Hummus

Origin and history

Although multiple different theories and claims of origins exist in various parts of the Middle East, evidence is insufficient to determine the precise location or time of the invention of hummus. Its basic ingredients—chickpeas, sesame, lemon, and garlic—have been combined and eaten in Egypt and the Levant for centuries. Though regional populations widely ate chickpeas, and often cooked them in stews and other hot dishes, puréed chickpeas eaten cold with tahini do not appear in records before the Abbasid Caliphate in Egypt and the Levant.

The earliest mention of a dish equivalent to hummus comes from Syria, in a 13th-century cookbook attributed to Ibn al-Adim. The recipe, which the cookbook calls chickpea kisāʾ (garment), includes chickpeas, lemon, sesame, and olive oil, but omits garlic. Other early written recipes for a dish resembling ḥummuṣ bi ṭaḥīna are recorded in cookbooks written in Cairo in the 14th-century. A cold purée of chickpeas with vinegar and pickled lemons with herbs, spices, and oil, but no tahini or garlic, appears in the Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table (كنز الفوائد في تنويع الموائد); and a purée of chickpeas and tahini called hummus kasa appears in Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi's The Book of Dishes: it is based on puréed chickpeas and tahini, and acidulated with vinegar (not lemon), but it also contains many spices, herbs, and nuts, and no garlic. It is also served by rolling it out and letting it sit overnight.

According to food historian Nawal Nasrallah, no records of recipes for hummus exist after the 14th century until an 1885 Lebanese cookbook, by which time garlic is established as a standard ingredient.

Regional preparations

As an appetizer and dip, diners scoop hummus with flatbread, such as pita. It is also served as part of a meze or as an accompaniment to falafel, grilled chicken, fish, or eggplant.

Hummus is a common dip in Egypt where it is eaten with pita, and frequently flavored with cumin or other spices.

In the Levant, hummus has long been a staple food, often served as a warm dish, with bread for breakfast, lunch or dinner. All of the ingredients in hummus are easily found in gardens, farms and markets, thus adding to the availability and popularity of the dish. Hummus is usually garnished with olive oil, "nana" mint leaves, paprika, and parsley.

Hummus is a common part of everyday meals in Israel. It is made from ingredients that, following Kashrut (Jewish dietary laws), can be combined with both meat and dairy meals. Chickpea dishes have long been part of the cuisine of Jews who lived in the Middle East and Northern Africa. The many Mizrahi Jewish immigrants from these countries brought their own unique variations, such as hummus with fried eggplant and boiled eggs prepared by Iraqi Jews. Israeli versions use large amounts of tahini for a creamier texture.

One author calls hummus "one of the most popular and best-known of all Syrian dishes" and a "must on any mezzeh table". Syrian and Lebanese in Canada's Arab diaspora prepare and consume hummus along with other dishes like falafel, kibbeh and tabbouleh, even among the third- and fourth-generation offspring of the original immigrants.

In Cyprus, hummus is part of the local cuisine in both Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities where it is called "humoi" (Greek: χούμοι). In the United Kingdom, hummus was popularized by Greek Cypriot caterers, sometimes leading to a perception of it being a Greek food.

In Turkey, hummus is considered a meze.

In France, in the region of Provence, there is a dish called poichichade that resembles hummus.

In the United States and Europe, hummus is commercially available in numerous traditional and non-traditional varieties, such as beet or chocolate.

Nutrition

Commercial hummus is 59% water, 15% carbohydrates, 7% protein, and 16% fat (table). In a reference amount of 100 grams (3.5 oz), commercial hummus supplies 243 calories of food energy, and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of copper (39% DV), manganese (45% DV), and selenium (29% DV, table). Hummus is a moderate source (10–20% DV) of thiamine, vitamin E, vitamin K, and several dietary minerals (table).

Packaged product

United Kingdom

In the 1980s, the supermarket Waitrose was the first British supermarket to stock hummus, spelled houmous. Hummus was popularized in the UK by chefs such as Yotam Ottolenghi, Claudia Roden and Anissa Helou. As of 2013, £60 million worth of hummus was sold in the UK each year, and one survey found that 41% of British respondents had hummus in their fridge, twice as many as the rest of Europe. A Waitrose spokesperson said it had become a grocery staple.

United States

In 2006, hummus was present in 12 percent of American households, rising to 17 percent by early 2009. One commentator attributed the growth of hummus to America's embrace of ethnic and exotic foods.

While in 2006–2008 when some 15 million Americans consumed hummus, and annual national sales were about $5 million, sales growth in 2016 was reflected by an estimated 25% of US households consuming hummus. By 2016, the leading American hummus manufacturer, Sabra Dipping Company, held a 62% market share for hummus sales in the United States, and was forecast to exceed $1 billion in sales in 2017.

To meet the rising consumer demand for hummus, American farmers increased their production of chickpeas four-fold since 2009, harvesting more than 100,000,000 pounds (45,000 tonnes) in 2015, an increase from 25,000,000 pounds (11,000 tonnes) in 2009. Hummus consumption has been so popular that many tobacco farmers have switched to growing chickpeas to meet demand.

In culture

Hummus is often seen as an unofficial "national dish" of Israel, reflecting its huge popularity and significance among the entire Israeli population, which Israel's critics describe as an appropriation of Lebanese, Palestinian or Arab culture. According to Ofra Tene and Dafna Hirsch, the dispute over ownership of hummus exposes nationalism through food and the important role played by the industrialization of hummus made by Israeli private companies in 1958. Although hummus has traditionally been part of the cuisine of the Mizrahi Jews who lived in Arabic-speaking lands, the dish was also popularized among the Jewish immigrants from Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century. Historian Dafna Hirsch describes its adoption in their diet as part of an attempt of blending in the Middle Eastern environment, while sociologist Rafi Grosglick points out the importance of its health aspects to their diet. In recent years, through a process of gourmetization, the Arab identity of hummus became a marker of its authenticity, making famous Arab-Israeli villages such as Abu Gosh and Kafr Yasif. Hence, enthusiasts travel to the more remote Arab and Druze villages in the northern Galilee region for culinary experiences.

In October 2008, the Association of Lebanese Industrialists petitioned the Lebanese Ministry of Economy and Trade to request protected status from the European Commission for hummus as a uniquely Lebanese food, similar to the Protected Geographical Status rights held over regional food items by various European Union countries. As of 2009, the Lebanese Industrialists Association was still "collecting documents and proof" to support its claim.

The 2005 short film West Bank Story features a rivalry between two fictional restaurants, the Israeli "Kosher King" and the Palestinian "Hummus Hut". A parody of West Side Story, the film won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. In 2012, Australian filmmaker Trevor Graham released a documentary, Make Hummus Not War, on the political and gastronomic aspects of hummus.

Lebanon and Israel's chefs have been engaged in a competition over the largest dish of hummus, as validated by the Guinness World Record, as a form of contestation of "ownership". The "title" has gone back and forth between Israel (2008), Lebanon (2009), Israel (January 2010), and, as of 2021, Lebanon (May 2010). The winning dish, cooked by 300 cooks in the village of al-Fanar, near Beirut, weighed approximately 10,450 kilograms (23,040 lb), more than double the weight of the Israeli-Arab previous record.