three men standing around preparing food in a kitchen

Palestinians share appetite for traditional food

HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) – For a people struggling to establish their own state, traditional food is an important part of the national heritage, and for Palestinians in the West Bank that goes well beyond the standard hummus (chickpea paste).

In Hebron, a biblical town in the Israeli-occupied territory, Eyad Abu Seena runs his family’s qedra shop, where potted meat bakes over rice in an open oven in the wall. For many, Hebron has the best food in the West Bank.

“The qedra is part of the heritage of the people of Hebron,” Abu Senena says. “People come from all over – from Amman, from Jerusalem, from (West Bank towns in) the north like Jenin and Tulkarm. They come especially to Hebron to eat the qedra.”

In the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City, captured by Israel along with the West Bank in a 1967 war, Yasser Taha presides over the famed Abu Shukri hummus and falafel (fried chickpeas) restaurant. The 70-year-old owner inherited the recipes from his father and will pass them on to his son.

 

Read the full article by Miriam Berger at Yahoo7 News.