Our thanks to Kanishka for drawing attention to the recent DCist post about Israeli Falafel- a post that that rapidly devolved into an argument over cultural plagiarism of traditional Arabic foods. We’ve done some in-depth research into this matter (a couple of google searches) and these seem to the facts.
The claims:
Arabs believe that Israelis have stolen the concept of Falafel and turned it into what is popularly referred to as the”Israel’s National Snack.” No tourist brochure is without a picture of it, popular songs refer to it, and Israeli cookbooks contain recipes for it.
Israelis believe that it is silly to try to ‘own” a method of frying legumes, and that falafel is an international food, like hamburgers and pasta. Though no one claims to have created the recipe from scratch, Israeli cooks have as much a claim on it as anyone.
The Facts:
Falafel is old. There are records of both Jews and Arabs eating Falafel in the middle east for at least 3000 years, so the argument of who was technically eating it first doesn
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04Feb
8 Responses
What is the difference? Falafel is falafel.
I grew up in Detroit, which has large (huge) Israeli and Arab communities, and have been eating falafel since I before I can remember. I’ve never really heard of this distinction between “Israeli” and “Arab” falafel.
There are variations to the recipe, of course, but it’s no different than variations in recipes of hommous or tabouleh or baba, etc.
Not to jump into a pointlessly heated debate or anything, but I think you’re over-reading a couple of points in that article. The transition from favas to chickpeas didn’t occur with the dish’s adoption by Israelis, but with its movement “north” (i.e., into what was then Palestine). “Toppings” as a category are also not culturally unique, since the inclusion of tomatoes, shredded veggies, hummos, onions, and other such ingredients is common in “Arab falafel.” Rather it’s the TYPES of more off-beat toppings (beets, french fries, etc.) that are the israeli innovation here, if there is one.
I think that shouts of “cultural plagiarism” and heated rhetoric are definitely examples of overreaction, but adding the modifier “Israeli” to a fairly generic, standard falafel recipe is also unnecessary, precisely because it inspires that sort of heated rhetoric. Obviously in this case it came off of the original recipe that was adapted, but the mere fact that it made people aware of the debate makes the whole incident worthwhile, in my opinion.
Israelis put “chips” into falafel, not fries.
Well, Mexican food from Texas is definitely Texan, and we call it Tex-mex even tho the original recipes are definitely from south of the (original) border. On the other hand, Pasta is pasta, no matter where in the world it’s made. The American midwest is a huge exporter of pasta products I think, but it still uses Italian branding to sell stuff.
I’m going to have to agree with Jason, that in the end the name is just identification of the sub-recipe, none of which are all that dissimilar. I don
What about the Indian subcontinental origins of Falafel–not to mention the etymological? I hereby claim falafel for all India! You dirty cultural plagiarists.
DC’s new favorite game show: Anti-semite/Not Anti-semite
So I’m taking a cab to work today because I’m loaded down with luggage (horray for weekend getaways!) and the cab driver and I are talking about the traffic mess during the inaguration. He says that while he’s glad nothing…
The real issue is not about borrowing food. What gets many Palestinians upset is that Israel forcefully ehtnically cleansed the majority of Palestine from Arabs, and is continuing to do so; that Israel erased 420 Palestinian villages from the map, and is continuing to do so with its Apartheid wall; and then, on top of all this, they have the nerve to claim that Falafel is Israel’s National food. They not only took all our land and water and lives – they’re even after our Falafel!!!
I think the point here is that, irregardless of the politics, a food that has ancient roots in a specific region belongs to all the poeple who happen to be living there at the time- afterall, Palestinians borrowed it too.
There’s no more “they stole our falafel when they came here” then you can say “they stole our habit of wearing strong sunscreen to ward off the middle eastern sun…and now have the gall to even manufacture israeli sunscreen brands.” Editors note: Dont eat sunscreen.