Brownie Hummus: No, Thank You.

So in all honesty, I have started and restarted this blog multiple times, and each time I think of a new angle and perspective, but I've always come to the same ending. Respect cultural history and stop diminishing its value. Here's how I've come to that conclusion.

Firstly, I know I've covered an array of topics thus far, but here's another one for you all to digest and critique. Food. Food is the path to our hearts. I can probably tell if we'll get along based on your pizza toppings. So food can say a lot about a person, but it can also speak to their history.

I grew up watching the Food Network with my mom on the couch. We would judge the immense portion sizes, question who in their right mind would start a risotto with only 20 minutes, and why the heck they would put chicken in tabouleh. We would watch these chefs try to make food that we made every day. My days revolved around food, and I can't say that much has changed either.

Food. Some use it to live, and some live for it. I'm part of the latter. Food is how I can pinpoint my memories. When you introduce your best friend to a new sushi roll, and they're not used to spice, so they turn red, and it becomes a memory. Or when you come to university, and a new Lebanese restaurant opens, and you take a friend who's never had it and LOVES it, then you get that warm feeling in your heart because they've accepted a part of your home.

Food is beautiful. Food is nostalgic and reminiscent.

So why ruin it?

I'm guilty of not only watching the Food Network, but my social media is littered with videos of food as well. Scrolling through my feed and seeing the usual video about something stuffed in cheese, I was stunned to see a recipe of dessert hummus. Dessert. Hummus. Now what I could have dealt with was hummus with some ishta (a creamy sweet stuffing in pastries) and some honey, that was a possibility. What I could not deal with was Chocolate Hummus with Candied Bacon.

Food Network Recipe: Chocolate Hummus with Candied Bacon.

Who? What? When? Where? And most importantly, why? WHY?

Luckily, there were no reviews on the recipe, so I'm assuming that no one has tried it. To my surprise, there were more recipes about Dessert Hummus, especially Brownie Hummus.

Hummus. Most of us love it. Its a dip, a snack, an appetizer, but what it is not is a dessert. Brownie hummus of all things. Brownie. Hummus. One is a decadent, chocolate baked item that is fudgy (or cakey), sometimes topped with ice cream. The other is a smooth, savoury dip with hints of lemon and sesame, just as satisfying but on a different spectrum of flavour. So what brought these two mutually exclusive items together?

I brought this up to my family and friends, and we kept coming to the discussion of veganism. Veganism is a popular lifestyle choice in North America, but in the Middle East, you'd struggle to walk into a family dinner and not be interrogated. Being vegan is a lifestyle choice that people decide on for various reasons; some people choose to be vegan for their health, some do it for the betterment of the environment, some do it for religious or cultural beliefs, and there are those that do it to say they are vegan. Choosing this lifestyle is just, a choice, and it can be a wonderful one. For those that enter this path, I honestly commend you because I love dairy and giving it up would break my heart. Being vegan is not easy, and it's not always an accessible route to consumption because options are so limited in various areas of the world.

I am curious about the use of ethnically diverse foods as a way to target vegans in the food industry. Culture needs to stop being marketing antic for companies to overcharge for foods that were already vegan to start. FALAFEL IS VEGAN. HUMMUS IS VEGAN. (most of the time) FOUL IS VEGAN.

Stop overcharging for food that was already vegan and making it seem like its more special now. The menu has always been excellent. There is no reason to charge 20$ for a falafel sandwich when you can get the same lunch (probably a lot better) for A LOT less from an Arab restaurant.

The issue that I see with this new food fad is the "inspiration" taken from this staple item in Arab and Middle Eastern cuisine. What I'm claiming it to be is cultural appropriation.

Cultural appropriation. A lot of people struggle with this concept, coining imitation and use of clothing, styles, customs, and food as appreciation and merely inspiration when a magazine comes out with fun, new vegan recipes, the food's that are technically already vegan! The point here is that the narrative is being displaced to fit a new "fad" or lifestyle that fits in with the popularized culture of today.

I've seen recipes for vegan black-bean brownies and chocolate pudding using avocados, and I'm all for experimentation to fit your lifestyle. This is not just a problem in individual every-day choices, restaurants and fast-food chains, even the world's top chef's are guilty sometimes of not recognizing the cultural ties to food. There is a lot of misrepresentation and valuation of food in this industry.

