Why do we end up saying “hummus” instead of “chickpea”

Deniz Orhun
1 day ago
4 min read

Published: American TurkNetwork Magazine, Washington DC, March 2026 , "CULINARY CHRONICLES"

Have you noticed that many healthy eating blogs are now talking about “humus” instead of “chickpea”? The traditional foods have become commercialized. Commercialization is not a bad thing; in fact, it’s one of the main locomotives of the economy. Commercial products help ingredients travel, become visible, and enter people’s daily lives. However, commercialization shouldn’t define an entire ingredient. If we reduce chickpeas to only hummus recipes, or sesame to only tahini, we end up stuck with a narrow market, a narrow food culture, and a narrow economy. When we create diverse, flavor-balanced recipes for the same ingredient, we enhance its richness and, in the long run, establish a more resilient economy.

In Anatolia, the Levant, the Mediterranean, and South Asia, chickpeas are part of a whole ecosystem of cooking: boiling, drying, grinding, sprouting, fermenting, and stewing. They are ingredients that belong to the land, the season, and the household. But when these foods enter global markets, the logic changes. Industry doesn’t sell techniques, it sells products. So, the most convenient, ready‑to‑package form becomes the ambassador. For chickpeas, that ambassador is hummus.

The deeper issue is that once an ingredient becomes a commercial product, it becomes vulnerable to reformulation. Additives, stabilizers, various oil blends, preservatives, and sweeteners are gradually added to the recipe. The food still carries the name we know, but not the same level of health. This is how a dish that once supported gut health and blood sugar stability becomes something that behaves differently in the body. We encounter a similar issue in commercialized yogurt today. Chickpeas are a wonderful health-benefit ingredient; please don’t kill them with a single recipe. It requires cooking, soaking time, and some knowledge, but it is a great challenge to learn different delicious chickpea recipes for our weekly routine, and it should be your pantry staple for healthy living. Chickpeas are not only an agricultural ingredient but also a food name in most cultures.

Here are some facts about chickpea and barley production from the World Agricultural Production Review Report. Idaho, Montana, Washington, and North Dakota are the main producers of chickpeas in the US, and the USA is one of the top barley producers in the world. Barley has a wider footprint and a stronger structural role in U.S. agriculture, anchoring rural economies. India, Australia, and Türkiye are the world's largest chickpea producers, and Türkiye is among the world's top barley producers.

By choosing what you put on your own plate, you’re quietly participating in and even crafting the global food and agricultural economy.

Now we are in March, the season when crops sprout, and nature awakens. In spring, sour flavors take center stage, like fresh herbs. The sour taste increases saliva production, which helps quench thirst.

Just as you adjust your clothing to the weather during March, adjust your meals according to your health: cooling you down, warming you up, not making you thirsty, and keeping you healthy and decreasing hunger for those who are fasting. I hope that the flow of your meal plan changes in a way that takes your health into account. May the blessings of Spring be upon you!

Here is a chickpea recipe you can eat alongside spring greens or as a seaweed roll.

Chickpea Seaweed Wraps

Chickpea Seaweed Wraps

There are about 160 types of seaweed used as food worldwide. The taste of chickpeas is fabulous. 13 edible varieties are found along the Black Sea and Türkiye coasts.

Yield 2 servings

Ingredients:

2 dried seaweed leaves

300 g soaked and boiled chickpeas

3 cloves of garlic

Salt, cumin, hot red pepper, and black pepper

Half an avocado

Half a leek

Cod/haddock/smoked salmon

5 drops of lemon juice

5 Tablespoon of olive oil

Sauce:

5 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 clove of garlic

For garnish: breadcrumbs fried in butter in a pan, hot sauce

Directions:

Blend boiled chickpeas, garlic, and spices in a food processor until mashed. Add olive oil.

Place the dried seaweed sheet on your counter with the shiny side facing down. When you roll it up, the shiny side should be on top, like a leaf roll. Add 3-4 drops of lemon juice on top.

Spread the chickpea paste evenly inside the sheet.

Place thinly sliced leeks, diced avocado, and your fish in order, then roll it up.

Slice it, add your hot sauce, sprinkle with toasted breadcrumbs, and serve with the vinegar soy sauce.

Enjoy!