Chiff and Fipple Forums

What is hummus?

chickpeas

Denny wrote:chickpeas

Same stuff as garbanzo beans?

It's much more than chickpeas. (Garbanzo=chickpeas). It is one of the truly great dishes of the world.

Chickpeas (canned ones are fine), tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic are the basic ingredients. Tahini is a paste made of hulled and slightly roasted sesame seeds. All put in a food processor, sometimes with a bit of water, and made into a sort of dip. Topped with a bit of olive oil and served with pita, usually.

Wonderful, wonderful stuff. I simply won't rest until you have some.

So, what did Marcus Tullius Cicero and Hummus have in common?

Bloomfield wrote:So, what did Marcus Tullius Cicero and Hummus have in common?

Both were made up largely of mashed chickpeas?

Marc's cognomen means "hummus."

Yeah, thats right, I said cognomen. Sue me!

I like Dale's hypothesis better. I said hypothesis.

Both are tasty with warm pita bread?

Pazziato wrote:Marc's cognomen means "hummus."

"Chickpea", at least, anyway. "Cicero" is obviously related to the modern "ceci", an Italian term for chickpeas. Interesting, and I wondered why a member of Roman society would have such a name.

But my quick little dip (pun unintended) into Wikipedia brought me this tidbit of explanation:

Cicero's cognomen, personal surname, is Latin for chickpea. Romans often chose down-to-earth personal surnames. Plutarch explains that the name was originally given to one of Cicero's ancestors who had a cleft in the tip of his nose resembling a chickpea. Plutarch adds that Cicero was urged to change this deprecatory name when he entered politics, but refused, saying that he would make Cicero more glorious than Scaurus ("Swollen-ankled") and Catulus ("Puppy").

"Chickpea", at least, anyway.

Wiki is something to behold, indeed!!

In Arabic the word hummus is used to describe the dish or just chickpeas by themselves. The full name of the dish is hummus bi tahina (Arabic: حُمُّص بطحينة) "chickpeas with tahini". Hummus is popular in various local forms throughout the Middle Eastern world.

*does a chicken dance wildly before you*

I wonder if history would have played out differently if his name had simply been "Garbonzo."

I still look at Wikipedia a bit askance - as I do all dictionaries and encyclopedias - but you can hope to get good stuff there when you're in a pinch.

I will never be able to look at pix of Richard M. Nixon or Walter Matthau again without thinking, Ah! How Ciceronian, that nose.

As to "garbanzo", I never liked that word. Always sounded faux-Iberic to me, like that would-be Mexicoid food chain that used to be called Zantigo. Or is it still around?

And by the way, I think I'll name my next puss Catulus.

Nanohedron wrote:

Pazziato wrote:Marc's cognomen means "hummus."

"Chickpea", at least, anyway. "Cicero" is obviously related to the modern "ceci", an Italian term for chickpeas. Interesting, and I wondered why a member of Roman society would have such a name.

But my quick little dip (pun unintended) into Wikipedia brought me this tidbit of explanation:

Cicero's cognomen, personal surname, is Latin for chickpea. Romans often chose down-to-earth personal surnames. Plutarch explains that the name was originally given to one of Cicero's ancestors who had a cleft in the tip of his nose resembling a chickpea. Plutarch adds that Cicero was urged to change this deprecatory name when he entered politics, but refused, saying that he would make Cicero more glorious than Scaurus ("Swollen-ankled") and Catulus ("Puppy").

Puppies SO beat garbanzo beans.

T

Nanohedron wrote:I never liked that word. Always sounded faux-Iberic to me

Sorta like calling ground cherries "tomatillos."

Walden wrote:

Nanohedron wrote:I never liked that word. Always sounded faux-Iberic to me

Sorta like calling ground cherries "tomatillos."

Whoa there, Waldenator. 'Round these parts ground cherries are Physalis pruinosa, and tomatillos are Physalis ixocarpa. Related, but not interchangeable.

Thinking I had something of a handle on these things, I asked a fellow of Mexican background once if "tomatillo" essentially meant "little tomato", and he said, "No."

I shouldn't have asked.