Mainly consisting of chickpeas and tahini hummus/hummous/hommos/humos/hommus/hoummos (depending on how you want to spell it) is delicious. You can spread it on anything or dip anything into it. Best served cold and inconsistently spelled throughout the English language. You can’t go wrong with hummus because of it’s versatility. It can be used as an appetizer and scooped with Pita bread. Hummus can also be quite the companion to falafel. Hummus loves you and  you should love hummus back. In fact, hummus loves you so much that it bestows upon you iron, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and a significant amount of folate. The chickpea base is also a good source of protein and dietary fiber. The tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds which are an excellent source of methionine which compliments the protein of the chickpeas.

While delicious and having your best interests at heart hummus has not been free from the grasps of controversy. In October 2008 the Association of Lebanese Industrialists petitioned to request protection from the European Commission for hummus to be considered uniquely a Lebanese food. The ALI then stated that Israel has a long history of usurping several Lebanese products. Fadi Abboud, the president of ALI, was angered that Israel “stole” Lebanese dishes and had more success at selling them nationally than Lebanon did. These dishes are not limited to the amazingness that is hummus; falafel, tabbouleh, and baba ghanouj are also considered stolen by Abboud. As of late 2009 ALI was still preparing documents and proof to support its claims.

On the brighter side of hummus, Lebanon holds the Guinness World Record for the largest dish of hummus in the world. The dish was prepared by 300 cooks and weighed 23,000 pounds.

The one down side to making your own hummus is that you need to peel all of the skins off of the chickpeas or when you puree them you might experience left over skin in your hummus and no one wants that.

-Brady