Arab Israelis have moved to the front lines in the “humus” war and are planning to prepare as ammunition a four-ton dish of the chick pea dip in a battle to wrest from Lebanon the title of the World's Largest Serving of Humus. Arabs from Abu Ghosh, a town famous for its humus located several miles from Jerusalem off the main highway to Tel Aviv, are planning to dish out the humus weapon this Friday.
Lebanese chefs last October claimed the title in the Guinness Book of Records with a two-ton serving of humus, pronounced in Hebrew with the guttural “h” and with a long ”u.” It is made with chick peas, sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and a touch of ground cumin, is probably the most common Middle East food and usually spread on the popular falafel in pita.
Lebanon, an announced enemy of Israel, has accused the Jewish State of thievery by exporting millions of dollars of humus that is made with what it claims are exclusive Lebanese traditional recipes.
Abu Ghosh restaurateur Jawadat Ibrahim told the French news agency AFP, “Lebanese humus is very good, but Abu Gosh is the humus capital of the world."
The head of Lebanon's Association of Lebanese Industrialists, Fadi Abboud, previously has tried to copyright humus and sue Israel for marketing it.
"If we don't…remind the world that it's not true that humus is an Israeli traditional dish, they will keep on marketing it as their own," he said while 300 Lebanese chefs prepared their two tons of humus for display in Beirut.