A Lebanese official says his country is preparing to file an international lawsuit against Israel for claiming ownership of traditional dishes it believes were originally Lebanese.
The president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, Fadi Abboud, accuses Israel of "stealing" its northern neighbor's cuisine by marketing dishes such as humous - found across the Middle East - as its own.
Abboud says that while Lebanon is partly to blame because it has never registered its main food trademarks, Israel's adoption of these dishes causes it major losses.
He told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the lawsuit would be based on the 2002 precedent in which Greece won a ruling that only its cheese could be called Feta.
Jalil Dabit, the chef at Samir's Restaurant in Ramle, who serves humous with whole chickpeas, olive oil and a secret blend of spices, agrees with the Lebanese move.
"It is the right thing to do. The Israeli people are taking a product that does not officially belong to them. It originates among the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese people," he said.
Dabit's grandfather established the restaurant in 1948; the family is prominent in Israel's Christian Arab community.
"Because humous is Arabic, not a Jewish dish, Lebanon does not only lose a lot of money from potential exports. There is damage to their national heritage and pride," he said.
However, Tel Aviv-based food journalist and Jerusalem Post contributor Phyllis Glazer said that humous belonged to all the people of the region.
"We didn't steal it - we also use it because people use the ingredients available in their area," she said, while admitting that humous was not Israeli.
"The Arabs made it long before there was Israel. In ancient times, people used the raw materials of the area in which they lived to create their cuisine. People who lived in areas where humous grows ate humous. Egyptians, where the fava bean grows, ate ful. It's for sure not a Jewish invention," Glazer said.
The Israeli identification with humous was given a boost this summer from Adam Sandler in his film You Don't Mess With the Zohan. Sandler portrays a stereotypical Mossad agent with an insatiable appetite for humous. It is considered a wonder-food, the subject of dozens of running wisecracks.
