The conflict between Israel and Palestine is making headlines these days. But there is another conflict that has existed between the two regions for decades, one that is not about land, but about food. Both claim to have invented falafel, an argument that’s similar to the one that exists between Bengalis and Odiyas about rasgullas. Food, here, becomes a symbol of identity. It undertakes socio-political overtones that help legitimise a people’s history, although it’s  a wholly different matter that in all probability, the falafel came from Egypt, not Israel or Palestine.

Chef Devendra Khetle