The Traverati Blog

Israel fired a return salvo in another war with Lebanon this week but one that is hopefully a lot less traumatic for both sides.

I’m off to Lebanon at the end of the month and I’m looking forward to seeing it again. The last time I was there was on the first flight in after the war with Israel in 2006 and it was depressing to see how Beirut had been knocked back after the rebuilding that followed the long civil war. I couldn’t even visit my favourite pastry shop downtown. Rafaat Hallab (www.hallab.com) dates back to 1881 and says it has a different sweet recipe for every year of its existence. I’m still testing that out but I’m barely a third of the way there. Tough job but somebody has to.

Israel fired a return salvo in another war with Lebanon this week but one that is hopefully a lot less traumatic for both sides.

In 2006, Lebanon tried to claim the copyright on hummus, that Middle-Eastern staple made of chickpeas that we all love with pitta bread. Israel fought back, claiming hummus as its own, much to the derision of the Lebanese who pointed out hummus is thousands of years older than the State of Israel, founded in 1948.

It’s a serious issue. In the UK we eat about 500,000 tubs of the stuff every year and whoever can claim EU’s Protected Designated Origin status for it (as Champagne and Feta cheese have done most famously) stands to make, er, pots.

Fadi Abboud, president of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists, says: ‘Most of our specialties, such as hummus, falafel and baba ghannouj, are marketed as Israeli. We are talking about colossal losses as the hummus market is worth over $1 billion. If we win this fight, there is huge potential for Lebanon.’

George Nasrawi, head of the Syndicate of Lebanese Food Industries, says: ‘The Lebanese brand Cortas (www.cortasfood.com) was the first to can hummus and send it across the globe. We are keen on protecting our food and sustaining our position as pioneers.’

As part of the PR battle, Beirut set a Guinness World Record in October 2009, making two tons of hummus (and three tons of tabbouleh). Their slogan was: ‘Come and fight for your bite, you know you’re right!’

This month, the Arab Israeli town of Abu Gosh, the self-proclaimed ‘Hummus Capital of the World’ hit back with a four-ton dish prepared by 50 chefs. Guinness adjudicator Jack Brookbank tasted the dip, served in a six-metre satellite dish and pronounced it good: ‘It’s going to be a long battle. But a nice one.’

If all that has whet your appetite for hummus, take a look at the link below. Be warned it takes the Israeli side but the Hummus Bog is where I stole the irresistible tagline: ‘Eat hummus. Give chickpeas a chance.’ It tickled my sense of hummus, you might say.

http://humus101.com/EN/