{"id":288031,"date":"2021-02-05T11:09:22","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T14:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=288031"},"modified":"2021-02-05T11:15:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T14:15:29","slug":"make-hommus-not-war-celebrates-diversity-of-arab-cuisine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/make-hommus-not-war-celebrates-diversity-of-arab-cuisine\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Make Hommus. Not War’ celebrates diversity of Arab cuisine"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Despite his Italian ancestry, Fred Caffarena\u2019s life purpose is focused on another part of the world. The Brazilian chef specializes in the Middle Eastern cuisine. And he keeps studying it, having eight years of experience and travels across the region. \u201cI\u2019ve always loved history. And whenever I have time, I\u2019m reading books on the history of these cuisines. I say I spend more time studying history than actually cooking,\u201d he told ANBA.<\/p>\n

He lived, worked and studied cuisine in Turkey for a year from 2013 to 2014. There he noticed how the cuisines in the region traded creations and ingredients, influencing one another. \u201cThere\u2019s always been a cultural interchange. The Levant cuisine is a great refining production hub, particularly Lebanon and Syria. Damascus was one of the largest palaces that have ever existed. Indeed, much of the Turkish palace cuisine comes from Damascus,\u201d the chef explained on the cultural process that created cuisines such as the Turkish Ottoman one.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Brazilian chef shows his loomi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Caffarena has traveled to and experienced countries such as Lebanon, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, and Syria. This led him to start three different business, all focused on the Middle Eastern cuisine. In one of them, Kebab Salonu, he\u2019s a partner. At Firin Salonu and the newest \u2018Make Hommus. Not War<\/a>\u2019, he\u2019s a partner and runs the kitchen.<\/p>\n

His chief restaurant, Firin Salonu<\/a>, closed its doors during quarantine. \u201cI want Firin to change how Brazilians perceive Arab and Middle Eastern cuisine. To do so, I couldn\u2019t send the dish without saying what\u2019s behind it, how it\u2019s done with Middle Eastern techniques alone. As we don\u2019t have this experience now, I believe this would be lost,\u201d explained Caffarena. Thus, he started fast-tracking a different project.<\/p>\n

Bye bye, stereotypes<\/strong><\/p>\n

With his partner Talita Silveira, the chef started Make Hommus amid the pandemic. The business was launched on the International Hummus Day on May 13. \u201cWhen we talk about Arab food, people tend to focused on Syrian and Lebanese cuisine, which is reductive,\u201d he pointed out, adding that on his visit to Lebanon he was faced with different realities. While in Beirut it was hard to find traditional dishes, the port city of Byblos saw him discover the fish kibbeh.<\/p>\n

His studies and experiences lead Caffarena to keep rediscovering different Arab cuisines. \u201cWhen I planned Make Hommus and Firin, I put all these [stereotypes] aside and drafted the research work, searching for ingredients. Since I\u2019m in Brazil, I have to use things from here to be sustainable, but I use much of philosophy and techniques developed there. For example, when I went to Morocco, I made a point of seeing how couscous was made,\u201d stressed the chef, explaining the step by step of the process he saw in loco.<\/p>\n

Make hummus with different techniques<\/strong><\/p>\n

And to confront the idea that dishes have a single origin, the Brazilian clarifies that in his restaurant the dip is above squabbles. \u201cMake Hommus. Not War\u201d alludes to the fact that the chickpea dip is an icon in Arab countries and other countries in the Middle East as well. But who created it, after all? \u201cThere\u2019s a British historian who says that it\u2019s silly to try to find a precise origin. For a long time, I kept trying to understand which people created which dish, too. You can find evidences of where it came from, but it\u2019s a cultural melting pot,\u201d he says, pointing out the changes that recipes go through across history and the contribution that different peoples give them, particularly in a region as old as the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Hommus Seu Jac\u00f3. Recipe features kibbeh with a technique from the Levant region.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cultural mix is seen in the hummus revenue the chef developed. \u201cMy recipe is vast. I studied techniques and ingredients used in Yemen, Lebanon and Syria, so I compiled these recipes and techniques,\u201d he revealed. The restaurant specializes in the chickpea dip but serves other dishes such as a Levant kibbeh and an Iranian bread.<\/p>\n

Pictured on top is a dish served in the house. The traditional hummus with a slightly spiced braised lamb sausage includes egg, roasted tomato, onions and sumac.<\/p>\n

Another delicacy comes from the Gulf: the Loomi, or noomi basra, is a spice made from fermented dried lemon that can be used to flavor dishes and make tea. \u201cYou find it in the UAE, Yemen, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran. It\u2019s from this very hot region. They take the lemon, ferment it, and leave it on the desert heat to dry. And it stays there until it dries and blackens. And they use it to make tea or as a spice,\u201d he told.<\/p>\n

To try to reproduce the conditions of the loomi process, the chef discovered the average temperature and humidity of the Sahara Desert. Then, he sought to emulate the conditions in his restaurant\u2019s oven. \u201cWe tried to emulate the same conditions in the oven and left it there to dehydrate, and it was very good. The one from there is obviously better, but we\u2019ll get there,\u201d finished Caffarena<\/p>\n

The restaurants are a way for the Brazilian to fulfill his dream. \u201cI have a dream to show that the Arab food goes beyond the stereotypes we have here in Brazil. It\u2019s very rich. Morocco, for example, is amazing, and has a different tone from the Levant. I want to visit all Arab countries. And I want Firin to be a way to change the perception on the Arab cuisine,\u201d said Caffarena. Now, Make Hommus. Not War keeps focused on takeouts, Firin Salonu, which has been around since 2015, is waiting for the pandemic to end to resume activities, and the chef has other projects, too. \u201cBut these are for the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Quick Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Make Hommus. Not war<\/em><\/p>\n

Lunch \u2013 Tuesday to Friday from 11am to 2:30pm\/ Saturday from 12pm to 4pm
\nDinner \u2013 Wednesday to Friday from 6pm to 10pm \/ Saturday from 7pm to 10pm
\nOrders via iFood app or WhatsApp (11)3864-8295<\/p>\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reproduction\/Instagram Make Hommus. Not War<\/div>\n
Reproduction\/Instagram Make Hommus. Not War<\/div>\n
Reproduction\/Instagram Make Hommus. Not War<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid the pandemic, chef Fred Caffarena and his partner started a business focused on hummus. The Middle Eastern dip is made with techniques from Yemen, Lebanon and Syria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2324,"featured_media":287991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,114],"tags":[9586,4600,14864,3706,18989,18990,18968,2063,15002,18969,14869,9611],"class_list":{"0":"post-288031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-news","9":"tag-lebanon-en","10":"tag-arab-food","11":"tag-comida-arabe-en","12":"tag-cuisine","13":"tag-hummus","14":"tag-make-hommus-not-war-en","15":"tag-make-hommus-not-war","16":"tag-middle-east","17":"tag-restaurant","18":"tag-restaurante","19":"tag-siria-en-2","20":"tag-syria-en"},"wps_subtitle":"Amid the pandemic, chef Fred Caffarena and his partner started a business focused on hummus. The Middle Eastern dip is made with techniques from Yemen, Lebanon and Syria.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2324"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}