Squeeze your chummous

November 15, 2011 - 3:41 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Business, design, Food, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Movies 

Having a quick visit in NYC, and I was both charmed and dismayed to discover a new product at the hotdog stands — an always expected sight on the New York streets — squeeze chummous in a bottle. It seems that Squeeze-Z Chummous has already been on the market about a year, a creation of a former Israeli, Ami Blashkovsky, who has been living in New York for the last 25 years and was looking for a new adventure.

When he saw the success of various chummous joints around the city (I’ve been noticing the various Aroma-alike coffee places around the city, owned by Israelis), as well as the American love of condiments, he hit upon chummous in a bottle. According to this Ynet story, he first called the business Zohan Hummus (note the hummus rather than chummous), after the Adam Sandler movie in which the character uses ‘hummus’ in every facet of life.

But, long story short, he couldn’t use the name Zohan so went with a more onomatopoeic name, describing the product and its service. So he went for Squeeze-Z. It’s appropriate, really, given that he’s not the first Israeli to put a condiment in a squeeze bottle. There was Yad Mordechai, the Israeli kibbutz that put honey into a squeeze container, modeled on a shampoo bottle. And I blogged here about silan, date honey, in a squeeze bottle, my new fave.

I’m not sure how I feel about chummous and hot dogs, but I definitely like the idea of chummous on a New York hot dog cart. For Blashkovsky, who clearly has the entrepreneurial spirit, like his wife, Emily Frances, a former New York broadcaster who just started her own production company, it’s all about finding what pleases the local palate. More power to him.

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Can’t stop writing about the Zohan

August 7, 2008 - 2:53 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Movies, Pop Culture 

You can do it! American comedic actor and SNL alum Rob Schneider is currently in Tel Aviv. My friend Jacob spotted him last night hanging out at the bar at Hotel Montefiore sporting a Hawaiian shirt hanging out with Tel Aviv glitterati. According to local movie blog Cinemascope, Schneider is here filming a video for a song whose name I think you might need to click here to see, which will be included on the DVD release of “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.”

Rob Schneider is in Israel today, getting ready to shoot a video tomorrow for a song to be featured in the “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan” DVD bonus features. The song was written and performed by Ido Mosseri, who plays Zohan’s friend Oori in the Adam Sandler hit. It was recorded in LA about a year ago, when Mosseri was busy shooting the movie. Now Mosseri is back in Israel, co-starring in the local stage revival of “Fiddler on the Roof”, and working as the voice talent on the latest “SpongeBob SquarePants” season (he is the voice of SpongeBob in Hebrew)…

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan was a gargantuan hit here in Israel, trumping every blockbuster of the summer in the box office. This will for sure me by last Zohan post (until the DVD comes out of course). I would be committing a crime if I didn’t link to Cinemascope’s “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” glossary, a comprehensive guide to all the Hebrew, Hebrish, Yiddish and completely made up words in the movie.

Also be sure to check out Cinemascope for photos of yesterday’s video shoot.

Photo of Schneider from YNET.

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