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Hummus (Arabic حمّص; 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 in various local forms throughout the Middle Eastern world.
Etymology
The word comes from Arabic حمّص ḥummuṣ 'chickpeas'. Like other Arabic loanwords, its spelling in English is unstable. The earliest known use of the word hummus in English, noted by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), was in 1955. The three most common spellings for the 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 humus, 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 unknown
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 CE 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.
In 2008 the Association of Lebanese Industrialists declared that the dish is fundamentally Lebanese and that it would pursue the acquisition of internationally-recognized cultural rights to hummus, similar to the Protected Geographical Status rights held over regional food items by various European Union states. This was owing to worries that Israel's export of hummus and other Middle Eastern food items would render hummus a part of Israeli cultural heritage in popular international opinion.
History of the ingredients
No date or history has been documented as to when mashed chickpeas and sesame paste (with or without garlic and lemon) were first combined into a dish anything like the now widely-known food hummus-bi-tahini.
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 a common street dish in ancient Rome and was one of the earliest crops cultivated in Mesopotamia. Archeological evidence identifies chickpeas in the Sumerian diet before 2500 BC. They are noted in a 13th century work by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Karim al Katab 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
Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C. 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 provides essential amino acids.
Serving methods
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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.
Egypt
Hummus is traditionally garnished with cumin in Egypt.
Greece
Although not traditionally a Greek dish, hummus in Greece is known for sometimes being flavored with mint, or used for seasoning on sandwiches such as shawarma and pita burgers.
Iraq
In Iraq, hummus is a widely consumed appetizer, and is sometimes mixed with dates as a dessert eaten with pita bread.
Israel
Hummus is a common part of everyday meals in Israel and is even mentioned by the Israel Defense Force Cookbook. 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.
The adoption of hummus as an Israeli Jewish dish is described by Joseph Massad as "cultural theft" and "appropriation" of what was traditionally a "Palestinian and Levantine Arab" dish. The authors of the New York Times Jewish Cookbook (2003), when discussing hummus and falafel note that they are "certainly not Israeli", but are rather Israeli adaptations of local Arab cuisine.
Jordan
In Jordan hummus mahluta (also known as kudshiya) is covered with a combination of ful (fava bean) paste and warm chick peas.
Lebanon
In Lebanon hummus is a traditional, widely consumed and very popular dish which may be garnished with colorful vegetables along with parsley and sumac. Pickled turnips along with pickled cucumbers and hot green peppers may be served on the side with a traditional garnish of sour pomegranate seeds. In Lebanon hummus is also served with whole chickpeas and olive oil on top. Hummus awarma is topped with minced meat, onions and pine nuts. Lebanese restaurants have introduced hummus in various cities around the world, which has helped make it a popular international dish.
Oman
Hummus is a staple of Omani diet, which is a mixture of foods from neighboring regions. In Oman Hummus is served very plain usually, with just a little oil on top and a few whole chickpeas for garnishment. The type of flatbread it is served with varies greatly and restaurants often will offer customers a choice.
Palestine
For Palestinians hummus has long been a staple food, garnished with olive oil and mint leaves, paprika, parsley or cumin. A related dish popular in both Jordan and the Palestinian territories is laban 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. There are many varieties of Palestinian hummus, such as Hummus masabacha, made with lemon-spiked tahini garnished with whole chickpeas and a sprinkling of paprika.
Syria
In Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East Arto der Hartoiunian 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.
Turkey
Hummus is a widely appreciated appetizer in kebab houses and mediterrenian grills in Turkey. It is often served as a sidedish and sometimes as the main entree especially in southern and southeastern Turkish cuisine. It is traditionally consumed with pita bread, lemon juice, hot red pepper melted in butter and optionally with garlic and/or pastrami.
See also
- Arab cuisine
- Lebanese cuisine
- Turkish cuisine
- Greek cuisine
- Iraqi cuisine
- Syrian cuisine
- Palestinian cuisine
- Levantine cuisine
- Israeli cuisine
References
- 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.
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- ^ Pam Peters (2007). The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage. Cambridge University Press. p. 370. ISBN 0521878217.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition) CD-ROM Version 3.1.1 (2007), Oxford, Oxford University Press
- mideastfood.about.com, Hummus 101, retrieved 28 February 2008
- choice.com, More about hummus, "Hummus has existed for thousands of years." retrieved 5 May 2008
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- Brothwell & Brothwell pp. 140, 269
- Hummus NutritionData.com
- Houston Chronicle "Diversity in the dining room helps ring in Israel's new year"
- Food & Wine, May 2008; On the Hummus Hunt in Israel by Jen Murphy, p. 66, http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/everyday-food-of-israel-on-the-hummus-hunt
- Afzal-Khan et al, 2000, p. 337.
- Amster and Sheraton, 2003, p. 640.
- Ibrahim, Lailie, Institute for Middle East Understanding, Hummus, a Palestinian staple, 31 March 2006, retrieved 9 March 2008
- Salloum and Peters, 1996, p. 204.
- Arto der Hartoiunian Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East, London 1983, p.33.
- Paul R. Magocsi (1999). Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples. University of Toronto Press. p. p. 1244. ISBN 0802029388.
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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) - 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) - Brothwell, C. D.; Brothwell, B. (1998), Food in Antiquity: A survey of the Diet of Early Peoples, Expanded Edition, John Hopkins University, ISBN 0801857406
- Salloum, Habeeb; Peters, James (1996), From the Lands of Figs and Olives: Over 300 Delicious and Unusual Recipes, I.B.Tauris, ISBN 1860640389
- Tannahill, Reay (1973), Food in History, Stein and Day, ISBN 0812814671
{{citation}}: Check|isbn=value: checksum (help)