Image by thinkstock

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Google Israel in a video for April 1 announced an application programming interface that detects what kind of hummus its customers enjoy.

“We’re extremely excited to share with you our latest Google Cloud groundbreaking technology: After enabling our customers to address senses through Speech & Vision API, we are now releasing a subset of Taste APIs started with a dish we all love – Hummus!” reads the introduction to the video on YouTube.

The video, a joke for April Fools’ Day, purports to show how Google researchers came up with the a “taste stick” to determine the variety of hummus that an Israeli would most enjoy based on an analysis of their taste buds, and then pinpoint a local hummus restaurant, one of 20,000 in the country, that serves the appropriate variety of hummus.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

One woman who speaks in the video said she did not feel Israeli enough because she had not been able to find a hummus she liked prior to using the Hummus API technology. Another praises the API for helping her find a spicy hummus.

Even long-time Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai gets in on the act, saying that his city is a “culinary and technological center which embraces smart, innovative new ideas. Therefore, it was natural for us to integrate the great hummus API in our city. People find the hummus they need easier, they are happier, the hummus industry is blooming.

Soon there will be an API for pizza in Rome and tacos in Cancun, Mexico!

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount