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In ''Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East'', Arto der Haroutunian calls hummus "one of the most popular and best-known of all Syrian dishes" and "a must on any ] table."<ref>Arto der Hartoiunian ''Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East'', London 1983, p.33.</ref> Syrians in ] Arab diaspora prepare and consume hummus along with other dishes like ], ] and ], even among the third and fourth-generation offspring of the original immigrants.<ref name=Magocsi>{{Citation|title=Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples|author=]|year=1999|publisher=] Press|isbn=0802029388|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=dbUuX0mnvQMC&pg=PA1244&dq=falafel+history&lr=&as_brr=3&sig=o6O7x6z91yzlNhE_6Ao7YetKQjQ|pages=p. 1244}}</ref> In ''Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East'', Arto der Haroutunian calls hummus "one of the most popular and best-known of all Syrian dishes" and "a must on any ] table."<ref>Arto der Hartoiunian ''Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East'', London 1983, p.33.</ref> Syrians in ] Arab diaspora prepare and consume hummus along with other dishes like ], ] and ], even among the third and fourth-generation offspring of the original immigrants.<ref name=Magocsi>{{Citation|title=Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples|author=]|year=1999|publisher=] Press|isbn=0802029388|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=dbUuX0mnvQMC&pg=PA1244&dq=falafel+history&lr=&as_brr=3&sig=o6O7x6z91yzlNhE_6Ao7YetKQjQ|pages=p. 1244}}</ref>
] ]
For ] hummus has long been a staple food, garnished with olive oil and ] leaves, paprika, parsley or cumin.<ref>Ibrahim, Lailie, ], '''', 31 March 2006, retrieved 9 March 2008.</ref> A related dish popular in the ] and ] is ''laban ma' hummus'' ("] and chickpeas") which uses yogurt in the place of tahini and butter in the place of olive oil. The chickpeas are first boiled alone before the other ingredients are added and it is served hot.<ref name=Salloum> Salloum and Peters, 1996, p. 204.</ref> For ] hummus has long been a staple food, garnished with olive oil and ] leaves, paprika, parsley or cumin.<ref>Ibrahim, Lailie, ], '''', 31 March 2006, retrieved 9 March 2008.</ref> A related dish popular in the ] and ] is fattet hummus''laban ma' hummus'' ("] and chickpeas") which uses yogurt in the place of tahini and butter in the place of olive oil. The chickpeas are first boiled alone before the other ingredients are added and it is served hot.<ref name=Salloum> Salloum and Peters, 1996, p. 204.</ref>


Hummus is a common part of everyday meals in ].<ref>Even mentioned by the ''Israel Defense Force Cookbook'', see ''Houston Chronicle'' ""</ref> Many restaurants run by ] ] and ] are dedicated to hot hummus, which may be served as chick peas softened with ] along with garlic, olive oil, cumin and ]. One of the fancier hummus versions available is traditional '']'', made with lemon-spiked tahini garnished with whole chick peas, a sprinkling of ] and a drizzle of olive oil.<ref>''Food & Wine'', May 2008; '''' by Jen Murphy, p. 66, </ref> Hummus is eaten in restaurants, ] and hummus-only shops called ''humusiot''. Hummus is a common part of everyday meals in ].<ref>Even mentioned by the ''Israel Defense Force Cookbook'', see ''Houston Chronicle'' ""</ref> Many restaurants run by ] ] and ] are dedicated to hot hummus, which may be served as chick peas softened with ] along with garlic, olive oil, cumin and ]. One of the fancier hummus versions available is traditional '']'', made with lemon-spiked tahini garnished with whole chick peas, a sprinkling of ] and a drizzle of olive oil.<ref>''Food & Wine'', May 2008; '''' by Jen Murphy, p. 66, </ref> Hummus is eaten in restaurants, ] and hummus-only shops called ''humusiot''.

Revision as of 04:52, 25 October 2009

This article is about the food. For the biological matter in soil, see Humus. For the band, see Humus (band).
Hummus
Hummus with pine nuts and olive oil
CourseMeze
Place of originLevant
Serving temperatureCold
Main ingredientschickpeas

Hummus (a transliteration of the Template:Lang-ar; also spelled hamos, houmous, hommos, hommus, hummos, hummous or humus; see romanization of Arabic) is a Levantine Arab dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. It is a popular food throughout the Middle East.

