Celebrate International Hummus Day on May 13th

What does hummus mean to you? Hummus isn’t just a food. First of all it’s delicious. But it represents much more than a taste. Hummus unites people around the world. However this wasn’t always the case…

If you take a look at the hummus wikipedia page, there are some interesting facts. They list the most common spellings of this delicacy as houmous, hummus, hummous, hommos, humos, hommus, and hoummos. Just the fact that so many ways to spell a single word exists, shows the influence of various cultures and pronunciations that are associated with the food. People everywhere eat it! When wikipedia mentions the serving methods of hummus, the two examples are listed as Israeli and then Palestinian. While there are different ways both people eat hummus, the consensus is that it’s a staple food for both.

Later, on the hummus page, there is a section called controversy. I found this shocking at first; how could there be a controversy over a food? A food that everyone loves. A few years ago Lebanon claimed hummus was a uniquely Lebanese food, to which Israeli journalist Shooky Galili (who even runs a hummus blog) responded, “trying to make a copyright claim over hummus is like claiming for the rights to bread or wine…Hummus is a centuries old Arab dish — nobody owns it, it belongs to the region”.

This brings us to today. In the past, people in different countries have used their common love for hummus as a reason to hate. We see it as a reason to love! Hummus is something we all have in common, something we all enjoy. On May 13th people around the world can set aside our differences and enjoy hummus. Instead of arguing about where it came from, we are happy that we all have it now. Food has no borders. So, I am in Israel, calling on people everywhere to eat hummus for peace, on May 13th.

For more information go to www.hummusday.com

Hummus Day was created in 2012 by Ben Lang. The idea was to create a holiday around a food that could bring people together from around the world, in particular the Middle East.

This year, a talented team has joined together to make Hummus Day bigger than ever. The team now includes: Michael Shurp, Nir Kouris, Gal Kalkshtein, Roi Ziko, Lital Einy, and myself.