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Food Is Culture | A Podcast - #35 - Alex Hajjar | Shaabiyat, Labaneh & Hummus

#35 - Alex Hajjar | Shaabiyat, Labaneh & Hummus

07/25/21 • 50 min

Food Is Culture | A Podcast

I hope you’ve eaten. This episode had my stomach talking to me!

Today’s guest is a fellow Torontonian, a fellow podcast host, and we have a shared love of a local restaurant.

Alex Hajjar’s love of food and his culture is clear. He is so knowledgable on all delicious Arabic foods, his memories of his grandmother’s cooking are so lovely, his aunts’ bakery sounds wonderful, and he has traveled all over.

Alex and I initially connected online and we chat a bit about that and how the meta verse is slowly taking over everyday run ins and daily interactions. And chance would have it, we both grew up in Toronto.

I often say Toronto is so small. And it really is. Toronto is a wonderful city made up of many tiny pockets of cultures and neighbourhoods, and made smaller by the people who were born and raised and still live here!

After our conversation we chatted a bit more and have less than a 2 degree of separation. Remember that game? 7 degrees of separation? It’s actually only 6 now as our world has gotten smaller. And I remember reading an article years ago in Vanity Fair (I think?!) that locals in Rome had the fewest average degrees of separation being only about 1.5.

I hope you enjoy this episode! There are lots of great links in the show notes to check out and if you’re local to North York in Toronto check out Jerusalem!

Keeskoon! (Cheers in Lebanese)

- -

Food:

Labaneh - very thick yogurt dip

Shaabiyat - dessert treat similar to Baklava

Hummus - Alex's tip is to use the water from the chickpea can or water from boiling to use in the hummus when making from scratch.

Want more dessert recommendations? check out this blog post I found on Traditional Lebanese Desserts

- -

Links:

Jerusalem Restaurant http://www.jerusalemrestaurant.ca

Marché Adonis - Mediterranean market with the pita maker https://www.groupeadonis.ca/fr/on

- -

To follow Alex Hajjar on Instagram @socialanimalspodcast

Check out Social Animals podcast
To follow Food Is Culture | A Podcast along on Instagram @foodisculture.apodcast

To follow host Billy Buttery on Instagram @billybuttery

To check out the Food Is Culture blog on billybuttery.com

Intro & Outro Music and Editing Provided by @roninimperial from @bigsmokebounce

Podcast Artwork by @giftsfrombilly giftsfrombilly.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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I hope you’ve eaten. This episode had my stomach talking to me!

Today’s guest is a fellow Torontonian, a fellow podcast host, and we have a shared love of a local restaurant.

Alex Hajjar’s love of food and his culture is clear. He is so knowledgable on all delicious Arabic foods, his memories of his grandmother’s cooking are so lovely, his aunts’ bakery sounds wonderful, and he has traveled all over.

Alex and I initially connected online and we chat a bit about that and how the meta verse is slowly taking over everyday run ins and daily interactions. And chance would have it, we both grew up in Toronto.

I often say Toronto is so small. And it really is. Toronto is a wonderful city made up of many tiny pockets of cultures and neighbourhoods, and made smaller by the people who were born and raised and still live here!

After our conversation we chatted a bit more and have less than a 2 degree of separation. Remember that game? 7 degrees of separation? It’s actually only 6 now as our world has gotten smaller. And I remember reading an article years ago in Vanity Fair (I think?!) that locals in Rome had the fewest average degrees of separation being only about 1.5.

I hope you enjoy this episode! There are lots of great links in the show notes to check out and if you’re local to North York in Toronto check out Jerusalem!

Keeskoon! (Cheers in Lebanese)

- -

Food:

Labaneh - very thick yogurt dip

Shaabiyat - dessert treat similar to Baklava

Hummus - Alex's tip is to use the water from the chickpea can or water from boiling to use in the hummus when making from scratch.

Want more dessert recommendations? check out this blog post I found on Traditional Lebanese Desserts

- -

Links:

Jerusalem Restaurant http://www.jerusalemrestaurant.ca

Marché Adonis - Mediterranean market with the pita maker https://www.groupeadonis.ca/fr/on

- -

To follow Alex Hajjar on Instagram @socialanimalspodcast

Check out Social Animals podcast
To follow Food Is Culture | A Podcast along on Instagram @foodisculture.apodcast

To follow host Billy Buttery on Instagram @billybuttery

To check out the Food Is Culture blog on billybuttery.com

Intro & Outro Music and Editing Provided by @roninimperial from @bigsmokebounce

Podcast Artwork by @giftsfrombilly giftsfrombilly.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

undefined - #34 - SNACK SIZE | Pizza & Pompeii

#34 - SNACK SIZE | Pizza & Pompeii

SNACK SIZE | Pizza

Who doesn't love pizza?! My husband and I recount a couple of our favourite pizza memories in this SNACK SIZE episode.

We talk Neapolitan pizza, Roman pizza, a Toronto childhood classic: Pizza Pizza, Pizza Hut, and one of or favourite memories from our honeymoon... touring Pompeii

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-

In Napoli where love is king
When boy meets girl
Here's what they say
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie
That's amore
When the world seems to shine like you've had too much wine
That's amore
Bells will ring, ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling
And you'll sing, "Vita bella"
Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay
Like a gay tarantella

-Dean Martin "That's Amore"

- -

To follow Food Is Culture | A Podcast along on Instagram @foodisculture.apodcast

To follow host Billy Buttery on Instagram @billybuttery

To check out the Food Is Culture blog billybuttery.com

Intro & Outro Music and Editing Provided by @roninimperial from @bigsmokebounce

Podcast Artwork by @giftsfrombilly


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

undefined - #36 - SNACK SIZE | Out Of Office

#36 - SNACK SIZE | Out Of Office

A little snack size episode with a few updates. Enjoy August and chat in a couple weeks!

- -

To follow Food Is Culture | A Podcast along on Instagram @foodisculture.apodcast

To follow host Billy Buttery on Instagram @billybuttery

To check out the Food Is Culture blog on billybuttery.com

Intro & Outro Music and Editing Provided by @roninimperial from @bigsmokebounce

Podcast Artwork by @giftsfrombilly giftsfrombilly.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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