Etymology

The word comes from Template:Lang-arḥummuṣ 'chickpeas'. Like other Arabic loanwords, its spelling in English is unstable. The earliest use of the word hummus in English noted by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) was in 1955. Among the common spellings for this word as transliterated into English are hummus, hommos and hoummos. The spelling humus is avoided in English due to its having the same spelling as another English word, though this is the most common Turkish spelling and the OED indicates the word entered the English language from Turkish. The full Arabic name of the prepared spread is حُمُّص بطحينة (ḥummuṣ bi ṭaḥīna) which means chickpeas with tahina.

Historical origins

Hummus with olive oil, lemon juice, cumin and sumac

Many cuisine-related sources carry forward a folklore which describes hummus as one of the oldest known prepared foods with a long history in the Middle East which stretches back to antiquity, but its historical origins are unknown. The historical enigma is such that the origins of hummus-bi-tahini could be much more recent than is widely believed. One of the earliest verifiable descriptions of hummus comes from 18th-century Damascus and the same source claims it was unknown elsewhere.

Meanwhile some cookbooks repeat the legend that hummus was first prepared in the 12th century by Saladin. Sources such as Cooking in Ancient Civilizations by Cathy K. Kaufman carry speculative recipes for an ancient Egyptian hummus, substituting vinegar for lemon juice, but acknowledge we do not know how the Egyptians ate their chick-peas. Similarly, no recipe for hummus has been identified among the many books on cooking surviving from ancient Rome.

Charles Perry, co-author of Medieval Arab Cookery notes that owing to hummus bi tahina being an everyday staple, and because of the lack of Arab recipe books published between the 14th and 20th centuries, no recipes documenting this food's early ingredients have been found. He says the nearest medieval example recorded in a 13th century Arab cookbook, Kitab Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada is Hummus kasa, which substitutes vinegar for lemon, includes extra herbs and adds walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios.

History of the ingredients

Chickpeas and sesame, the crops from which hummus's main ingredients are taken, were known and cultivated in the ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern worlds. Chickpeas are hummus's principal ingredient, and have been a human food item for over 10,000 years. The chickpea was used as a food item in Palestine before 4000 BC, was one of the earliest crops cultivated in Mesopotamia and was a common street dish in ancient Rome; indeed the famous Roman orator, Cicero, was named for an ancestor who had a wart on his nose shaped like a chickpea. Archeological evidence identifies chickpeas in the Sumerian diet before 2500 BC. They are noted in a 13th century work by Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi of Persia for a "simple dish" of meat, pulses and spices. It is unknown whether chickpeas were commonly mashed in any of these cultures. Tahini (sesame paste) likewise lacks any clear historical context. Sesame was grown as a crop in ancient Assyrian and Babylonian gardens and is mentioned by Columella. It was common in Roman and Persian kitchens in the form of sesame oil but not as the tahini paste of hummus-bi-tahini.

Other ingredients are used in sundry recipes of hummus-bi-tahini. The olive originated in Syria and Palestine, where it was being cultivated by the fourth millennium BC. A variety may have been indigenous to Crete, where olives were being cultivated by 2500 BC. The Bible mentions olive oil many times and it was exported from Palestine to places such as Egypt. Several Roman writers indicate that salt was used in extracting the oil. Garlic was grown in the gardens of King Merodach-Baladan II of Babylon and probably was in Greece by the early Bronze Age. The lemon was last to arrive in the Middle East and Mediterranean world, originating in India. However, depictions of lemons have been found at Pompeii and Tusculum, so this fruit must have reached the Roman world, at least as a luxury import, by the first century.

Nutritional information

Lebanese hummus, garnished with whole chickpeas, on a Yemeni serving dish

Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C, and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber. Depending on the recipe hummus carries varying amounts of monounsaturated fat. Hummus is useful in vegetarian and vegan diets and like other combinations of grains and pulses, when eaten with bread it serves as a complete protein.

Serving methods

As an appetizer and dip hummus is scooped with flatbread (such as pita). Hummus is also served as part of a meze or as an accompaniment to falafel, grilled chicken, fish or eggplant. Garnishes include chopped tomato, cucumber, cilantro, parsley, sautéed mushrooms, whole chickpeas, olive oil, hard-boiled eggs, paprika, ful, olives and pickles. Outside the Middle East it is sometimes served with tortilla chips or crackers.

Hummus ful (pronounced /fuːl/) is topped with a paste made from fava beans boiled until soft and then crushed. Hummus masubha/mashawsha is a mixture of hummus paste, warm chickpeas and tahini.

In Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East, Arto der Haroutunian calls hummus "one of the most popular and best-known of all Syrian dishes" and "a must on any mezzeh table." Syrians in Canada's Arab diaspora prepare and consume hummus along with other dishes like falafel, kibbe and tabouleh, even among the third and fourth-generation offspring of the original immigrants.

File:Hummus.JPG
Lebanese style hummus topped with whole chickpeas and olive oil.

For Palestinians hummus has long been a staple food, garnished with olive oil and "nana" mint leaves, paprika, parsley or cumin. A related dish popular in the region of Palestine and Jordan is fattet hummuslaban ma' hummus ("yogurt and chickpeas") which uses yogurt in the place of tahini and butter in the place of olive oil. The chickpeas are first boiled alone before the other ingredients are added and it is served hot.

Hummus is a common part of everyday meals in Israel. Many restaurants run by Mizrahi Jews and Arab citizens of Israel are dedicated to hot hummus, which may be served as chick peas softened with baking soda along with garlic, olive oil, cumin and tahini. One of the fancier hummus versions available is traditional hummus masabacha, made with lemon-spiked tahini garnished with whole chick peas, a sprinkling of paprika and a drizzle of olive oil. Hummus is eaten in restaurants, supermarkets and hummus-only shops called humusiot.

Controversy

  • In October 2008 the Association of Lebanese Industrialists sought 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.
  • Food critic Jana Gur wrote that the ethos of some early Jewish settlers in modern Israel "was rejection of everything that reeked of Diaspora and an eager, almost childish, embrace of the Levant. The infatuation with falafel and hummus, staples of Arabic cuisine, started there." The outcome, according to another commentator, was that "Shawarma, falafel and hummus soon became “sabra” foods." According to Jana Gur, "While not a single Israeli will claim that this chickpea and tahini concoction is anything but Arabic, the status it has reached in Israel is unprecedented anywhere in the Middle East: 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. ...and supermarket shelves burst with a variety of hummus products, sporting catchy names (most of them Arabic)". According to Gur, "The success of certain brands of Israeli hummus abroad may have been what brought about Abboud's anger", leading him to claim that Israel has been "stealing" their country's national dishes, like hummus, falafel, tabbouleh and baba ghanouj.
  • Interviewed on the BBC program Cooking in the Danger Zone, Israeli food editor Gil Hovav stated that Hummus is so popular in Israel such that "even during the intifada years Jews would sneak in to risk their lives, sneak into the Muslim quarter just to have a vital, really genuine good humous ...". When asked if Humous was originally Jewish, or Arabic, he answered that "Humous is Arabic. Falafel, our national dish, our national Israeli dish, is completely Arabic and this salad that we call an Israeli Salad, actually it's an Arab salad, Palestinian salad. So, we sort of robbed them of everything..."
  • In September 2009 the France24 website published an article titled "Hummus, another cause for war in the Middle East". Discussing how Lebanese industrialists are concerned about the loss of a market share of one billion dollars a year in the face of foreign produce, the article contrasted the opinions of Fadi Abboud (president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association), stating that "Israelis have usurped several Lebanese and oriental products", with those of Shooky Galili (an Israeli journalist specialising in food who writes a blog dedicated to hummus), claiming that “Hummus doesn’t belong to the country that invented it, but the people who love it”.

