Special to WorldTribune.com
Egyptians are relishing a triumph of the deep-fried variety over Israel.
A team of Egyptian chefs from the falafel bar Zooba rolled to victory in the finals over team Israel at the 2016 London Falafel Festival on May 1.
The Egyptian dish, a charred-aubergine-stuffed falafel made with fava beans, received the majority of votes in the final round.
The Egyptian media celebrated what was hailed as the “Israel defeat by Egypt”, specifying the Israeli decision to serve falafel was an attempt to take over a “popular Arab tradition” by painting the falafel as an Israeli-originated dish.
Egypt’s achievement aroused amusing reactions on Arab social media.
“Finally, an Arab state made us raise our heads up and feel proud – Egypt heavily defeated Israel in a falafel competition,” a user named Joseph Hadad posted to Twitter.
It was also an unprecedented finish for the underdog Israeli falafel team, which competed against three Arab owned restaurants, each serving it’s own unique falafel dish. Israel made it to the finals by defeating the Palestinian and Lebanese teams.