The strikingly simple dish that’s worth $15 billion

2 hours ago 3

Ben Groundwater

September 15, 2025 — 5:00am

The dish: Hummus, the Levant

Plate up If ever there was a dish to prove that simplicity is perfection, this is it: hummus. It’s so basic in its ingredients, so humble in its creation, and yet hummus is unquestionably one of the great dishes of the world.

Consider the items you need to make it: chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and a mortar and pestle. The chickpeas are cooked and then thrown into the mortar with tahini – Levantine sesame paste, itself an ingredient far greater than the sum of its parts – lemon juice and garlic, and then ground and blended into a smooth, thick paste.

This paste can then be topped simply with fresh olive oil, or with added chopped herbs, whole chickpeas, pine nuts, or even minced lamb. Grab a hunk of fresh-baked flatbread, scoop out a huge dollop of hummus, and you have yourself one of the most delicious mouthfuls of food you could ever hope to consume. All with just a few ingredients.

First serve Who invented hummus? We’re into murky waters here. You might as well ask who invented the sandwich (hint: it wasn’t the Earl of Sandwich). For many centuries, those in the Levant – modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Egypt – have been consuming chickpeas, tahini and garlic. The first recorded mention of hummus comes in the 13th century, in a cookbook authored by Syrian historian Ibn al-Adim, though that doesn’t mean the dish was invented in Syria, or even discovered by al-Adim. It’s likely that hummus evolved over time across the Levant, and something similar may have been consumed for millennia.

Order there In Amman, the capital of Jordan, Fakhreldin Restaurant (fakhreldin.com) is well known as a purveyor of high-quality hummus.

Order here In Sydney, head out to Fairfield Heights to try the excellent hummus – and Iraqi specialties – at Al-Awael Restaurant (instagram.com/alawael_restaurant). In Melbourne, don’t miss Beit Siti in Coburg (beitsiti.com). In Adelaide, Ballaboosta has great hummus (ballaboosta.com.au).

Make it Create your own hummus at home with RecipeTin Eat’s method on Good Food.

One more thing Hummus is huge: the global hummus market is thought to be worth more than $15 billion, and this must be the world’s favourite Middle Eastern dish, above even shawarma and falafel in terms of ubiquity.

Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.

Ben Groundwater is a Sydney-based travel writer, columnist, broadcaster, author and occasional tour guide with more than 25 years’ experience in media, and a lifetime of experience traversing the globe. He specialises in food and wine – writing about it, as well as consuming it – and at any given moment in time Ben is probably thinking about either ramen in Tokyo, pintxos in San Sebastian, or carbonara in Rome. Follow him on Instagram @bengroundwaterConnect via email.