For the biological matter in soil, see Humus; for the band, see Humus (band).

Hummus with olive oil, lemon juice, cumin and sumac

Hummus (also spelled hamos, houmous, hommos, hommus, hummos, hummous or humus; see romanization of Arabic) is a dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. Hummus is a popular food in various local forms throughout the Middle Eastern world.^[1]

Etymology

The word comes from Arabic ???? ?ummu?^[2] 'chickpeas'. Like other Arabic loanwords, its spelling in English is unstable.^[2] The earliest known use of the word hummus in English noted by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) was in 1955.^[3] The three most common spellings for the word as transliterated into English are hummus, hommos and hoummos. The spelling humus is avoided in English due to its similarity to the English word humus, though this is the most common Turkish spelling^[2] and the OED indicates the word entered the English language from Turkish.^[3] The full Arabic name of the prepared spread is ?????? ?????? (?ummu? bi ?a??na) which means chickpeas with tahina.

History

Hummus with pine nuts

While the antiquity of hummus is not well documented, the history of its two principal ingredients is more widely understood. Chickpeas are hummus' main ingredient and have been a human food item for over 10,000 years.^[9] The chickpea was used as a food item in Palestine before 4000 BC, was a common street dish in ancient Rome^[10] and was one of the earliest crops cultivated in Mesopotamia. Archeological evidence identifies chickpeas in the Sumerian diet before 2500 BC.^[11] They are noted in a 13th century work by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Karim al Katab al Baghdadi of Persia for a "simple dish" of meat, pulses and spices.^[12]

Tahini (sesame paste) lacks a clear historical context, although sesame was grown in ancient Assyrian and Babylonian gardens and is mentioned by Columella.^[13] It was common in Roman and Persian kitchens in the form of sesame oil and not the tahini paste of hummus bi tahini.^[14]

Other ingredients are used in various versions hummus bi tahini. The olive originated in Syria and Palestine where it was being cultivated by the fourth millennium BC. A variety may have been indigenous to Crete, where olives were being cultivated by 2500 BC. The Bible mentions olive oil many times and it was exported from Palestine to places such as Egypt. Several Roman writers indicate salt was used in extracting the oil.^[15] Garlic was grown in the gardens of King Merodach-Baladan II of Babylon and probably was in Greece by the early Bronze Age.^[16] The lemon was last to arrive in the Middle East and Mediterranean world, originating in India. However, depictions of lemons have been found at Pompeii and Tusculum, so this fruit must have reached the Roman world, at least as a luxury import, by the first century.^[17]

No date or history has been documented as to when these items were first combined into the now widely-known food hummus bi tahini. Sources such as Cooking in Ancient Civilizations by Cathy K. Kaufman^[10] carry speculative recipes for ancient Egyptian hummus, substituting vinegar for lemon juice, but acknowledge we do not know how the Egyptians ate their chick-peas. Similarly, no recipe for hummus has been identified among the many books on cooking surviving from ancient Rome. Hummus has been noted as a food in 18th-century Damascus (although the same source claims it was unknown elsewhere)^[18] and is noted in one of the sources cited by the OED as a traditional Arab dish.^[19]

Nutritional information

Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber. Depending on the recipe hummus carries varying amounts of monounsaturated fat.^[20] Hummus is useful in vegetarian and vegan diets and like other combinations of grains and pulses, when eaten with bread it provides essential amino acids. In the United States, the government is trying to introduce healthier food in school cafeterias to slow obesity rates; along with whole-grain pizzas and baked chicken nuggets, the new offerings include hummus. ^[21]

Serving methods

Hummus garnished with whole chickpeas on a Yemeni serving dish

Hummus ful (pronounced /fu?l/) is topped with a paste made from fava beans boiled until soft and then crushed. Hummus masubha/mashawsha is a mixture of hummus paste, warm chickpeas and tahini.

Lebanon

Lebanese style hummus topped with whole chickpeas and olive oil.

Palestine

In Palestine hummus has long been a staple food, garnished with olive oil and mint leaves, paprika, parsley, or cumin.^[22] A related dish popular in both Jordan and the territories is laban ma' hummus ("Yogurt and chickpeas") which uses yogurt in the place of tahini and butter in the place of olive oil. The chickpeas are first boiled alone before the other ingredients are added, and it is served hot.^[23] The Palestinian hummus have many variations, for example the Hummus masabacha is made with lemon-spiked tahini garnished with whole chickpeas and a sprinkling of paprika

Syria

In Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East Arto der Hartoiunian calls hummus "one of the most popular and best-known of all Syrian dishes" and "a must on any mezzeh table."^[24] Syrians in Canada's Arab diaspora prepare and consume hummus along with other dishes like falafel, kibbe and tabouleh, even among the third and fourth-generation offspring of the original immigrants.^[25]

Egypt

Hummus is traditionally garnished with cumin in Egypt.

Jordan

In Jordan hummus mahluta (also known as kudshiya) is covered with a combination of ful paste and warm chick peas.

Israel

Hummus is a common part of everyday meals in Israel.^[26] Many restaurants in Israel, mainly the Arab Palestinian restaurants and the Mizrahi Jewish restaurants, are dedicated to hot hummus, which may be served as chickpeas softened with baking soda along with garlic, olive oil, cumin and tahini. The Israeli version of hummus is actually the Palestinian hummus variations, for example the Hummus masabacha is made with lemon-spiked tahini garnished with whole chickpeas and a sprinkling of paprika^[27].

See also

• Arab cuisine
• Greek cuisine
• Lebanese cuisine
• Palestinian cuisine
• Syrian cuisine
• Israeli cuisine

Notes

References

ar:??? ?????? bg:????? (?????) ca:Hummus ceb:Hummus da:Hummus de:Hummus el:??????? es:Hummus eo:Humuso fr:Houmous it:Hummus he:????? nl:Hoummous ja:??? pl:Hummus pt:Homus ru:????? fi:Hummus sv:Hummus tl:Hummus tr:Humus (yemek)