It seems as if Lebanon and Israel have moved the battlefield to the kitchen. This past Saturday Lebanon set the world record for the largest bowl of hummus in the village of al-Fanar, near Beirut, surpassing the previous record set four months ago by Israel in the Arab-Israeli village of Abu Gosh. This latest bowl of hummus weighed in at 23,042 pounds, more than doubling the previous bowl. According to local media, the Lebanese chefs used 8 tons of boiled hummus, 2 tons of tahini, 2 tons of lemon juice and 154 lbs. of olive oil for their dish.

Unsurprisingly, the battle hinges on a territory dispute, as both countries lay claim to the dish. Lebanon has sought approval from the European Union to register hummus as a national dish. Israel, of course, takes issue with that. To add insult to injury, or maybe just to increase the amount of available food for that enormous pita that a team of bakers is doubtless working on right now, the next day Lebanon set the Guinness World Record for biggest falafel dish. I'm sure somewhere someone is stacking grape leaves. At least they're not stacking ICBMs.

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