Make Hummus Not War (2012)

Can people's love of hummus be a secret recipe for peace in the Middle East? The question haunted director Trevor Graham when he set out to shoot "hummus, not War." The documentary reveals the conflict in the Middle East that people don't see on the nightly news. When it comes to hummus, many Middle Eastern races recognize it as the earliest known processed food in human history. So when Graham, who calls himself "the tragedy of hummus", heard that the Lebanese planned to sue Israel in 2008 for "intent on taking ownership of the food as their own", his curiosity began to stir. Israelis, Lebanese and Palestinians are making a comeback over who owns the legacy of hummus. So he set off on a personal journey to explore the colorful history of cooking. "want hummus, not War" tells the story of Graham's humorous journey in the hummus snack bar and in the kitchens of Beirut, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and New York. During this time, he met Claudia Rawdon, a female patriarch of the Middle East catering industry, who was both an enthusiast, a Jewish immigrant, an authority figure and a political worker.