Lebanon taunts Israel with a gesture of gastronomic one-upmanship by preparing a 2,056-kg dish of hummus in a bid to affirm ownership of the Middle Eastern dip
Lebanon taunts Israel with a gesture of gastronomic one-upmanship by preparing a 2,056-kg dish of hummus in a bid to affirm ownership of the Middle Eastern dipLebanese chefs prepared massive plates of hummus and tabbouleh over the week-end, in a bid to reaffirm proprietorship over the popular Middle Eastern dishes.
"Come and fight for your bite, you know you're right!" was the slogan for the event part of a simmering war over regional cuisine between Lebanon and Israel, which have had tense political relations for decades.
The first attempt for the largest hummus dish reached an incredible 2,056 kg, shattering the previous record of 362.8 kg set in New York in 2006.
The tabbouleh dish weighed in at an even more astonishing 3,557 kg, which surpasses Israel's previous record of 2,359 kg.
Lebanese businessmen accuse Israel of stealing a host of traditional Middle Eastern dishes, particularly hummus, and marketing them worldwide as Israeli.
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Hummus Honge Kaamyaab: The hummus was decorated with the colours of the Lebanese flag. |
"Lebanon is trying to win a battle against Israel by registering this new Guinness World Record and telling the whole world that hummus is a Lebanese product, its part of our traditions," said Fady Jreissati, vice president of operations at International Fairs and Promotions group, the event's organizer.
Some 300 chefs were involved in preparing Saturday's massive ceramic plate of hummus in a huge tent set up in Beirut.
The white-uniformed chefs used 1,350 kg of mashed chickpeas, 400 litres of lemon juice and 26 kg of salt to make the dish, weighing 2,056 kilograms.
Yesterday, 250 sous-chefs and their 50 bosses from the state-run culinary school chopped and sliced over three and a half tonnes of the tabbouleh salad, using 1,600 kg of parsley, 1,500 kg of ripe tomatoes and 420 kg of onions.
The issue of food copyright was raised last year by the head of Lebanon's Association of Lebanese Industrialists, Fadi Abboud, when he announced plans to sue Israel to stop it from marketing hummus and other regional dishes as Israeli.
But to do that, Lebanon must formally register the product as Lebanese. The association is still in the process of collecting documents and proof supporting its claim for that purpose.u00a0
About HummusHummus, made from mashed chickpeas, sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic,u00a0 has been eaten in the Middle East for centuries. Its exact origin is unknown, though it's generally seen as an Arab dish.
