Over the weekend Lebanon re-ignited their war with Israel.On Saturday Lebanese chefs prepared the world's largest amount of falafel (11,381 pounds worth), and then on Sunday chefs prepared the world's largest amount of hummus (22,994 pounds). No word yet if they were served together.
As a matter of national pride, as falafel and hummus are common digestive and cultural objects that clearly represent both identities of Israel and Lebanon. In October 2009, Lebanon took the world hummus record at 4,500 pounds, only to see Israel take the record in January 2010 with 5,000 pounds. The latest Lebanese attempt more than doubled the Israeli record.
Lebanon accuses Israel of "stealing" traditional Arab dishes like hummus and then marketing them around the world as being Israeli, with Lebanon seeking approval from the European Union to register hummus as a national dish much like Greeks and feta cheese. Others claim that "hummus is a centuries old Arab dish — nobody owns it, it belongs to the region." I don't know if you really can - or should - have registered national dishes, but I am fairly certain I'm going to Zankou for dinner tonight.
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