From kibbeh to zataar: Gigi Hadid lists her favourite Palestinian food

This week, Gigi Hadid has been talking about her favourite food, and it's really a favorite choice, likely shared by many in your community.

The part-Palestinian model said on Twitter that kibbeh with labneh and tabbouleh is a go-to of hers. She also added that she loves eggs with zaatar for breakfast. The conversation was part of a #askGigi Q&A.

The model's father is Jordanian-American property developer, Mohamed Hadid, who was simply born in Nazareth, Palestinian, in 1948. He moved to the united states aged 14.

After Hadid, 24, posted about her favourite dishes she seemed to be inundated with comments questioning the origins of her choices, with many telling her that what she was describing was Lebanese cuisine.

"To everyone saying most of these foods are Lebanese only, my dad was created in Palestine in ‘48, where his family lived for most generations before that and ate these foods their entire lives," she said. "Before borders and ownership of land, the region’s dishes and ingredients were always the same".

She added: "I should also add that my children and I support many family owned Lebanese restaurants to take pleasure from the food of course you like".

When Gigi Hadid is asked about her nationality, she says: "I'm American, but my [mum] is Dutch and my dad is Palestinian."

Not being 'Arab enough' is also something the model has discussed previously.

“When I shot the cover of Vogue Arabia, I wasn’t ‘Arab enough’ to be representing those girls, even though I’m half-Palestinian,” she in November 2018. “I’m as Palestinian as I am Dutch. Just because I have blonde hair, I still carry the worthiness of my ancestors and I appreciate and respect that.”

Hadid was on the cover of the first problem of Vogue Arabia in March 2017. Since entering the limelight, she's not made any publicly documented visits to Palestine. However, her brother, Anwar Hadid, 20, has.

In April 2019 he visited the family's homeland, documenting the trip on Instagram. He also shot the music video for Progression 101 in the country.

"My brothers and I touched the mother land today ... much culture and beauty and persons that need to be observed and heard," he wrote.

"Hopefully we can demonstrate guys the deep-rooted details that affect our persons each day, even the kinds who are too young to comprehend. I feel such as this could give people good perspectives of our own lives, to see what is truly true and real vs what is told to us to be true."

He returned a couple of months later in December this past year, where he posted photographs of himself looking out over Ramallah.

The Hadids' father, Mohamed Hadid, has spoken about passing on his Palestinian heritage to his children. Speaking at the Arab Conference at Harvard in 2019, he said: "My parents always embedded in us that we are Palestinians, we’ll continually be Palestinians, so my home has always been that virtual home, where my mum, my father, my kids were learning to roll grape leaves with their grandma."