Geo answer
Where on earth does hummus come from? And how about the falafel? Well they have one main ingredient in common: chickpeas. Hummus is a chickpea dip, the falafel a fried chickpea ball.
chickpeaschickpeas
“Falafel” comes from the word for “pepper” in Arabic. And it’s been part of the Arab and Jewish diet for centuries.
In fact it’s so old; no one is really sure where it got started. But it’s spread all over the Middle East and around the world.
One man says the falafel, along with other delicacies such as tabouleh and babaganoush, should be brand names owned by his country.
And why not? France did it with Champagne, and Greece did it with feta cheese.
fetafeta
So where does this food nationalist come from?
One clue – his country shares its biggest border with Syria…
For today’s Geo Quiz, we were looking for a Middle-Eastern country which shares its largest border with Syria.
That country is Lebanon, today’s answer to our Geo Quiz.
One enterprising Lebanese want to brand food like falafel and hummus as his nation’s original creation.
The World’s Aaron Schachter reports from Beirut. Listen:
The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!