Hummus, another cause for war in the Middle East

Lebanon is accusing Israel of usurping its most precious culinary specialties. It intends to create
a geographical label to identify authentic Lebanese cuisine. To further stress its point, Lebanon
also intends to beat the largest hummus dish world record, currently held by Israel
Lebanon and Israel have officially been at war for 6 years. !ver the past few months the
neighbouring countries seem to have found a new sub"ect to bic#er about$ food. It all started on a
local T% show last !ctober when Lebanese industrialists complained about the
commerciali&ation of star Lebanese dishes such as hummus under the label 'Israeli cuisine( in
western stores. The president of the Lebanese Industrialists )ssociation, *adi )bboud, filed a
registration re+uest for the creation of an ,- label for authentic Lebanese dishes. )uthentic
hummus is a chic#pea pur.e with sesame cream /tahini0 seasoned with garlic, lemon and olive
oil. It is one of the best1#nown and 1loved Lebanese 'me&&e( /appeti&ers0. Its popularity has
spread to Israel, where the best hummus ma#ers of Tel )viv or 2erusalem reach movie1star fame.
3ut hummus is also big business. Lebanese industrialists are mainly concerned about the loss of
mar#et share in the face of foreign produce, which they estimate at around one billion dollars a
year. In an increasingly competitive mar#et, Israelis are coming up with ever1more1creative
solutions. 4apri#a, onions, olives, basil and sun1dried tomatoes are among the new flavours
which are added to the original recipe, much to the horror of hummus purists. In 56 Israeli
scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem even published a study proving that
hummus boosts physical growth, diminishes aggressiveness and is a good anti1depressant.
Israelis must find another name to sell hummus
*adi )bboud, is president of the Lebanese Industrialists )ssociation.
'7ou cant stop other countries from producing hummus, thats unrealistic. 3ut wed li#e to
protect the products label$ the word means chic#pea in )rabic, but 8hummus8 as a commercial
name to designate a specialty dish of crushed chic#peas and sesame cream was first used in
Lebanon in the 9:;s. If Israelis produce and commerciali&e the same product, they have to find
another name for it. In the -<, for e=ample, commercial hummus is sold under the name >ree#
dip, even though you cant find hummus in >reece? @
Hummus doesnt belon to the country that invented it, but the !eo!le who love it
Ahoo#y >alili is an Israeli "ournalist speciali&ing in food and writes a blo dedicated to hummus.
@Banting to claim ownership of hummus is ridiculous. )ccording to archaeologists, the actual
mi= of chic#peas and sesame cream was created by Crusaders in the Diddle )ges. Eummus
doesnt belong to the country that invented it but the people who love it, who ma#e it, who are
passionate about it. Eummus is more than a dish, its a culture. Bhen you go to a hummusia
/hummus restaurant0 you share a table with strangers. 7ou tal# to them, bond with them.
Bhether you are 2ewish, Christian or )rab, it doesnt matter$ differences disappear.@