Homus, Taheny, Kafta, Kanafeh (1950)

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Thu Jun 13 23:28:46 UTC 2002


GOING TO JERUSALEM
by WIllie Snow Ethridge
New York: Vanguard Press, Inc.
1950

   I didn't see "falafel" here, but I went through the book in about 100
second before the library closed.
   OED has 1955 for "hummus."  OED has 1950 for "tahine."  OED does not have
"kanafeh," but there are some Google hits for this (also, "kanafe").
"Sansbousick" and "baadounsia" and "seameh" must have other spellings.

Pg. 196:
   My favourite was _homus_, a thick paste made out of those little round,
yellow chick peas, mashed and mixed with _teheny_, the Arab name for the
second stage, or dregs, of sesame.  My second favourite, and here I promise
to stop, was _sansbousick_, a crescent-shaped pastry stuffed with highly
seasoned ground meat and fried in oil.  I must have eaten, conservatively
speaking, a dozen of these.

Pg. 197:
   But they did all right at lunch.  They went right htrough crisp, fried
eggplant spread with leban (sour milk); and broad beans cooked in their pods
with _seameh_ (another oil, derived I am sure, from sesame), and wonderful
rice, every grain separate and chock-full of nuts and raisins; and _kaftas_
(flattened meat balls), packed with minced parsley and onions and fried,
without a doubt, in oil; and a salad called _baadounsia_ which is chopped
parsley dressed with that second stage of sesame--_teheny_; and, for dessert,
_kanafeh_.
   Now this _kanafeh_ is something very specially Arab.  I saw it again and
again in the suks, but never tasted any that melted in the mouth like
Katie's.  For the roommate's sweet-tooth's sake I tried to learn how to make
it, but I must say Katie's directions were rather vague.
   "Take an enormous piepan," said she, "and sprinkle the bottom with a layer
of shredded wheat, then a layer of cheese, then another layer of shredded
wheat and so on until you get to the top, and then sprinkle the top with
roasted pine and pistachio nuts; and, finally, pour over the whole thing a
lot of melted sugar and put in the oven and bake.  Simple, see?"
   "Oh, sure," said I, and took another helping.



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