International Hummus Day

It is hard to think of another food with a better origin story for a holiday. International Hummus Day was not decreed by a government or dreamed up by a marketing department. It was the brainchild of Ben Lang, an 18-year-old Israeli-American entrepreneur and cofounder of the mapping startup MapMe, and his friend Miriam Young. The two cooked up the idea at an Innovation Israel Hackathon in 2012, inspired in part by the success of World Nutella Day. Lang’s hope was disarmingly big: create a holiday around a food so universally loved that it might, just maybe, bring people together, especially in the Middle East, where hummus is practically a way of life.

The first attempt did not go as planned. Lang initially set the celebration on a date that coincided with Nakba Day, the day Palestinians and other Arabs mourn Israel’s victory in the 1948 War of Independence, which is hardly the mood for celebrating an Israeli-promoted chickpea holiday, particularly given the long-running debate over who invented hummus in the first place. After receiving dozens of angry messages, Lang quickly rescheduled the day to May 13. Then, by his own admission, he more or less forgot about it until the following year, when the press started writing about it and celebrities began mentioning it on social media. The accidental holiday had caught fire.

The food itself is ancient. The word “hummus” is simply Arabic for chickpeas, and the earliest known hummus-like dish was recorded in 13th-century cookbooks in Cairo: a cold puree of chickpeas, though the medieval recipe skipped the lemon and garlic in favor of pickled lemons, oil, herbs, and spices. Over the centuries the dish became a staple across the region, claimed with passion by Turks, Lebanese, Israelis, Iraqis, Greeks, Syrians, and more, each with their own fierce opinions about the perfect texture, the right amount of tahini, and whether warm chickpeas on top are genius or heresy. The friendly rivalry even produced world records, including a single dish of hummus weighing 23,000 pounds prepared in Lebanon in May 2010.

Hummus arrived fashionably late to the United States, where twenty years ago most Americans could barely pronounce it and annual sales barely topped $5 million. Today it sits in most grocery stores and has become a staple in American households, with estimates suggesting more than a quarter of U.S. homes have hummus in the fridge at any given moment. The industry has grown into a powerhouse: the hummus business brought in an estimated $725 million in 2016 alone, according to the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, and the number has kept climbing. From spicy and buffalo to Mediterranean and dessert versions, the humble chickpea spread has proven it can be anything, which is exactly why it deserves its own day. Even the name carries the dish’s soul: in Arabic, “hummus” simply means chickpeas, a reminder that this global superstar started as the humblest of ingredients, the dried legume that fed farmers, traders, and travelers long before it ever met a cocktail party.

Celebrating is deliciously simple. Make a batch from scratch, and you will join a global debate about technique: the smoothest hummus comes from peeling the chickpeas, a fussy step made easier by swirling them in ice-cold water so the skins slip off. Top your bowl with a swirl of olive oil, whole chickpeas, paprika, and a shower of fresh herbs, then tear into warm pita. Restaurants get in on the fun with special flavors, hummus flights, and buy-one-get-one deals, while fans flood social media with photos of their swirls, each one a tiny edible fingerprint. However you dip, do it on May 13, and do it generously.

THE STORY BEHIND INTERNATIONAL HUMMUS DAY

🫘 A Teenager With a Hackathon Idea
International Hummus Day began in 2012 as the brainchild of entrepreneur Ben Lang, then 18, cofounder of the mapping startup MapMe, and his friend Miriam Young. The pair dreamed it up at an Innovation Israel Hackathon, inspired by the grassroots success of World Nutella Day. Lang’s stated goal was to create a holiday around a food that could bring people together from around the world, starting with the Middle East.

📅 The Day That Moved
The first International Hummus Day was accidentally scheduled to coincide with Nakba Day, when Palestinians and other Arabs mourn Israel’s 1948 victory, and the backlash was swift. Lang received dozens of angry messages and promptly rescheduled the celebration to May 13, where it has stayed ever since. He then forgot about the project entirely until the next year, when press coverage and celebrity social media posts turned his forgotten idea into a real phenomenon.

🏺 Older Than Your Grandma’s Recipe
The earliest known hummus-like dish appears in 13th-century cookbooks from Cairo: a cold puree of chickpeas made without lemon or garlic, flavored instead with pickled lemons, oil, herbs, and spices. The modern recipe with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic evolved over centuries across the Middle East, where the dish remains a daily staple and a source of fierce regional pride.

🌎 Peace Through Chickpeas
Lang’s founding hope was that a shared love of hummus might help forge connection in a divided region. The idea backfired at first, given the sensitive timing and the ongoing Lebanon-versus-Israel debate over hummus’s origins, but the rescheduled day found its footing. Today the holiday is celebrated by hummus lovers of every background, which is arguably the point: the bowl belongs to everyone.

🥕 More Than a Dip
Modern hummus has exploded far beyond the classic recipe. Grocery shelves now hold spicy, buffalo, roasted red pepper, and Mediterranean versions, and restaurants serve hummus bowls loaded with toppings as full meals. Purists still judge a batch by its silkiness, the mark of chickpeas peeled before blending and tahini of the highest quality. Whatever your style, May 13 is the day to defend it.

WAYS TO CELEBRATE

🥘 Make It From Scratch
Blend chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and salt, and use the pro trick for the silkiest texture: peel the chickpeas by swirling them in a bowl of ice-cold water so the thin skins slip right off. Finish with a swirl of olive oil, whole chickpeas, and paprika. Homemade hummus takes about fifteen minutes and ruins store-bought for you forever, in the best way.

🤝 Host a Hummus Tasting
Invite friends over and lay out three or four flavors, classic, spicy, roasted red pepper, and one wild card, with warm pita, crunchy vegetables, and pretzels for dipping. Have everyone vote for a champion, and award the winner the honor of choosing next year’s wild card flavor.

🏠 Support Your Local Spot
Visit a Middle Eastern restaurant or market in your community on May 13 and order the hummus plate. Many shops run specials for the day, and there is no better way to celebrate than tasting how the pros do it, ideally while picking up a tub to take home for tomorrow.

Celebrate International Hummus Day

On May 13, 2027, grab a spoon, a pita, or just your bravest vegetable and dive in. Whether you make it silky smooth from scratch or grab your favorite tub from the store, share it with someone you like. Fourteen years after a teenager’s hackathon idea, the world is still dipping together, and that is worth celebrating.