I love food and I'm always open to try new food, regional food, weird food. I'm not at Anthony Bourdain's level or at that guy's that tries the most bizzare foods but I think I'm rather open minded.
Last weekend I ate something called "shakshuka" which is basically an egg-for-dinner dish in red yummy flavorful sauce. It is not the first time I eat it, I am a little fascinated by this dish for a while now, but kind of forgot about it. Now, I decided to cook it again and see if I can get it right.
So, I started to research and OhMyGod!... the comments on the recipe are mind-blowing.
You see, this is Jewish dish that some people claim that is actually a Palestinian dish, born in the middle east, stole by the jews. Of course, they disagree. Then some people claim that it was originally a Mediterranean version that found its way the Middle East. Who is right?" who as first? Does it matter?
Of course not. This is political or at least, this is projection your political views into a kind of food. Same with hummus. Everyone things THEY invented and the other side STOLE it and claimed it as their own. Again. Does it matter who came with the idea to make a paste out of chickpeas, add some tahina and go to town on it?
On NYtimes the first comment reads:
if by Israeli you mean Palestinian dish then yes. Its a Palestinian dish. Shwarma, hummus, shakshuka and other middle eastern dishes are from Arab decent, not Jewish (unless youre an Arab Jew in which case your roots are of ARAB descent)
Forgive my geopolitical ignorance but how is this the most upvote comment on a recipe page?! And why do we allow our hate and biases to taint an awesome recipe? And why do we reward this with upvotes?!
The list goes on. Comment after comment that discuss the history and like ancestry of this simple dish and how it's an example of the evilness of a people. HOW did food become so damn polarizing.
I always seen food as something that unites us. Yeah we might hate eachother for reasons but we can all share a burger and agree that this is awesome. We can gather around a pizza and not fight over who does it better, unless it's in a fun jab at eachother's preferences. We can be on democrats and republicans and labour and whatever and still agree that a divine cheesecake is to die for. Yes, life and decisions are political and yes, food can be a statement (vegan, anyone?) and can represent your life-view and your principles. But THIS?!
COME ON!
In which I bring world piece
So, annoyed and upset and saddened by this I took it upon myself to do something that will end this strife. If you can't make two enemies love eachother again, you can sure unite them into common hatred of someone else. ME!
But how...how...how...how could I convince everyone that no matter your disagreements, THIS guy is like..THE WORST?!
My Solution: total bastardization of the dish.
I started innocently, by following the recipe: Some onion, some pepper, red sauce.
THEN, bacon appeared. I could hear them gasp in horror: "BACON?!?!"
Oh yes, bacon! how do you like THAT?!
Later that day...
Anyway, this was just the begginning. Then, I decided that as I don't have chickpeas...I should use something else.
.
.
.
PASTA!
.
.
.
HAHAHAHHAHAHA. Oh, man, I am having so much fun. Yeah, this is still the same recipe! YES! I call it as I want. Damn be the history. Will it be yummy? That's all I need to know.
In the end, it was great. Like, more than great. It was awesome!
I hope I solved all the world's problems :)
And I want to finish this with another comment from the same recipe:
Bomb daddy. Didn't have the peps, but went hard in the paint anyway. Hella fire. x
yeah man it's one of the simple Palestinian dishes whenever you need healthy breakfast or late night light dinner ; we call it shakshuka (شكشوكة) ....
and i really laughed my ass when i saw you (My Solution: total bastardization of the dish) ... looool enjoy :)
if i did not pissed you off I feel like my job was not done :D:D:D:
hahaha... believe me it's done :P ... and for that i'll prepare one shakshuka dish tomorrow morning ;)
Mmm it does look good. A version made with beans is an Argentinian breakfast dish. Can't remember the name off hand but delicious too. X
haha. NEXT time I'll add beans!!
Do. I used Garbanzo (chickpeas) as they are my favourites. Also used chorizo as the meat element as I like things spicy and living in Spain it is easily available. When you soak the beans from dried, add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to the water. Rinse well before you cook them and they will cook in half the time, and cook soft too. X
food can solve everything :D <3
Is the connection to everyone. Everyone needs it everyone likes it everyone uses it :)
Everyone can make it
Soy tu tio
nom nom our way through life!
good idea
Nice post tnx for sharing
lovely post! thanks for sharing
Awesome post and looks great!
Haha excellent idea. If people can't decide where a dish comes from... then just bastardize it :)
It's really sad indeed... argueing about food for the sake of using it in some political discussion.
it looks good!
Mhm that's delicious!
Nice post
Nice post. I will try it without the pasta probably. Trying to get into ketosis where the body is turning fat into energy without losing muscle tissue.
Keep up the good work!
Hi @razvanelulmarin !!
nice post and caption as well. i really liked your post. see u soon.
upvoted you.
Food is good 😉
thanks for sharing
@razvanelulmarin you've provided a dinner idea for tonoight.
The link to the NYT recipe wanted me to sign in, so I found another one:
http://www.delscookingtwist.com/2017/04/21/shakshuka-with-feta-cheese/
I think I'll add the bacon too, everything is better with bacon.
Everyone seems to want me to serve it with pita, so I think I'll go with some good old Murican white bread & butter.
Food Nazis, as if there weren't enough other kinds.
@razvanelulmarin Thanks for sharing the ingredients and recipe. It looks so simple but simple dishes are the best ones!
Like Beetroot Soup that I prepared recently. If you would like to see recipe please check my channel :)
Oh... my... goodness! :cP
I really loved the way you took a serious and sad subject and sent it over the edge almost Monty Python style! ^_^
To answer your question - the reason why a comment like 'that' gets highest votes is down to two primary factors:
1 - Popular perspective on Palestinians and Israelis - which has been bouncing back and forth but seems to currently be quite pro-Palestinian (for various reasons but I needn't delve that deeply), and
2 - The power of populism. Populism helped to get various politicians, some notorious, into power - so why would it not help a comment get voted to the top of a list? This doesn't mean that it was even crafted to be populist - but nevertheless struck all the nerves necessary to bring such about.
Incidentally your experimentation reminds me of the time that I made Bolognese "sushi" rolls... ;cP
I can see all this but it is a bit sad, isn't it?
Now that's a recipe we should try!!
Sad indeed, yes it is, but then again so is democracy as we know it (opinion-engineered periodic faux-choice-reinforced oligarchy).
Oh and the rolls came good but I recommend making the meat sauce extra meaty or on the dry side. ^_~
Damn! Whatever it is, these food look damn delicious!
I know bro :D