My Hummous Is Better Than Your HummousIt sounds like satire, a tall tale meant to illustrate the downright pettiness of the Middle East's ongoing rivalries and resentments.

But apparently, it's totally serious.

According to a report by the Deutsche Presse Agentur, Germany's news agency, a Lebanese trade union is planning to sue Israel for claiming that the Jewish state has propriety over traditional Arab cuisine such as falafel, tabbouleh and hummus, which Lebanese consider their own.

The president of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists, Fady Abboud, has apparently said he's preparing a lawsuit in international courts against Israel for "taking the identity of some Lebanese" meals, according to the report, which was picked up by the Israeli media, including Haaretz:

"My Lebanese Sandwich," by Maher Kassar and Ziad Halwani courtesy of Transit Beirut: New Writing + Images, edited by Malu Halasa and Roseanne Khalaf, (Saqi Books, 2004).

This is one of the most memorable pieces of culinary reporting we’ve come across by non-food writers, guaranteed to make you hungry. Beirut natives abroad will long for a piece of home, while others will get a glimpse of the city’s life not often seen by outsiders. It’s a prime example of the creative nonfiction, short stories and photography characteristic of this unusual book from Saqi in London.

WEST LOS ANGELES

Aram RestaurantAram Restaurant

138 South Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
(310) 859-8585

"Arams is a jewel of Beverly Hills. I have tried almost all of their menu there...my favorite are their Beef and chicken Kabobs... Seasoned and cooked to perfection, your mouth will water with every bite." "The food was good. I had Tahdig, Shirazi, and Beef Barg (my usual at a Persian restaurant). My friends had the Soltani and some chicken dish that I forgot the name of.  The staff here are friendly."

Dream Homes: From Cairo to Katrina, an Exile's Journey: your purchase benefits LCC programmingDream Homes: From Cairo to Katrina, An Exile's Journey by Joyce Zonana (Feminist Press 2008) chronicles this author's quest to find a sense of home among people, foods, and places as far from her native Cairo as Oklahoma and Katrina-stricken New Orleans.

After the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, newlyweds Felix and Nellie Zonana flee Cairo with their infant daughter Joyce, ending up in Brooklyn. Growing up, Joyce swiftly realizes that her Jewish family and their Egyptian culture are neither typically American nor typically American—Jewish; they eat kobeba instead of kugel and speak French instead of Yiddish. Struggling with her feelings of isolation from other Americans and frustrated by never getting full access to Egyptian-Jewish culture, Zonana sets out on a life-long journey to find her place in the world.