Q&A: Israeli vs. Lebanese Hummus
Is there a difference between the Israeli and Lebanese versions of hummus? And what the Syrians have to say about it? Plus: two very tasty and strongly recommended blogs.
Question:
Randy asked: What are the main differences between Israeli style hummus and Lebanese style hummus? Read more
Hummus in Perspective: Chickpea Varieties
The secret for the perfect hummus is combining the best tahini with the right variety of chickpeas. But which one to use? The correct answer is #2.
I’ve been asked more than once already what kind of chickpeas is best for hummus, msabbha and other hummus-based dishes. The short answer is: the smallest you can find. This is the longer, more useful answer.
A few people said here us would be very helpful is I actually showed how propper chickpeas should look like. So there you are (better late etc.): a collection of my favorite legumes (tips: the one you want for your hummus is no. 2).
Legend:
[1] Mexican Chickpea. a.k.a Grabanzo Bean or Spanish Chickpea. This variety isn’t very good for hummus. It’s good other dishes, though, such as Greek chickpea soup, rice with chickpeas and other recipes I’ll share with you in the future. Read more
The Erotica of Hummus
Hummus is taking over the world as we speak. I can give you dozens of reasons why this is true, but I can’t think of anything more convincing than this video. Which, by the way, is the closest this blog will ever get to porn.
In Israel there once had a gossip about a famous football star, that love hummus so much that he once covered a beautiful girl with it, and licked it off her. Well, good hummus is undoubtably a strong aphrodisiac, and as this video shows, it can make you very sexy (or it can look well on you if you’re already sexy).
This somewhat blunt and provocative video, is one of the promos for the Lief Garrison Project, the first musicockumantry TV series ever, airing April 22. Go to their website and watch it a little – very funny.
I strongly recommend lowering your speakers volume before playing this one.
And finally, I want to dedicate this video to Eisik, a great guy from California with whom I ate hummus in Jaffa the other day.
Click Here for a larger version of this video.
Using Baking Soda
When cooking chickpeas, baking soda is used to soften the peas. Some say it affects the nutritional value and the flavor of the hummus. I tend to disagree.
One of the comments I do remember out of the batch I accidentally deleted earlier today (see the last post), was about baking soda. The person who wrote it noted that it has negative effect on the nutritional value, and also gives the hummus a soapy after taste.
He/she specifically mentioned the content of vitamin B which is presumed to be lost while cooking when using baking soda. Read more
Oops…
While moderating recent comments, I made a fatal mistake and deleted some 20 comments or so. If any of you guys wrote a comment which didn’t show up, please write them again. And in the words of Douglas Adams – sorry for the inconvenience.
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