Heaping helping of hummus earns Lebanon Guinness World Record

Beirut - Working together to concoct the largest bowl of hummus ever recorded, a group of Lebanese chefs earned a Guinness World Record Saturday. The chefs mixed over two tons of the chickpea-based dip in a three-hour event in downtown Lebanon under the watchful eye of a Guinness representative.

Some 250 Lebanese Chefs participated in the event. They poured 1,350 kilograms of mashed chickpeas and 400 litres of lemon juice and garlic into a mega-sized pottery dish on their way to the prize.

Hummus is a dip of ground chickpeas mixed with sesame paste, garlic and olive oil. It is very popular in Lebanon.

After winning the record, the chefs gathered around their dish and sang the Lebanese national anthem and joined hands in a traditional Lebanese dance, called "dabke," in celebration.

Last year, hummus became the subject of a heated battle between Lebanese foodies, who claim the dish as their own, and Israeli companies marketing the dishes with great success in European shops.

The Association of Lebanese Industrialists protested to the European Commission to seek protected status for the dish as uniquely Lebanese. Similar protection was sought for fried chickpea balls and other traditional dishes.

"What the Lebanese were trying to do is what the Greeks have done with feta cheese," said the association's president, Fadi Abboud, referring to a 2002 European Commission decision that gave Greece sole rights to the name feta cheese.