Hummus!

I make my own. I use dry garbanzo beans. You need to double soak them. First soak you remove the clear shell. Second soak is to fully hydrate. I cook them in an insta pot. Then use my immersion blender to purée it all. I keep it simple by using garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder. It is a great snack and freezes well.

Yes what you had sounds very uninspired and bland. another great humus variation is to skip the garlic, onion e5c and just add a pack of taco seasoning. That is very good with corn chips. The beans are so plain and bland you can do almost anything with them flavor wise. Except salt and vinegar as I have not figured out a successful recipe for that yet.

Being a bean based dip it is high in protein and fiber. Like many other foods it is a regionally based dietary staple. Here in America it is just another exotic ethnic food we enjoy. in other parts of the world it is about the same as nachos are in America. That may be a bad example but you get the idea. It can be customized easily and it is fairly simple to make. I guess the short answer is here in America it is perhaps an ethnic delicacy that we just enjoy because we like it and not because we live in a bean growing area or it is part of our culture. I personally do not think America has any central identity with food. We tend to take the best from everyone else and enjoy it here.