Israel has taken the upper hand in a new kind of Mideast conflict, one fought with chickpeas instead of bullets.According to Sky News, the record-breaking dish was created by a combination of Jewish and Arab Israelis, and the restaurant owner decided to go for this record to symbolize peace between Arabs and Jews. (The Sky News article says that Jews claim to have invented the dish, although I have never seen any such claims.)
A Guinness World Records adjudicator has confirmed that Israeli chefs in an Arab town outside Jerusalem now hold the world record for the biggest serving of hummus, the chickpea paste that is a staple and a near-religious obsession for many in the Middle East.
Jack Brockbank put the amount of hummus prepared by the chefs Friday at 9,017 pounds (4,090 kilograms).
The record doubles the previous one set in October by cooks in Lebanon.
Lebanon and Israel have officially been at war for decades. When the Lebanese chefs prepared their dish, they called it a move to reaffirm ownership of a food they say has been appropriated by Israelis.
The Israeli author of The Hummus Blog had responded to last year's Lebanese record by jokingly claiming to have created the world's smallest hummus dish, "since we Israelis were always pioneers in miniaturization."