Better Hummus, Too

Martin Peretz's 1,027th reason why Arabs are teh suck:

Berber comes from the same root as barbarian. But there is nothing barbarian about the Berbers. Their rugs and and especially their vases are so much more subtle than the glimmery ornate of their Arab neighbors.

In all seriousness, yesterday I eschewed my usual supermarket purchase of Tribe of Two Sheiks Hummus in favor of Sabra Hummus and got better results with the fake-Arab product than with the fake-Israeli one. But never an Arab vase!

Comments

But there is nothing barbarian about the Berbers.

Oh yeah? What about Zinedine Zidane?

Posted by Randy Paul | January 15, 2007 1:19 PM

One feels that Peretz's feelings might change if someone sent him a history of the Almoravid dynasty, especially its founder.

It's my own opinion, poorly sourced, that the Berber/Arab distinction in the Maghreb is more of a clash between urbanized and more rural-oriented populations, which has hardened into a somewhat false ethnic division through the medium of language --- see Taiwanese vs. Mainlander divisions in Taiwan/ROC, for instance.

Posted by tequila | January 15, 2007 1:32 PM

That's hilarious. "Their vases are ornate!" is one of the funniest instantiations of racial sentiment I've ever heard.

It's like a hardline anti-white Rastafarian setting aside "Babylon kill our prophets" and pointing out over dinner that white people tend to overcook their carrots.

Posted by Andrew Edwards | January 15, 2007 1:32 PM

In his next installment, Peretz bemoans the destruction of the Aztec civilization by Spanish invaders in the 1500s. 500 year old analogies are a tough sell, I think.

Posted by RSA | January 15, 2007 1:56 PM

Are you saying you prefer Two Sheiks hummus to Sabra? Two Sheiks is glorified bean dip. Sabra is rich and full of tahini. Their product line is unnecessarily complicated, though. You need to get the one "with pine nuts and a touch of hot sauce."

Posted by Chris Conway | January 15, 2007 2:16 PM

Shorter Peretz: My car wouldn't start this morning, because Arabs are anti-Semitic barbarian liars.

Posted by M. Duss | January 15, 2007 2:16 PM

Wow. As the product of an ornamental culture that makes Arabs seem like decorative puritans--and consumed liberally from their idiom--I kinda take double the offense at that. What the hell?

Posted by Saheli | January 15, 2007 2:41 PM

I am looking forward to Dershowitz's review of your book in TNR.

Posted by otto | January 15, 2007 2:43 PM

"Wow. As the product of an ornamental culture that makes Arabs seem like decorative puritans--and consumed liberally from their idiom--I kinda take double the offense at that. What the hell?"

Welcome to the inimitable comedic stylings of Marty Peretz. He'll be here all week. Remember to tip you waitress well.

Posted by Petey | January 15, 2007 2:49 PM

You know Costco actually has surprisingly good hummus. I get mine from a Co-op down the street--really good home-made hummus, but as far as the packaged stuff goes, Coscto is the best I've had.

Posted by Eric the Political Hack | January 15, 2007 2:53 PM

Are you saying you prefer Two Sheiks hummus to Sabra? Two Sheiks is glorified bean dip. Sabra is rich and full of tahini.

Second that. Preferring Two Sheiks to Sabra calls your judgment into question on a very basic level.

Posted by Antid Oto | January 15, 2007 3:46 PM

I am pro-Israel and pro-Berber because the shopping in Tel Aviv and Morocco better, darhling!

Posted by zsa zsa the whore | January 15, 2007 4:12 PM

Sabra's hommous masbacha is the one to beat, IMHO. "Topped with olive oil, chickpeas, and a unique touch of herbs and spices." Bliss.

