Now that I'm working on revising our website - I've been Googling myself to look for links and found these two below. One is for a screening of my film OUT FOR LOVE at Sinai Temple with Mike Meadavoy one of the greatest producers alive. The other is for a story on KCRW I'm in that I wasn't aware I was part of.
KCRW STORY:
In 2012, I didn't know much about KCRW. I was still somewhat of a newbie in the world of public radio.
I guess I was a judge in a food competition with Evan Kleinman who since then I've become a huge fan of.
Thanks to Google I recently found this story on KCRW's page. Not sure I ever posted it before.
So for my own history I decided to make sure it lives at least on my page.
https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/hummus-competition-2013-aka-continuing-food-education
Hummus Competition – aka Continuing Food Education
I don’t judge many food competitions, but when I was asked to judge a Hummus Competition I was intrigued. I eat hummus. I make hummus. But I’m not an expert on the addicting puree.
I’ve never been to Israel or Lebanon or Egypt so I have no frame of reference for what is considered correct and delicious in situ. I have no idea of regional variations. The contest, organized by filmmaker Avital Levy, and billed as a fundraiser for her documentary “Hummus Wars” would feature “5-7 contestants – all very different – a couple Israelis, a few Americans, 1 or 2 who never made hummus before, a chef for Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks studios and one for an Egyptian restaurant.
Old Fashioned Type – runny, needs salt
NYC Dense, Oniony
KCRW Worker – Jalapeno Hot!
Jerusalem Hummus
Nancy’s Winning Hummus
Dreamworks – note Fried Chickpeas
Pretty, Fluffy – needed salt
Since 2007 Israel and Lebanon have battled with chickpeas and tahini over the Guinness World Record for the largest bowl of hummus. As the years go by the competition has pushed the size from a paltry 900 lbs to the current Lebanese behemoth bowl at 23,042 lbs (see photo above). The title has gone back and forth across the border over the years.
The competition at a private home in the Hollywood Hills featured American, Israeli and Egyptian competitors. How could I turn down such an excellent opportunity to further my hummus education? My fellow judges were Dudi Caspi, writer for Shavua Israel and hummus lover and Dan Katzir, filmmaker and hummus blogger. The MC started the evening off with the comment, “The moon is rising over the trees like a big bowl of hummus.”
Entries ranged from a lemony, super smooth Egyptian puree to a rough mash made in the pre-blender/food processor style. There was an assertive SoCal version made with Jalapenos and a New York entry that was dense and sweetened with caramelized onions. Cumin was omnipresent in some and nearly absent in others. A couple could have used a little salt. I learned a lot, laughed even more and learned that democracy is a powerful thing. Turns out that we judges came to the same conclusion as the audience “tasters” who were texting their faves.
The winner for 2012 was the super smooth lemony hummus made by Egyptian Nancy Boules of Cafe Dahab. Runner up was 70 year old Jerusalemite Ram Alkaly, represented by his son Ben.
P2: GESTURES
Another story I felt is also important to mention since we just discussed Hummus on my blog - is one the mainstream media gave very little attention to. It was a small story but a huge gesture. I felt that I should mention it here so that I can see if my instincts about it's historical significance will indeed come true.
Gesture according to Webster dictionary is "something said or done by way of formality or courtesy, as a symbol or token, or for its effect on the attitudes of others"
This Gesture by Saudi Clerics I believe is one of the most important gestures in the middle east in the last 75 years between Israel and its neighbors.
Winds of change are truly blowing throughout the Middle East. Remember this moment in time as gestures like this one that get a small headline - sometimes lead to ground breaking historic changes.
Here's the link to the article and the article itself:
https://www.israelhayom.com/2020/01/23/in-first-senior-saudi-clerics-to-visit-auschwitz/
In first, senior Saudi clerics to visit Auschwitz
Mohammed al-Issa, head of the Mecca-based Muslim World League, to head a delegation of Muslim religious leaders from over 24 countries to the Nazi death camp. American Jewish Committee chief: This is the most senior delegation of Muslim religious leaders to visit Auschwitz ever.
Last modified: 01-23-2020 12:47
Muhammad al-Issa, head of the Muslim World League | File photo: Reuters / Clotaire Ach
A senior Saudi religious leader was slated to make a historic visit to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland on Thursday, ahead of the 75th anniversary of its liberation by the Soviet Red Army.
Mohammed al-Issa, head of the Mecca-based Muslim World League, was set to head a delegation of Muslim religious leaders from more than 24 countries on the visit. The Arab clerics were to be accompanied by a delegation of American Jewish Committee officials.
AJC CEO David Harris said the trip represented "the most senior delegation of Muslim religious leaders to visit Auschwitz ever."
ACJ spokesman Kenneth Bandler said that Issa, the other Muslim clerics and the AJC officials will tour the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw on Friday as well as visit the Nozyk Synagogue in the Polish capital and a local mosque. They will also share an interfaith Shabbat meal, he said.
A former Saudi justice minister, in 2018, Issa visited the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. In a subsequent opinion piece that he wrote in The Washington Post, the Saudi cleric said, "I urge all Muslims to learn the history of the Holocaust, to visit memorials and museums of this horrific event and to teach its lesson to their children."
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