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Make it a hummus weekend

by michael • July 11 2008
Food, Things to do

A plate of hummus in the Old City of Jerusalem It's the weekend. Jerusalemite likes to celebrate these milestones in time the same way it likes to celebrate everything else: with a plate of creamy hummus.

But of course, most of Jerusalem's famous hummusiot close up shop for the weekend, leaving those Jerusalem residents and tourists who do not observe Shabbat bereft of warm chickpea ambrosia. On Shabbat, there is nary a fuul bean nor a warm pita to be found in the city center.

But there is another way.

The famous hummus restaurants in the Arab sections of the Old City are open for business on Saturdays, and all Jerusalem visitors owe it to themselves to give these restaurants and their generations-old hummus recipes a try.

The two Old City hummusiot that garner the most attention are Abu Shukri in the Muslim Quarter and Lina in the Christian Quarter. Both are simple, unadorned establishments filled with quiet men who are deadly serious about the pursuit of perfect hummus. Both are Jerusalem institutions. And both of them have faultless hummus, intensely flavorful and swimming in a deep pool of olive oil in the classic Arab style.

So what are you waiting for? Taste a piece of Jerusalem tradition.

Photo courtesy of plate of hummus courtesy of thisyearsboy under a creative commons license.

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4 Comments

0 • 1800flowers • 20:31 on 08 July 2008

WmsLRc fasfs fsf safsafasf afsfsafas

0 • lhaber • 00:06 on 15 July 2008

I signed up for this BLOG believing it was a Jewish site albeit not necessarily Orthodox. Therefore, I am quite dismayed that you are promoting Arab establishments. While you are advising the use for non Shomer Shabbat people, the ultimate result will be a decline in the business of Jews. If I am mistaken and this is a non-Jewish site, but rather an Arab site, please delete me from the group!

0 • michael • 04:18 on 15 July 2008

This site, as its name implies, is for all Jerusalemites: Jewish and Arab, Christian and Muslim, secular and religious, native-born and foreign, resident and tourist. Our agenda is neither Jewish supremacy nor Arab supremacy, and regional politics are not our purview; our concern is a flourishing Jerusalem for all who live in it and love it.

Why do we promote Arab establishments? First, Arabs have lived in Jerusalem for 1400 years, and they are inextricably woven into the fabric of the city - and any website that purports to be a comprehensive guide to Jerusalem would be remiss in pretending they didn't exist. Second, our readership is by no means entirely Jewish - we are just as interested in reaching, say, secular Europeans or American Christians or those busloads of flash-camera-happy Japanese tourists as we are in reaching Jews (because those people come to Jerusalem and spend money too). And third, frankly, Arab cuisine is often wonderful, and nobody does it better than the Arabs themselves. Abu Shukri and Lina are, bottom line, fantastic restaurants, and unless prevented by religious obligations, there is absolutely no reason why any visitor to Jerusalem should deprive themselves of a great meal at a veteran Jerusalem institution. Like it or not, every bite of hummus at these generations-old restaurants it a bite of genuine Jerusalem history and culture (which is, again, what Jerusalemite is all about).

Furthermore, this website has devoted countless thousands of words to the promotion of Jewish-owned restaurants and venues in the city. If that isn't enough - if you would have us expunge all references to Arabs or other non-Jews, all our guide entries on non-Jewish-owned restaurants and hotels, on churches and mosques, on Canaanite or Byzantine or Mameluk archaeological sites - then Jerusalemite may not be for you. We'll be sorry to see you go, but if you're uncomfortable with the idea of a Jerusalemite for all Jerusalemites, then say the word and we'll accommodate your request for account deletion.