Posted by Uncle Kvetch | January 15, 2007 5:13 PM

I'm afraid our friend Marty has succumbed to the lure of what my high school French teacher called false friends. Berber and Barbarian seem to be cognates, but are not. The definition at the online Merriam-Webster diction for Berber reads as follows:
Main Entry: Ber·ber
Pronunciation: 'b&r-b&r
Function: noun
Etymology: ultimately from Arabic barbar
1 : a member of any of various peoples living in northern Africa west of Tripoli
2 a : a branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family comprising languages spoken by various peoples of northern Africa and the Sahara (as the Tuaregs and the Kabyles) b : any one of the Berber languages

For "barbarous" (the closest word to barbarian for which we have an etymology given):
Main Entry: bar·ba·rous
Pronunciation: 'bär-b(&-)r&s
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin barbarus, from Greek barbaros foreign, ignorant
1 a : UNCIVILIZED b : lacking culture or refinement : PHILISTINE
2 : characterized by the occurrence of barbarisms
3 : mercilessly harsh or cruel

Just because they look the same doesn't mean they have the same derivation. Or maybe Peretz is a barbarian.

Posted by Delia | January 15, 2007 5:48 PM

But there is nothing barbarian about the Berbers.

Oh yeah? What about Zinedine Zidane?

Zizou's headbutts are perfectly civilized, administered in a most gentlemanly manner.

Posted by Fifi | January 15, 2007 7:37 PM

I can't believe somebody hasn't mentioned this yet--maybe I just overlooked it-- but here goes: Berbers may or may not be barbarians, but they aren't Arabs. They're a conquered people that have gotten along rather badly with their conquerors. Berber and Persion are the two language (groups) in the Africa-mideast belt that never succumbed to Arabic.

Posted by Buce | January 15, 2007 8:28 PM

Here in West Michigan (Gerald Ford country)we don't get much exotic food. But we're all quoting the dictionary here, so I just had to look up this humus stuff you all are talking about (you're misspelling it, by the way--only one "m").

We've got some of that stuff right here on the farm, down by the creek. But I wouldn't have thought of eating it . . .

Posted by rea | January 15, 2007 9:13 PM

A decent food processor, a couple cans of chickpeas, a jar of tahini, some extra-virgin olive oil, a few lemons to squeeze, and one of those huge costco sized things of cumin (the cumin is oft-neglected but gives it its kick) and you can make boatloads of awesome hummus in about ten minutes for about 3 dollars in ingredients. No need to deal w/ the storebought crap.

Posted by Hank Scorpio | January 15, 2007 9:33 PM

Ditto on Costco hummus - it is surprisingly excellent.

Posted by John | January 15, 2007 11:13 PM

I suppose Peretz hates 17th-century Baroque artwork too. It's probably too gilded and excesses for his clear-eyed neoclassical tastes. If it isn't straight lines, perspective, clean white marble, and geometric regularity, then it ain't art, dammit!

Also: Buce, I think that Peretz (and Matt) are aware of that. Thus Marty's claim that Berber craft items are much nicer than the "glimmery ornate" stuff of the Arabs.

Posted by moonbiter | January 16, 2007 9:00 AM

Hummus is very easy to make: put chick peas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, cumin and paprika in a blender in proportions you like.

Posted by brendan | January 16, 2007 11:23 AM

Re: Berbers may or may not be barbarians, but they aren't Arabs. They're a conquered people that have gotten along rather badly with their conquerors. Berber and Persion are the two language (groups) in the Africa-mideast belt that never succumbed to Arabic.

Berber languages do belong to the same overall language family as Arabic, as do most of the languages of Ethiopia and Somilia, and even some west African languages like Hausa. Persian however is an Indo-European language.

Posted by JonF | January 17, 2007 1:05 PM

I can buy Two Sheiks hummus as well as Sabra here in TX. Sabra far exceeds the taste and quality of 2Sheiks, but teh TX Pita Pal is much better than Sabra. I usually buy it at Costco, but also pick up a small container for lunch at the Whole Foods down the street from my office.

Posted by dana | January 31, 2007 1:53 PM