What is it about this historic, magical, positively delectable dish? Courtesy of Menemsha Films.“Hummus. It’s not normal. It’s not something ordinary. It’s magic.”
– Eliyahu Schmueli, Restaurateur of Eliyahu’s Restaurant
I concur. HUMMUS. There’s just something about it. WHAT is it about this dish that is so satisfying? It was my senior year at Temple University and one day, I decided to renounce my after-class snack of choice, Tastykakes, and transition to hummus. I literally became possessed for the food, buying it endlessly at the closest supermarket. Garlic hummus. Sweet potato hummus. Everything bagel hummus. Caramelized onion hummus. Dipping overabundant pita crackers and scarfing them down my throat while my roommates tried to get around the kitchen. Exactly ten years later and I am still unstably obsessed with hummus. If I’m in a bad mood, hummus cheers me up. Although I will NEVER try chocolate hummus.
In Hummus! The Movie (2015), Oren Rosenfeld’s giddy, charming documentary, we learn about the enigmatic power this dish has on us. There have been debates about the origins of this food for years. Was it “created” in Israel? Greece? The biggest debate, as is shown in the movie, is whether it’s historically an Israeli or Lebanese dish. I remember a few years ago when Aladdin actor Mena Massoud, an Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christian, tweeted something innocuous about how delicious “Israeli hummus” was. The backlash was instantaneous. “It’s not Israeli! It’s this! It’s that! How dare you misrepresent your country and religion!”
Well, social media is always nasty, but the truth is evident: hummus is still a sensitive topic. In Hummus! The Movie, however, Rosenfeld doesn’t delve too much into the vitriol of this matter. It’s a movie about a variety of restaurateurs in Israel – all from different religious backgrounds – who just love hummus and want to make it for everyone. It doesn’t matter if their customers are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Greek Orthodox, etc. It’s just food, food that can bring people together. Sometimes, there’s debate about who “owns” the food, but in Hummus!, it doesn’t matter. The food’s power is how it manages to satisfy any religious person. Who would have known that monks – that’s right, MONKS – eat hummus together?
One such admirer of hummus is Jewish restaurateur Eliyahu Schmueli, owner of Eliyahu’s Restaurant in Yokneam. A devout Jew whose way of taking time off from work is going to Uman, Ukraine (homeplace of the grave of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s grave), Eliyahu is also very laid back and someday wishes to open his restaurant in the United States. “I should call it McHummus,” he jokes. His friend, Aluf Abir, a martial artist and ragga singer, shares his humor and chuckles at the fighting people instigate over which country hummus should symbolize. Even his song, “Hummus Makes You Stupid,” is a satirical jab at Jews and Arabs in that the one thing in common they share, besides endless years of contention, is this one food.
In Ramle, another town of Israel, there lives Jalil Dabit, a Christian Palestinian, except his religion doesn’t really matter to him. After getting kicked out of Christian school when it was revealed he was Greek Orthodox, Jalil ended up going to a public Jewish school with Russian immigrants. Even at that school, he faced prejudice. “Go back to Christianland!” one bully yelled at him. Christianland? Really? For Jalil, vituperation over religion is what has driven him to make the best hummus in town since he was 13. Jalil just wants to understand people and bring them together through this food. To have a concert at his restaurant, completely open to the public, is his goal, as well as opening a restaurant in Berlin.
For Suhelia al Hindi, a Muslim woman living in Acre, her restaurant is her true love. Unmarried at 50 years old, she jokingly believes that “hummus” is her husband. Together with her siblings, Suhelia took over her father’s restaurant after his death and transformed it into Suhelia’s Restaurant. Much to the disbelief of a few certain men who believe women can’t run their own restaurants, she worked hard and won the Golden Pita Award, establishing herself as the “Queen of Hummus.” Her plans, on her own volition, are to make hummus for as many people as she can.
Instead of going serious, Hummus! interjects levity in moments that show the outrage over this dish. Abu Shukri, another restaurateur interviewed in the film, is clearly dismayed by Suhelia’s success and even female restaurateurs in general. “When a man marries a woman, that’s when trouble starts,” he states at one point. It turns out, however, that he and Suhelia were both runner-ups in the hummus contest before she beat him. Does he really not support women or is he just a little upset that he lost?
A similar moment occurs when Fadi Abboud, the former Lebanese Minster of Tourism, is interviewed in Beirut. Stern as can be, he vehemently believes that hummus is Lebanon’s food, so much so that the country is constantly planning to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s biggest hummus platter. The most recent record upon the film’s release: 10.5 thousand kg of hummus. Unless Google is wrong, that equates to over 23,000 lb. And yes, you do see this platter in the movie and all I can say is WOW. If Willy Wonka had a hummus factory, this is what it would look like. It’s ridiculous, but a wonder to gaze at.
Like any food doc, Hummus! isn’t without its mouth-watering shots of the dish, like those of cooks pouring hummus in a pita pocket or making balls out of pita batter and dropping them in sizzling oil. Topping creamy hummus with fava beans, parsley, eggs, and extra chickpeas and then ending with a swirl of olive oil… Now I’m hungry.
Best of all, Hummus! is a film about hope. Jalil and Suhelia, for example, both wish to expand their restaurants across different borders and religions. They are told separately by friends that it may not be worth it to leave, and they should just stay in their own neighborhood for their own safety. I interpret these comments as warnings, like it’s best to not make matters more uncomfortable over the “hummus debate.” There is a debate, yes, but can’t food bring people together? Can’t this one food, a food devoured by all religions, be the true catalyst for change? Can we focus less on where it originated from and recognize how beloved it is by us all? With hummus, we can open our eyes and see that religion doesn’t need to play a role. Let’s just come together, have a chat, and enjoy this delectable food.
Hummus! The Movie is now streaming on ChaiFlicks and Tubi.