Fattet Hummus

Fattet hummus is a Levantine dish of toasted bread layered with chickpeas, garlic yoghurt and tahini sauce, topped with pine nuts and sumac. The name has nothing to do with a dip: hummus is the Arabic word for chickpeas, and fattet comes from a verb meaning to break or crumble, which describes the bread. The dish is made across the Levant, with Jordan among the countries that serve it.

What it really is

Stale flatbread is broken into pieces and toasted until crisp. Cooked chickpeas go over it, then a layer of yoghurt beaten with garlic, then a tahini sauce brightened with lemon juice. Pine nuts scattered on top and a dusting of sumac, a tart, dark red spice, finish the dish. It is assembled rather than cooked as a single pot, and the layers are built to be eaten together while the bread is still crisp.

How it's served

• Freshly assembled and served warm, so the toasted bread still has some crunch.
• In a wide, shallow dish for sharing, with the pine nuts and sumac on top.
• Shared from the middle of the table, with each guest taking a portion onto their own plate.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the main ingredients: bread and chickpeas, with chickpeas as the protein. If you add lamb or chicken, name it on the menu as its own version.
• Flag wheat in the bread, milk in the yoghurt, and sesame in the tahini.
• Name the pine nuts by name. Many guests with a tree nut allergy avoid them, so do not hide them under a vague garnish.
• Say whether the bread is fried or toasted and in what oil, since vegetarian guests ask.
• State what is standard: garlic yoghurt, tahini, pine nuts and sumac on every plate, and whether extra toppings cost more.