BEIRUT: After decades of war, invasion and occupation, Lebanon and Israel have plenty of tension simmering between them; but the latest source of strife is literally cooking.

From the deep-fried chickpeas that make falafel to the parsley and burghul wheat of tabbouleh, the salad that’s almost a national obsession – green-fingered enthusiasts once held the world record for making a dish weighing one and a half tonnes – Lebanon’s foodies are pushing back against what they see as Israel’s appropriation of their cuisine.

“At ethnic food exhibitions our producers go to the Israeli stand and find most of the specialities they are marketing as Israeli foods are Lebanese,” said Fadi Abboud, president of the Lebanese Industrialists’ Association (LIA). “Our culture goes back a few thousand years. It’s time to set the record straight.”

Abboud and researchers say they have documentation to prove that 25 traditional dishes hail from Lebanon and deserve the EU’s Protected Designated Origin status, meaning they can be marketed under their name only if they were made in the country. Under an EU deal, Lebanon is entitled to seek European arbitration for its claim to protected status, but will require a World Trade Organisation ruling for the move to affect sales in non-EU markets.

Thick files on each food are being drafted to make a case based on the 2002 ruling that only Greek-made cheese could be called Feta, which dealt a blow to Danish and Dutch producers. But in a region where food is as strong a source of national identity and pride as national borders, the move has caused friction.

“He’s plain wrong. Falafel is originally Turkish,” said Rabea Abdullah, chief falafel fryer at the famous King of Potatoes eatery in Hamra, Beirut’s bustling commercial heart. “Maybe tabbouleh can be said to be Lebanese, because everyone knows we invented it.”

Abboud admits that copyrighting falafel will be hard – Egyptians and Syrians also lay claim to it. Tabbouleh is probably Lebanon’s best hope at exclusivity, but it’s in the lucrative hummus market, worth $1bn worldwide, according to the LIA, with 500,000 tubs eaten a day in the UK alone, that Abboud really believes he is on to a winner.—Dawn/Guardian News Service