncle got a humous restaurant in Akko... he will test your humous eating skills when we get there >_< .

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[info]basicblack
2007-09-24 01:07 pm UTC (link)
I shall look forward to Houmous Eating 101 and Hebrew Insults for Beginners next time I visit, then. ^_~

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[info]rabidpotterfan
2007-09-24 02:12 pm UTC (link)
Food is complicated. ;)

I should be sleeping, or packing or making phone calls...so of course I'm messing about on LJ instead! ;)

*hugs* Miss you!

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[info]basicblack
2007-09-24 02:23 pm UTC (link)
I'm sorry you're feeling stressed and unwell, honey. I don't expect the moggies will enjoy the move much, either. I hope it all goes well and you're feeling better soon!

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[info]rabidpotterfan
2007-09-24 06:25 pm UTC (link)
I don't know how the kitties will react. They have moved before, but only within Albuquerque...not 450 miles away. I hope they won't hate the car trip too much!

I haven't slept, it's afternoon now. And I am too brain dead to do things like set up the telephone service and DSL in Denver. It can wait until tomorrow...it's just going to have to!!
XoXo

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[info]dopeangel
2007-09-24 03:06 pm UTC (link)
I agree that food is pretty complicate matter but, hell, there are more serious, disturbing and insulting matters than how someone eat something =o

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[info]basicblack
2007-09-28 09:57 am UTC (link)
Heh heh, I think so. Given you go to certain eateries around London and see people shoving food in their faces with their fingers I'm not too worried about my culinary habits!

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[info]solidark
2007-09-24 04:49 pm UTC (link)
I always eat falafel the way I'd eat what Mexicans call taco árabe (which is basically Turkish döner without yoghurt), just with, well, falafel instead of meat and tahini instead of salsa. Because in Israel I've been told you have to eat tahini with falael and humous is not required. But that may be another 'school'. It's a little like Germans and the big question what sort of mustard is necessary for what kind of sausage. And I found that Sephardi Jews are much more tolerant than Ashkenazi Jews.

But I guess I'd really have gotten in trouble if I had asked for knife and fork when eating falafel in Israel *lol*.

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[info]basicblack
2007-09-28 09:58 am UTC (link)
Hee, probably.

Fortunately, when I visit Israel I will have a native with me to give me proper instructions.

(Like in Japan when Wakako made kind suggestions regarding how I might like to arrange myself on the floor cushion to eat in a restaurant...)

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[info]saaski_moql
2007-09-25 03:26 am UTC (link)
Mmph. As one who is not a fan of falafel or hummos, I fail to see the big deal. They both jsut taste BAD

S'funny too, since cause' I'm Jewish I'm practically expected to like the things. "You don't like falafel?! Why?" -_-;

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[info]basicblack
2007-09-28 09:59 am UTC (link)
That's all right. I'm english and I don't like..... well, roast dinner, to be fair. Well, it has its moments. Yorkshire pudding is the bee's knees...

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[info]yami_tai
2007-09-25 11:36 am UTC (link)
Avert thine eyes, native consumers of houmous and falafel! HERE COME THE KNIFE AND FORK!

O.O Knife and fork? What's wrong with using your fingers, hun?

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[info]basicblack
2007-09-28 10:00 am UTC (link)
My fingers would get all icky! :(

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[info]m_crowley
2007-09-25 03:17 pm UTC (link)
Glad to see that your priorities are in order. The food is to be eaten, means of conveyance to mouth are secondary.

Also, rather nice to hear from you. Uhm...I dont know if I got cut on your friends cut. If I did can I be uncut? Or are you just horribly busy and have no time for us plebians on LJ?

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[info]m_crowley
2007-09-25 03:20 pm UTC (link)
Nevermind. *sweatdrop*

On another note, at least no one will mistake you for being anything other than very British should you visit another country. Though I'm sure your attempts to eat the food in the culturaly acceptable way are most amusing.

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[info]basicblack
2007-09-28 10:01 am UTC (link)
Oi, I'll have you know I'm perfectly adept with chopsticks and had no awkward eating incidents in Japan or Korea. (Even when they were staring at me, waiting for me to choke on konyaku or kimchi.)

Israeli food is clearly overly complicated. ^_~

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[info]bas2007
2007-09-26 07:35 am UTC (link)
Since I'm not fond on falafels (or houmous, for that matter), I didn't realize that there's a right way and a wrong way (probably several, no doubt) to eat Middle Eastern food. So, good luck with Houmous Eating 101! I'm sure Zehavit is a good teacher!

Regarding the comment about your coworker... Fortunately, I don't have to worry about that since I'm usually eating my lunch in the car while driving from one school to another. The only people with whom I eat are the DJs on whatever radio station I happen to be listening to at the time -- AND they can't see WHAT I'm eating much less HOW I'm eating.

Now that I have your attention... Would you please check your e-mail. I have an LJ-related question, but I'd prefer not to post it here -- a bit too embarrassing, as you'll find out soon enough!

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[info]basicblack
2007-09-28 10:02 am UTC (link)
This particular coworker always gives me a hard time about my lunch, no matter what I have. I'm not really sure why. She thinks houmous and wraps look unpleasant, though, so she's clearly wrong. ^_~

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