{"id":20509,"date":"2024-04-07T08:38:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T08:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/07\/to-battle-wartime-hunger-gazans-turn-to-a-humble-leafy-green\/"},"modified":"2024-04-07T08:38:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T08:38:32","slug":"to-battle-wartime-hunger-gazans-turn-to-a-humble-leafy-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/07\/to-battle-wartime-hunger-gazans-turn-to-a-humble-leafy-green\/","title":{"rendered":"To Battle Wartime Hunger, Gazans Turn to a Humble Leafy Green"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/04\/multimedia\/00gaza-plant-02-jlzb\/00gaza-plant-02-jlzb-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"To Battle Wartime Hunger, Gazans Turn to a Humble Leafy Green\" title=\"To Battle Wartime Hunger, Gazans Turn to a Humble Leafy Green\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/news-event\/israel-hamas-gaza\" title=\"\">Israeli military campaign<\/a> to destroy Hamas pummeled his neighborhood in northern Gaza, reducing buildings to rubble and forcing residents to flee, the Palestinian laborer realized that he was running out of food.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The shops had closed, the markets had emptied and fighting prevented supplies from reaching them. So he and his remaining neighbors gathered a plant known as khobeza that grew near their homes and cooked it to sustain themselves, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt supported us more than everyone else in the world,\u201d the laborer, Amin Abed, 35, said recently by phone from Gaza. \u201cPeople survived the darkest chapters of the war on khobeza alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For many generations, the people of the Holy Land have foraged for khobeza, a hearty green with a taste and texture somewhere between spinach and kale that sprouts in knee-high thickets along roadsides and empty patches of dirt after the first winter rains. Cooks saut\u00e9 it in olive oil, season it with onions or boil it into soup to make tasty, low-cost meals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, this green, a variety of mallow, is making up an outsize portion of many Gazans\u2019 diets by providing an inexpensive way to blunt hunger. At a time when most other food is <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2024\/03\/12\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-hunger.html\" title=\"\">largely unavailable<\/a> or prohibitively expensive, Gazans can harvest khobeza themselves and cook it by itself, or with a few other ingredients.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Israel has imposed a near-complete blockade on the territory, aid groups and United Nations officials have increasingly warned that the amount of food entering Gaza cannot feed its roughly 2.2 million people, pushing ever larger numbers of Gazans toward catastrophic hunger. <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/09\/world\/middleeast\/yazan-kafarneh-gaza-starvation.html\" title=\"\">Malnutrition-related deaths<\/a> have become more common, and an international group of experts <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/18\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-famine-report-starvation.html\" title=\"\">warned last month<\/a> that the entire population of Gaza faced acute food shortages and that famine-like conditions were \u201cimminent\u201d in the north, where aid is scarce.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPeople don\u2019t grasp how empty and dire the situation is there, from the price of a bag of flour to a bag of onions,\u201d said Reem Kassis, a Palestinian writer who included a khobeza recipe in her most recent cookbook.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The plant, which is also eaten in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and elsewhere, grows wild and has a relatively mild flavor. In normal times, it is often seasoned with lemon juice or chili pepper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Kassis said her mother\u2019s family cooked it as a thick stew, filled with caramelized onions and drops of dough. Her father saut\u00e9ed the plant in olive oil and drizzled it with lemon juice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt is considered a humble meal, not something you would serve your guests,\u201d Ms. Kassis said. \u201cIn the absence of anything else, it is nutritious. You can stretch it, you can add dough or bread, you can add onions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Gaza, where ingredients <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/25\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-food-water-siege.html\" title=\"\">are scarce<\/a>, many families boil it into a thin soup that can be shared among large numbers of people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe have been eating khobeza since the time of our ancestors,\u201d said Sulaiman Abu Khadija, 32, an agricultural worker. \u201cOne generation passed it to another.\u201d<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"imageblock-wrapper\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-small css-1189og3 e1g7ppur0\" aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\"><figcaption data-testid=\"photoviewer-children-caption\" class=\"css-1ybnr6m ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\">Sulaiman Abu Khadija collecting khobeza in Gaza. \u201cMany people have eaten it during this war because there are no options for different vegetables,\u201d he said.<\/span><span class=\"css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Bilal Shbair for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Abu Khadija, his wife and their three children live in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, and he sometimes walks far to reach open land where he can pick khobeza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMany people have eaten it during this war because there are no options for different vegetables,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is easy to get anywhere and can be cooked quickly and simply.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His family makes soup, boiling the leaves and then changing the water to ensure that the food is clean, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While he knew the plant well before the war, he said some city dwellers who had been displaced from northern Gaza were unfamiliar with it, but pleasantly surprised when they tasted it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is often eaten hot, but some Gazans, like Mr. Abu Khadija, consider it more delicious cold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The plant is not widely consumed in Israel, but it grows extensively there, and some chefs consider it a treasured local ingredient.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Moshe Basson, the executive chef and owner of the Eucalyptus restaurant in Jerusalem, said he had seen a video on social media that said it showed Gazans eating \u201cweeds.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis is not a weed,\u201d he recalled thinking. \u201cThis has to be khobeza.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His cookbook features recipes that use khobeza, he said, and his current menu includes stuffed khobeza leaves and khobeza saut\u00e9ed with garlic, olive oil and mushrooms, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He was not at all surprised to see Gazans eating the plant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt is a medicine,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is full of nutrition and for me as a chef, it is tasty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In their history, Israelis, too, have turned to khobeza in times of need.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During the war surrounding Israel\u2019s foundation in 1948, Arab forces imposed a punishing siege on Jerusalem, and Jews trapped inside the city sent their children to forage for khobeza, also known as chalamit in Hebrew.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the end, the Jews held out and the siege failed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In this war, with Israeli jets raining bombs on Gaza and Israeli troops on the ground in parts of the territory, even foraging for khobeza can be perilous.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cNo aid or anything else comes down to us,\u201d said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2024\/04\/04\/world\/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news\/wck-aid-gaza?smid=url-share\" title=\"\">Rawan al-Khoudary<\/a>, 22, referring to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/02\/world\/middleeast\/us-airdrop-gaza-aid.html\" title=\"\">airdrops of food<\/a> carried out by the United States and other countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As food grew scarce where she lives in northern Gaza, she said, her husband often went to agricultural land near the frontier with Israel to gather eggplants and khobeza. But during one trip, her cousin\u2019s husband was shot and killed by someone the family believes was an Israeli sniper.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, they pick khobeza elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe make it into soup, we make it into stew, we make it into whatever we can,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are living on khobeza.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Abu Bakr Bashir<!-- --> contributed reporting from London, and <!-- -->Hiba Yazbek<!-- --> from Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/07\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-hunger-food-khobeza.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Israeli military campaign to destroy Hamas pummeled his neighborhood in northern Gaza, reducing buildings to rubble and forcing residents to flee, the Palestinian laborer realized that he was running out of food. The shops had closed, the markets had emptied and fighting prevented supplies from reaching them. So he and his remaining neighbors [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/04\/multimedia\/00gaza-plant-02-jlzb\/00gaza-plant-02-jlzb-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3601,3451,6740,5135,4279,26095,987,26094],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20509"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20511,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20509\/revisions\/20511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}