Israel scored a new Guinness World Record on Friday with four tons (9,000 pounds) of hummus served in a 20-foot-wide satellite dish doubling as a bowl.
More than 50 Arab and Jewish chefs, along with a crew of 400 Muslim, Christian and Jewish volunteers, worked together to beat the record for the largest-ever serving of hummus.
The cooks nearly doubled the previous record, set on October 24 by Lebanon. That record broke an earlier Israeli record and briefly put Lebanon ahead.
It was Juwdat Ibrahim, founder of the most famous hummus restaurant in the Israeli Arab village of Abu Ghosh, who initiated the latest challenge.
Abu Ghosh, situated just off the road between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, can now add the world record to its reputation for hospitality and coexistence.
Hundreds of jubilant Jewish and Arab Israelis danced around the giant dish, as a singer performed an Arabic love song to the chickpea paste.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud told The Associated Press that his country plans to beat the new record in the spring with an even bigger plate of hummus, to be prepared on the border with Israel.
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