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The hummus SHOP
Buy tahini, chickpeas, olive oil, falafel mix., halva & more.
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. Also: a strongly recommended Syrian blog.
Question:
Randy asks: What are the main differences between Israeli style hummus and Lebanese style hummus?Answer:
I believe that in
Keep in mind, though, that there isn’t really such thing as Israeli hummus or Lebanese hummus. In
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.
Hummus in Tel-Aviv
The hummus really has to be great in order to be the center of a complete meal. But when it is, and when accompanied with a few other local treasures, it makes some gourmet dishes taste like fast-food.
The residents of Tel-Aviv could always go for their hummus to Jaffa, which is minutes away by car. They still do, and some of them would go for their beloved hummus as far as Old Jerusalem or the old city of Acre, but it sometimes nice your hummus place just around the corner, and in recent years there are many options.
Tel-Aviv is my home town and I have many superb pictures of it’s hummus and hummus places, which I’ll probebly show in future posts. This time I wanted to show this one and say a few things about it:
Though not very common in this particular presentation, the combination of hummus or in this case hummus-foul (click for the recipe), falafel (ditto) and potato chips is mandatory in most hummus places in Israel today, especially in Tel-Aviv.
With a bunch of luscious pitas a nice salad on the side, and a cold drink, it’s a hit - a perfectly tasteful and nutritios meal, which in this case (Beit Ha-hummus, 119 Hashmonaim st.) costs as little as 24 NIS ($6.70 / 4.2 euro). You can usually have these with a nice piece of grilled meat of some kind, but you don’t really have to.
Hummus-Ful: Simplicity of Delicacy
The second most common variety of hummus based dish, after the basic hummus-bi-tahini (regular hummus), is the Hummus-Ful combination. A delicious, beautiful and nutritionally perfect combination, which millions eat every day.
Hummus (chickpeas) and Ful (fava beans) is kind of a Yin-Yang combination. They complement each other perfectly in taste, texture and even color. Read more
Of Hummus, Sweets and Peace
Sharon, a good friend, brought us these lovely looking Syrian sweets last week. She just came back from an Arab-Israeli gathering, held in Jordan, where they discussed some regional ecology issues, especially water issues.
A few days back, I told Sharon about a high-school student who contacted me recently, and asked if she could conduct a survey among the readers of my Hebrew Hummus Blog. She’s making a film about hummus places and their role as places where Arabs and Israelis meet. She wanted to ask my readers if they think hummus is helping use in getiing closer.
The guys in the convention, mostly academicians like Sharon, thought that writing a blog about hummus is a funny idea. And they were especially emmused with the idea of hummus as a peacemaker, Sharon says. Read more
Pseudo hummus
It’s not enough to call a certain dish “hummus” for it to become hummus. If I had a nickel for every strange looking hummus I saw, I would probably have some… 20 bucks by now.
When I say “pseudo hummus” I refer to dishes which may look like hummus, or even have somewhat similar ingredients, but do not taste anywhere near the real thing. Of course, when something don’t even look like hummus, this may be a good indication for it not being hummus. Unfortunately, having tasted some of these hummus-mutations, I can assure you they do not come close. Read more
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