The great hummus war of 2009

Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

It’s hard for Americans to understand how nationalistic passions can get worked up over food. Culturally, we’re the ultimate culinary magpies. We borrowed pizza from the Italians, hamburgers from the Germans and ice cream from the British and it all worked pretty well. But in other parts of the world, things operate differently.

For years, there has been a long-simmering feud between Israel and its Arab neighbors over hummus and falafel. Lebanese and Egyptian intellectuals have claimed that European-descended Israeli Jews appropriated them from their Palestinian Arab neighbors. Meanwhile, Israelis counter that hummus and falafel came with the Mizrachi (Middle Eastern) Jews who comprise nearly 50% of the country’s population.

This back-and-forth argument has devolved into stealth pita attacks and regular deployments of weapons of mass deliciousness. Prior to 2009, Israel held the Guinness record for the world’s largest bowl of hummus. But on Saturday, Lebanese chefs held the “Hummus and Tabbouleh are 100% Lebanese” Festival at Beirut’s Saifi Market. 250 culinary students prepared a giant bowl of hummus that was even bigger than Israel’s, while attempting to win the record for the world’s largest bowl of tabbouleh while they were at it:

The event was organized by the International Fairs and Promotions group (IFP), along with the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) and the Industry Minister Ghazi Zaiter. The event was held to affirm the origins of the dishes after the ALI’s claim that the specialties are sold internationally as Greek or Israeli dishes, undermining the cultural originality of the dishes and causing huge losses for the Lebanese economy. At the event, Ghazi Koraytem, president of the Syndicate of Lebanese Food Industries called for the international recognition and registration of the dishes as being Lebanese in origin.

Christian, Sunni and Shiite vendors all took part in the festival surrounding the hummus unveiling.

But here’s what we’re wondering – are hummus and tabbouleh intristically Lebanese? Is there something wrong with marketing them as Greek or Israeli dishes?

Both of these foods have their origins in the Ottoman Empire, along with falafel, baklava, shawarma, chicken kabobs/shish tawouk and a host of other Middle Eastern favorites. The Ottoman Empire ruled over the historical lands that are now administered by the governments of Greece, Israel and Lebanon. Foods travel with governors and conquerors; that’s why kebabs can be found from Greece to India and why schnitzels and tortes are eaten in every land that the Kaiserlich und Koniglich ever ruled over. Hell, it’s even the reason why Turkish coffee, Greek coffee, Arabic coffee, Lebanese coffee and Israeli coffee are all the same damn thing.

However, food is inseperable from politics in the Middle East. For many Arabs and Palestinians, the fact that Arab foods are a mainstay of the Israeli diet is inseperable from their hostility towards the Jewish state. Back in 2002, Jodi Kantor of the New York Times spoke with Palestinian-American public intellectual Rashid Khalidi and the late journalist Aziz Shihab:

Many Palestinians believe that Israelis have stolen falafel, a traditional Arab food, and passed it off as what postcards at tourist kiosks all over Israel call “Israel’s National Snack.” “We always sort of look at each other and roll our eyeballs when we pass a restaurant that says ‘Israeli falafel,’” said Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian-American and a professor of Middle Eastern history at the University of Chicago. Some do more than roll eyeballs. Aziz Shihab, a Palestinian-American and the author of the cookbook “A Taste of Palestine,” once picked an argument with the owners of an Israeli restaurant in Dallas that served falafel. “This is my mother’s food,” he said. “This is my grandfather’s food. What do you mean you’re serving it as your food?”

Meanwhile, Israeli food writer Jana Gur says that the nation has made hummus their own:

In Lebanon or in Jordan, hummus is a simple morning fare or a part of a meze table. In Israel it is a religion. The best hummus restaurants, invariably owned by Arabs, are considered national treasures. Guides are dedicated to the best places to “mop up” hummus, books and essays discuss comparative virtues of fluffy Jerusalem hummus as opposed to chunky Galilean versions. This love affair, that has been going on for decades, shows no signs of dying. The latest addition to the hummus scene is a wave of upscale restaurants serving hummus with fancy toppings ranging from foie gras to ragoût bolognaise.

Falafel is different among Israeli Jews as well. Eschewing the cylinder-like, sesame-seed studded version found throughout the West Bank and Israeli Arab communities, Israeli Jewish falafel is invariably more herb-flavored and owes more in the hot sauces and amba served on top to Iraq and Yemen than to Ramallah or Jenin.

One thing is for sure; when the Syrians hear about this, they’ll tell you that hummus is theirs.