Cari's visit went as smooth as I expected it to be. She and her family came with a healthy appetite to try local food and take a deep plunge into the flavors and the aromas of the Greek culinary world. They had the great fortune of visiting during the lent period for one main reason. In order for restauranteurs to maintain their fasting clientele, they adjust their menus to include some marvelous vegetarian dishes from the Greek cooking tradition.
"We want to taste everything Greek!" was the visitors' wish, which made me extremely happy.
"Everything! The Greek salad, the fava beans, the lamb, the Greek hummus...!"
Hummus? A thousand little bells started ringing in my head, forcing my memory cabinets open to spill any information I had on hummus. No indication on the Hellenic identity of this dish surfaced.
"Why do you think hummus is a Greek dish?" I asked Cari.
Revelation and misunderstanding! Cari reminded me of that brand of edible products, commonly found in grocery stores all around the US, with the characteristically Hellenic name. Among the typical Greek products, like feta cheese, olives and pita bread, one of the company's best selling product is hummus. Obviously, the popularity of the product in the marketplace has created the belief to the consumers that the origin of hummus is Greek! As much as I would like to express my chauvinism by stating that everything stems from the Greek civilization, I could not falsely claim the originality of hummus on behalf of my culture.
Hummus is a dip or a spread, with the basic ingredient being the garbanzo beans, mashed and flavored with tahini (sesame paste), a splash of lemon and some garlic. Although great Greek philosophers, like Socrates and Plato, praised the nutritional value of mashed garbanzos, the roots of hummus reside in the boisterous history of the Arab world. Even the name stems from the Arab language, as hummus is the word for chickpeas. It is difficult to tell which culture first created this delicacy, but there is definite proof of the recipe presence in a 13th century cookbook, discovered in Cairo. Since then, this food has become one of the most consumed dishes, not only in the Middle East, but around the world as well.
A little poll among my group of peers revealed that Greeks do not clearly know what hummus is or which cuisine features it, fortifying the fact that this particular dish is not part of our cooking tradition. In a later conversation with my friend Maria, from the idyllic island of Zakynthos, I learned that hummus is actually served as an appetizer in tourist restaurants, as there is a popular demand for it.
Then I remembered what one of my university professors, the late Nikos Margaris, wrote in one of his books, regarding Greek environment*. According to him, cooking tradition and practices in Greece are related to environmental factors. In older times, when electricity was not part of the cooking equation, ingredients that take a long time to cook, thus require a considerable amount of fuel, were part of the diet in areas where a lot of wood was available. Garbanzo beans need a lot of time to cook, thus they are commonly found in dishes of large islands, like Lesvos, where vast forests grew, providing adequate fuel material. Smaller islands though, had limited fuel resources, thus they had to choose a legume that is equally nutritious, but cooks faster. One such legume is split peas, which is commonly cultivated in smaller islands, like Santorini and Mykonos. As a matter of fact, Santorini split peas, or fava, is one of the most famous POD products of Greece.
So, if you are planning a vacation in Greece, with the goal to taste Greek food, like Cari and her family, instead of hummus order fava. That is the split pea puree. Both Cari and I can assure you that it tastes deliciously!
* Μάργαρης, Ν.Σ. (2001), Οδοιπορικό στο ελληνικό περιβάλλον, Ελληνικά Γράμματα, Αθήνα
"Why do you think hummus is a Greek dish?" I asked Cari.
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| Hummus served with flat bread (photo retrieved from www.tovima.gr) |
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| Garbanzo beans (photo retrieved from www.emprosnet.gr) |
Hummus is a dip or a spread, with the basic ingredient being the garbanzo beans, mashed and flavored with tahini (sesame paste), a splash of lemon and some garlic. Although great Greek philosophers, like Socrates and Plato, praised the nutritional value of mashed garbanzos, the roots of hummus reside in the boisterous history of the Arab world. Even the name stems from the Arab language, as hummus is the word for chickpeas. It is difficult to tell which culture first created this delicacy, but there is definite proof of the recipe presence in a 13th century cookbook, discovered in Cairo. Since then, this food has become one of the most consumed dishes, not only in the Middle East, but around the world as well.
A little poll among my group of peers revealed that Greeks do not clearly know what hummus is or which cuisine features it, fortifying the fact that this particular dish is not part of our cooking tradition. In a later conversation with my friend Maria, from the idyllic island of Zakynthos, I learned that hummus is actually served as an appetizer in tourist restaurants, as there is a popular demand for it.
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| Yellow split peas |
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| Split pea puree served the Greek way |
So, if you are planning a vacation in Greece, with the goal to taste Greek food, like Cari and her family, instead of hummus order fava. That is the split pea puree. Both Cari and I can assure you that it tastes deliciously!
* Μάργαρης, Ν.Σ. (2001), Οδοιπορικό στο ελληνικό περιβάλλον, Ελληνικά Γράμματα, Αθήνα
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