Hummus

Hummus, also known as Hummus Bi Tahini, is a Levantine dish consisting of cooked, mashed chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic. It is typically garnished with olive oil, whole chickpeas, parsley, and paprika, and can be served as a dip, spread, or savory meal. The earliest known reference to a dish resembling hummus appears in a 13th-century cookbook attributed to the historian Ibn al-Adim from Aleppo in present-day Syria; this recipe, called chickpea kisāʾ (garment), included chickpeas, lemon, sesame, and olive oil but omitted garlic.

Later 14th-century cookbooks from Cairo record similar cold purées, one with vinegar and pickled lemons but no tahini or garlic, and another combining chickpeas and tahini with vinegar, spices, herbs, and nuts, again without garlic. Garlic did not become a standard ingredient until an 1885 Lebanese cookbook, according to food historian Nawal Nasrallah. In the Levant, hummus is a staple food often eaten warm with bread for any meal, while in Egypt it is commonly flavored with cumin. In Israel, it is a daily food, with Mizrahi Jewish immigrants introducing variations such as hummus with fried eggplant and boiled eggs.

In Cyprus, it is part of both Turkish and Greek Cypriot cuisines, and in Turkey it is served as a meze. In the West, hummus is industrially produced and consumed as a snack with crackers or vegetables. Commercially, hummus is about 59% water, 15% carbohydrates, 7% protein, and 16% fat, providing 243 calories per 100 grams and being rich in copper, manganese, and selenium.