Hummus

[Pazziato]

[Walden]

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.

It does mean little tomato... but not in the dialect of Mexico.

[Nanohedron]

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.

It does mean little tomato... but not in the dialect of Mexico.

I suppose that's much the same as "laptop" not meaning "the fronts of one's thighs when seated".

[dehavik]

I came to this site thinking I'd actually find a recipe (silly rabbit...tricks are for newbies). To avoid anyone slandering the C & F for not delivering what they say they will, here's a simple but better-than-what-you-can-find-prepackaged hummus recipe. I got it from the owner of a wonderful Mediterranean restaurant in my East Bay hometown.

*One 15-oz. can chickpeas (garbanzos or ceci beans, whatever you want to call them)
*1/4 tsp. salt
*2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
*1/3 c. tahini (find it in your grocery store's foreign food section)
*1 lemon, squeezed (trust me, use the real thing)
*2 T. olive oil (extra-virgin if you can)
*paprika and/or cayenne, depending on your palate
*Pita bread

Drain the chickpeas (reserve the juice!) and pour the beans into a food processor or blender. Add about 1/4 c. of juice and process until smooth. Add more juice if it's too thick to blend well. Add the salt, garlic, and tahini and blend well. Scoop it into a bowl and fold in half of the lemon juice and all the olive oil. Taste and add more salt or lemon juice if desired. Sprinkle the top with paprika or cayenne, for bite. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so to let the flavors "blend". Scoop it with pita. Yum!

If you want to try something different, the Egyptians eat it with cumin (probably 1/2 - 1 tsp. for this recipe). I've also had it with cilantro, parsley or mint finely chopped and mixed in.

[HDSarah]

I saw this forum days ago, and then it disappeared again, and now it's back so I had to venture in.

I agree, you MUST try some hummus, Walden! It is delicious, and nutritious too.

Just don't get it confused with humus.

[Denny]

Dale's been a bit indecisive, of late....

[HDSarah]

It's back again! The hummus thread, and its hummus-and-flanges forum!

Maybe we should chart its appearances and disappearances, and see if any pattern is discernible . . .

[Nanohedron]

I wasn't even aware it was gone.

Earth-shaking stuff.

[Denny]

sometimes you feel like a flange....

[narrowdog]

I wasn't aware it had gone until it came back again

Been missing them flanges

[queensmessenger]

"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."

[bikini-girls]

OH god hummus is the worst. I saw a guy dipping in homemade tacos into hummus flavored with spices and curry, it looked so good so I tried some.

Worst mistake ever, I can think about it and taste how bad it was. I dunno if it's something I'll ever try again just to make sure I don't like it, hehe

[MTGuru]

Cretin! That's different from Cretan, as in Greek hummus.

[Rob Sharer]

Hummus tips from the research kitchen:

1) Try using dried garbanzos soaked overnight. You can achieve a lovely, fluffy consistency to your hummus that the canned beans don't seem to provide. While soaking....

2) Add a half-teaspoon or so of baking soda. Never did a double-blind test, but word has it this decreases the flatus factor.

3) For a wacky good time, try making hummus from green peas. Don't use the little split-pea type, though; they haven't the fortitude. Marrowfat's the job.

Carry on!

Rob

p.s. And you've got to cook the dried & soaked beans, of course.

[KatieBell]

I have been away for a while, but I couldn't resist an entire forum dedicated to hummus recipes! I strongly recommend against the store packaged artichoke and garlic variety--just awful.

Hummus is a food group of its own around here. I also like the cumin variety, but the rest of the household goes for the plain ol' stuff.

Katie