Jerusalem hotels, restaurants, attractions, tours & events. Helping since 2008

Perhaps no food could have the power to end eons of tension, or further enflame matters, than the delicious chickpea mash known as hummus. On the surface, it seems everybody across the Levant, and now the world, agrees that it's just about the best culinary treat ever. But squabbles have arisen time and time again as to where the food originated (somewhere close), who makes the best one (not touching that with a 10-foot pole), whether to get it solo, with fuul, or some other topping (with fuul, without a doubt) and more eternal questions. A certain guerilla filmmaker by the name of Sacha Baron Cohen even used the dish recently to try and goad an Israeli and Palestinian into fighting - or was it make peace. And the Israeli version of the Hatfield and Mccoys is over what else - hummus.

But hummus may be the thing that brings that feud to a close. Two brothers (we think) have for years operated rival hummus shop in the village of Abu Ghosh. Abu Ghosh, an Arab-Christian town in the Jerusalem hills, right outside the city, has long been known for two things. One is the annual vocal music festival that takes place in the town's many quaint spots and ancient monasteries. The other is hummus. (There is also, strangely enough, an Elvis shrine.) The city is known as the pretty much official hummus capital of Israel, if not the world. Every year thousands of pilgrims flock to the city to taste the offerings and must make a choice, whether to visit the Abu Shukri hummusia, (hummus bar) or nearby Abu Ghosh Restaurant, or one of the other restaurants in town. Both Abu Ghosh and Abu Shukri proclaim to be the best around and call themselves the original Abu Shukri. (And as if that weren't confusing enough there's another Abu Shukri hummusia in the Old City, surely related somehow.)

This month, the two giants of hummus will break pita and get together to create a four-ton bowl of hummus, breaking a world-record recently set by Lebanese chefs, who whipped up two tons of the stuff. According to a BBC reporter, though, the two rival hummus joints didn't start the bid off together. The idea supposedly belonged to Abu Ghosh restaurant first, but a wayward Israeli TV reporter who called to confirm accidentally called the Abu Shukri restaurant, who said they were also planning a world-record breaking attempt. Accounts vary but eventually the two sides somehow got together.

Record-breaking attempts are not new to Jerusalem, as a recent largest Jerusalem mixed grill record attempt and giant flag unfurling at Teddy Stadium proved. Palestinians also recently baked a record breaking knafeh in Nablus, setting the record. But there is much more at stake with the Abu Ghosh attempt. When Lebanon set the record, they also claimed hummus as their national treasure, and not Israel's. Doubling their feat will bring hummus pride back to its rightful home, though in our hearts and stomachs, it never really left. In fact, while record attempts bring good publicity to Jerusalem, maybe quality, and not quantity should really be local chefs' emphasis. There's no reason two rival cooks can't get together to make the world's best, yet normal sized, pita, hummus or any other food.

But, as Jawadat Ibrahim of the Abu Ghosh restaurant told the BBC, "This is for the whole village, the whole country, the whole people. People love hummus. They love to live side by side."

Image courtesy of Whistling in the Dark from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.