For example, McDonald's has an Asian Chicken Salad, so does Cheesecake Factory, and this happens more often than we care to admit. Most of this industry feeds off the ability to claim that some of their items are "Asian," "Italian," "French," "Indian," or "Mediterranean" inspired dishes as to show their diversity and potentially appeal to different people. Notably, this occurs most often when chef's are diversifying their knowledge of cuisines, and they want to integrate what they have learned. How it comes across most times, however, is not an appreciation of the years of tradition, instead of as mastering the techniques and style better than these natives that taught them.

A lot of people are going to say that food is for everyone; no one can claim it. I have to disagree profusely with that. Eating is for people, yes, but it can be claimed because every one of us has an attachment to food. Family recipes are secret because they mean so much to us. The love your mother or your grandmother puts into your favourite meal because they want to show you how much you mean to them.

My grandmother was the queen of the feast. (Allah yerhamha; May Allah Forgive Her; May She Rest in Peace) She would call me fat and tell me I wasn't eating enough in the same sentence. I was put into a food coma consistently throughout my lifetime at her hands. She was heavy-handed with the Ghee in her Macaroni, and her Tashreeba was legendary. She could give you the recipe, but it would never taste the same. Food is about memory and its a way to honour those that brought that joy into our lives.

Even though my family was a melting pot of the whole Middle East, those recipes were our own. Every meal had Iranian dishes, Khaleeji (Gulf) dishes, Lebanese dishes, and the staple pasta dish for my little brother. We have our own recipes, and no one can say that they are right or wrong because they belong to us and our personal history. My grandmother's Ash-reshteh will be the reason every time I think of that soup, I will tear up and miss her. Its the warmth in my heart attached to a soup yes, but also to her.

Inherently, the reason cultural appropriation and specifically food appropriation is so frustrating to me is that it is gone past the point of inspiration, its become common practice to take another piece of history and claim it as their own. Egyptians and Lebanese people will always jokingly argue about who came up with falafel but its never been about credit. It's about the subtle differences that make us want to try each other's food and argue about what's better. We want to share a piece of ourselves and be acknowledged.

Living in one of the largest cities in Canada, I've seen enough Middle Eastern restaurants that I can count on one hand, none of which are particularly accessible. Not to mention, most of them are limited by the ingredients and access to space in such an expensive city. However, the limited choices in Vancouver are not restricted to Middle Eastern food alone. Most cuisines that we would label as "ethnic" are far off from the central hubs or based in neighbourhoods that house those particular demographics. There will never be a shortage of vegetarian or sushi restaurants in Vancouver because that is the majority of the meals required and demanded by the population here.

Thinking pragmatically, I can understand why there would be a concern for the risk of an authentic restaurant here in Vancouver. But my question is now, why not introduce that authenticity first? Before pushing for items like Brownie Hummus or "Persian Shakshuka," why not introduce people to what these cultures really have to offer? If you really want a vegan dessert, have some vegan baklava or some Thokhme Shorbati (rosewater drink with chia seeds)?

Another option to consider here is, why not take inspiration from chef's who grew up in these places or were raised with these foods? As much as I love Gordon Ramsay, Wolfgang Puck, or my man Guy Fieri, how about we look to these rising chef's that are specializing in new ways to bring their memories and their cultures to us? People like David Chang, who are melding these two worlds and bring something equally delicious but filled with a foundation of respect for that history and those that came before us. No matter the level of skill or recognition of a chef, to take an original piece of culture like food and reframe it as their own, it negates everything that has been done to get to that point.

I know there are going to be a few people, maybe more, that will not understand or refuse to believe that; 1. Cultural appropriation is real. 2. Food is based on history and culture, and that should be acknowledged. 3. The food industry and popularized lifestyles have become the target of this marketed appropriation. There is not much I can do for those that do not want to accept it, but here it is.

Food is the mark of my family. We'll force you to eat when you're with us. We'll make more than anyone could ever need. Most importantly, we want you to know who we are and where we came from.

Link to Recipe: Food Network’s Brownie Hummus with Candied Bacon

Link to Recipe: Vegan Brownie Hummus by the Virtual Vegan