See also

References

  1. Sami Zubaida, "National, Communal and Global Dimensions in Middle Eastern Food Cultures" in Sami Zubaida and Richard Tapper, A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East, London and New York, 1994 and 2000, ISBN 1-86064-603-4, p. 35.
  2. ^ Pam Peters (2007), The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage, Cambridge University Press, p. 370, ISBN 0521878217 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1= and |unused_data= (help)
  3. ^ Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition) CD-ROM Version 3.1.1 (2007), Oxford, Oxford University Press
  4. mideastfood.about.com, Hummus 101, retrieved 28 February 2008
  5. choice.com, More about hummus, "Hummus has existed for thousands of years." retrieved 5 May 2008
  6. insidehookah.com Food - Hummus, "...it is evident that it’s been a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean favorite, and sometimes staple, for thousands of years." retrieved 5 May 2008
  7. www.straightdope.com, Who invented hummus?, 21 March 2001, "Hummus has been around for too long, in too many forms, and the origin is lost in antiquity... There's no way of knowing where it started...", retrieved 5 May 2008
  8. Jaffe, Jody, bethesdamagazine.com, Scrumptious Hummus, 2007, "...hummus has been around since humans have been hunting and gathering... the history of hummus is murky, with several cultures claiming origin." retrieved 05 May 2008
  9. James Grehan, Everyday Life and Consumer Culture in Eighteenth-Century Damascus ISBN 029598676X
  10. Adrienne's Gourmet Foods, Hummus, retrieved 3 September 2008
  11. ^ Brothwell & Brothwell pp. 105-7
  12. Alice Fordham (October 10, 2008), Middle Eats: What are Lebanon’s chances of legally laying claim to hummus?, NOW Lebanon
  13. Perry and Rodinson, 1998, p. 383.
  14. Tannahill p. 25
  15. Tannahill p. 61
  16. Tannahill p. 174
  17. Brothwell & Brothwell pp. 157, 146
  18. Tannahill p. 176
  19. Brothwell & Brothwell pp. 154-7
  20. Brothwell & Brothwell p. 109
  21. Brothwell & Brothwell pp. 140, 269
  22. Bricklin, 1994, p. 115.
  23. Hummus NutritionData.com
  24. Arto der Hartoiunian Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East, London 1983, p.33.
  25. Paul R. Magocsi (1999), Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples, University of Toronto Press, pp. p. 1244, ISBN 0802029388 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  26. Ibrahim, Lailie, Institute for Middle East Understanding, Hummus, a Palestinian staple, 31 March 2006, retrieved 9 March 2008.
  27. Salloum and Peters, 1996, p. 204.
  28. Even mentioned by the Israel Defense Force Cookbook, see Houston Chronicle "Diversity in the dining room helps ring in Israel's new year"
  29. Food & Wine, May 2008; On the Hummus Hunt in Israel by Jen Murphy, p. 66,
  30. Karam, Zeina, "Hummus war looms between Lebanon and Israel", Associated Press, 7 October 2008, retrieved 10 December 2008.
  31. Carolynne Wheeler (11 Oct 2008), "Hummus food fight between Lebanon and Israel", The Daily Telegraph
  32. "Whose hummus is it anyway?", The Times of South Africa, Nov 09, 2008 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  33. ^ Gur, Janna (cited as 'Jana'), Santa Fe New Mexican, "Hummus History: Tales of a Wandering Chickpea", 21 October 2008, retrieved 11 December 2008
  34. Volcot-Freeman, Eythan-David "Culinary Zionism: an ingathering of edibles", Present Tense Magazine, retrieved 1 December 2008.
  35. BBC Cooking in the Danger Zone: Israel and Palestinian Territories, Page 6
  36. "Hummus, another cause for war in the Middle East"
  37. Lebanon aims for Guinness records as part of bid to lay claim to hummus, tabouleh

Bibliography

  • Afzal-Khan, Fawzia; Seshadri-Crooks, Kalpana (2000), The Pre-occupation of Postcolonial Studies, Duke University Press, ISBN 0822325217, 9780822325215 {{citation}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); More than one of |author= and |last1= specified (help)
  • Amster, Linda; Sheraton, Mimi (2003), The New York Times Jewish Cookbook: More Than 825 Traditional and Contemporary Recipes from Around the World, St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0312290934, 9780312290931 {{citation}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); More than one of |author= and |last1= specified (help)
  • Bricklin, Mark (1994), Prevention Magazine's Nutrition Advisor: The Ultimate Guide to the Health-Boosting and Health-Harming Factors in Your Diet, Rodale, ISBN 0875962254, 9780875962252 {{citation}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); More than one of |author= and |last1= specified (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  • Brothwell, C. D.; Brothwell, B. (1998), Food in Antiquity: A survey of the Diet of Early Peoples, Expanded Edition, John Hopkins University, ISBN 0801857406 {{citation}}: More than one of |author= and |last1= specified (help)
  • Rodinson, Maxime; Perry, Charles (1998), Medieval Arab Cookery, Prospect Books (UK), ISBN 0907325912, 978-0907325918 {{citation}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); More than one of |author= and |last1= specified (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  • Salloum, Habeeb; Peters, James (1996), From the Lands of Figs and Olives: Over 300 Delicious and Unusual Recipes, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1860640389 {{citation}}: More than one of |author= and |last1= specified (help)
  • Tannahill, Reay (1973), Food in History, Stein and Day, ISBN 0812814671 {{citation}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help); Unknown parameter |ISBN-status= ignored (help)
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