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Food

Israel Likes Its Cheetos Without Cheese

Made with peanuts and puffed maize, Bamba came into existence when a factory south of Tel Aviv attempted to produce a snack similar to Cheetos. Except most Israelis don’t like Cheetos.

A few months ago, Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article about Bamba, a snack food sold in the country for over 50 years. Made with peanuts and puffed maize, Bamba has no cholesterol nor artificial colouring, a high vitamin content, and more than 500 calories per 100 grams.

Based on research published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the article states that while in the UK, "infants typically do not consume peanut-based foods in the first year of life," in Israel, peanut-based foods are "usually introduced in the diet when infants are approximately seven months of age, and their median monthly consumption of peanut protein is 7.1 grams."

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The piece went on to suggest that Bamba's nutty fixture in the Israeli diet may be partly to thank for the country's low rate of child peanut allergies. To an outside observer, this infant nut consumption stat may seem like a minor victory, but in Israel, the article has become an issue of national pride.

Over the last month, it has been impossible to talk about the country's culinary offerings without mentioning Haaretz's article. I've heard people talking about the seemingly innocuous article dozens of times since it was published, each mention more patriotic than the last. But what makes Bamba so important in Israel?

READ MORE: Stop and Think Before Stuffing Your Baby with Peanuts

Israel is a country of immigrants. Each community brings their own traditions, prayers, and of course, dishes. Schnitzel—the most popular way of eating chicken in Israel—sits next to hummus, accompanied always by salad and pita bread or challah.

This mix of dishes and cultures makes it impossible to answer the question so central to Israeli identity, what is Israeli food? Not many dishes are originally from Israel: falafel has its roots in Egypt and the origins of hummus are likely to be Syrian. Other popular Israeli dishes including borsht, couscous, and amba were brought from Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Iraq respectively.

But Bamba was invented in Israel. And for that reason, it has become the unofficial snack of the nation.

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Falafel has its roots in Egypt and the origins of hummus are likely to be Syrian, but Bamba was invented in Israel. And for that reason, it has become the unofficial snack of the nation.

Bamba was first produced in 1964, in a modest factory just south of Tel Aviv. The design brief was to produce a snack similar to Cheetos, but the cheesy, artificial smell of the popular crisp didn't appeal to the Israeli palate. The factory was forced to stop production and search for an alternative.

They came up with Bamba, a peanut-flavoured snack that would look exactly like Cheetos—without the taste. It was low in saturated fat and high in calories, and made for a cheap source of energy. Sales grew steadily and it wasn't long before Bamba was introduced in Israeli soldiers' food rations.

Today, the original Bamba factory is owned by Nestle-affiliated food manufacturer Osem and uses more than 70 percent of the peanuts imported to Israel. The peanut-shaped baby that adorns Bamba packaging (not quite as creepy-looking as it sounds) is recognised by Israelis young and old, and even had a brief stint as Israel's Olympic squad mascot.

READ MORE: Hummus Is a Metaphor For Israeli-Palestinian Tensions

But that's just what common knowledge tells us. Food consultant Nomi Abeliovich says that we should look for the origins of Bamba not in Israel, but Germany.

"The German version is called Erdnuss Flippies and was invented in 1963," she says. "Bamba was also invented in 1963 so it's not clear if there was a connection between the two products, but both were developed and marketed in the same year and—unknown to most Israelis—it's not only an Israeli invention but also a German one."

Regardless of this snack doppelganger, for almost all Israelis, Bamba is indisputably their food. Where there is a Jewish supermarket, there is Bamba. You'll find the peanutty bites in Purim food presents, on Bar Mitzvah tables, and at any children's birthday party. In 2003, Bamba was even declared by the Israeli Parliament as a "vital staple food," meaning that in times of war, the workers of the Bamba factory can be called up in the same way soldiers are.

Of course, there have been changes to the original 60s recipe. You can buy strawberry Bamba or, if you're feeling fancy, versions filled with peanut butter and chocolate. There's also giant Bamba, halva Bamba, oblong Bamba—pretty much any variation on the original snack that your heart so desires.

But one aspect of Israel's favourite snack has and will always remain the same: absolutely no cheese.