5x food wars: WHO invented hummus?
Food brings people together, it creates bonds. But not always. Some dishes are a real source of division between cultures. The debate over where pavlova was invented, Australia or New Zealand, has divided the continent of Oceania for decades, for example. And the same goes for falafel, pisco sour, spaghetti and hummus.
Pavlova: a ballet dress sparked a decades-long battle
New Zealand and Australia are like two bickering sisters; they agree on almost nothing. Certainly not on the origins of pavlova, that beautiful white meringue cake with whipped cream and fresh fruit. According to New Zealanders, it was first created by a hotel chef in Wellington as a tribute to ballerina Anna Pavlova, who performed in 1926 on the hobbit island. The first recipe for pavlova appeared in the cookbook Davis Dainty Dishes in 1928. It’s a New Zealand cookbook, so there’s your proof. But in that recipe, pavlova was a kind of pudding with layers of gelatin. Two scientists who thoroughly investigated the matter concluded that the meringue cake probably originated in Germany. Sorry guys, neither of you won.
Where does hummus come from?
Who holds the patent on hummus? According to Israel, it is typically Israeli, partly because the Old Testament says: “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your morsel in the hometz.” Is that hummus? Lebanon tried to have hummus officially registered within the EU as a Lebanese dish, but that failed—despite their gigantic platter of more than ten thousand kilos of hummus to strengthen their argument. Maybe it comes from Syria? Or Egypt? In 2012, Trevor Graham released the documentary ‘Make Hummus, Not War’ because he believes that the shared love of chickpea paste among all the countries in the region might hold the key to resolving the long-running conflicts in the Middle East.
The mystery of falafel
Fried, spicy and completely vegan to boot: falafel is always a winner. Where does it come from? That’s a controversial story. It is said to have originated in Egypt, where the Copts eat it during Lent. But Palestinians also say it is their national dish, just as Israel claims. Who is right? Lebanon got involved in the dispute and tried to sue Israel for copyright infringement. Is there copyright on fried chickpea balls? Then you could also sue Jordan, because in 2012 they made a 75-kilo falafel and took the championship title away from… the United States.
Chile or Peru: who came up with pisco sour?
While Chile and Peru are fighting tooth and nail—well, figuratively speaking—over who exactly invented pisco sour, the honor probably goes to an American. In 1920, bartender Victor Morris probably first mixed up that delicious cocktail made with pisco, lime juice, sugar and whipped egg white. Victor did it while working in a bar in Lima, so it’s still a bit of a Peruvian celebration, right?
Chinese spaghetti or Italian noodles
In his travel diaries, Marco Polo writes about a dish he calls ‘lasaga’, with layers of pasta and sauce, and describes how flour is made from a specific type of grain, which is then kneaded into dough. It was eaten in thin strands—think noodles. Fascinating, so Marco brought it back to Italy. Problem: the original text of those diaries cannot be found, and pasta was already very popular in Italy in the first half of the thirteenth century, when Marco had not yet returned from his world tour.
