Hummus, a contested history

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See: King hummus

​Who doesn't like hummus? This savoury chickpea paste has been eaten for centuries in the Levant, perhaps originating in Syria or Lebanon. The word 'hummus' is in fact the Arabic word for chickpea, which is the main ingredient.

Historians have discovered that forms of hummus were already being prepared 800 years ago. Kitab Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada, a 13th century Egyptian cookbook includes instructions for preparing a chickpea dish which, however, incorporates vinegar instead of lemon, and does not include tahini. An 18th century recipe from Damascus that includes tahini, garlic, and lemon seems closer to the modern dish.

Like felafel, hummus has a highly contested history, with some Israeli manufacturers appropriating hummus as a traditional Israeli dish. While there have been Israeli assertions that the Biblical use of the word “hometz” refers to hummus, the direct translation is of "hometz" is “vinegar,” a very different food. Food historian Noah Robinson points out that following the Nakba, Israeli colonists sought to establish a sense of nativism by adopting local foods such as hummus, felafel and maftoul, while erasing the role of Palestinians in the development of these dishes. As journalist Joseph Massad comments, “Israelis stole the Palestinian dish and marketed it as their own, just as they did with the Palestinian homeland.” Hummus has become disconnected from its Arab heritage and claimed as Israel's national dish. Sometimes Israel has been depicted as the "land of hummus." Commerce also played a role in this - if Israeli companies were able to represent hummus as Israeli, this would aid access to the markets for hummus within Western countries.

The debate over the origins of hummus led to the "Hummus Wars" of 2008 and 2009, with Lebanese chefs finally claiming victory after preparing a 4,500 pound dish of hummus in October 2009 that qualified for an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records.  

Some brands of hummus remain controversial in Aotearoa. The Israeli company Sabra sells hummus in New Zealand supermarkets under the brand Obela. Until late 2024, Sabra was co-owned by the Strauss Group, an Israeli multinational food and beverage corporation with a history of sending care packages to soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces, including the elite Golani and Givati Brigades, which are notorious for committing war crimes in Lebanon and Occupied Palestine. Obela is now fully owned by PepsiCo, which also owns SodaStream, an Israeli company which has faced criticism for its operations and treatment of Palestinian workers, as well as accusations of participating in the displacement of indigenous Bedouin-Palestinian communities in the Naqab region.

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Links and references

​Here’s why Palestinians object to the term ‘Israeli food’: It erases us from history - The Washington Post
Israel-Palestine: How food became a target of colonial conquest | Middle East Eye
Boycott Campaign: Sabra - CJPME - English
Who owns hummus? | Rachel Shabi | The Guardian
Hummus and The Hummus Wars: A Delicious Story of Controversy
The Hummus Wars on JSTOR
Human rights and hummus: The fight over Obela in New Zealand is just getting started | The Spinoff
Is Pepsi on The Boycott List and Why