Pasta e-Ceci: Italian Chickpea Soup with Pasta
The Middle-Eastern cuisine is not the only that uses chickpeas to make delicious dishes. This one is a traditional Italian recipe, which is wonderful for cold days and is so rich that it can be served as a main course.
Don’t tell anyone, but in the rare moments when we’re not eating hummus we are also very fond of pasta. We also very fond of Barella, the beautiful girl who’s responsible for this wonderful recipe as well as the gorgeous photo. Read more
Rice and Chickpeas: a Recipe with a Story
Rice and Chickpeas casserole is one of the best dishes of the Jewish cuisine, and there’s also a nice story behind it. Zeev Galili, our dad, writes about it’s origins and gives the only true recipe.
Every ethnic dish has a reason. The motivation behind it’s invention could be religious, historical, social, economical etc. – but there’s always a “reason” and there’s always a story.
For example, have you ever wondered how and why was Gefilte Fish (stuffed fish) invented? The fascinating answer is that separating the fish from it’s bones in Sabbath is forbidden according to the Halacha (Jewish law). This dish of sliced fish, stuffed with soft burger made out of minced fish, was originally made as a solution to this religious challenge. Read more
Fetteh: the Cousin of Hummus (plus recipe)
Fetteh, a warm dish of thick yogurt with soft chickpeas, is a delicacy you ought to try. If there are any good Lebanese restaurants near you, that’s a good place to start looking. If not – make it yourself.
The concept of Fetteh (or “fata”, depending on who you ask) may sound strange to you at first. Basically, it’s a combination of soft cooked chickpeas (like the ones used for hummus and msabbha), with yogurt and toasted pita bread.
Read more
The Yemen Power: Zhuk (plus recipe)
Zhuk, a Yemen paste of hot green peppers, is one of the hottest things to spice your food with. Very easy to make, and there’s also a story.
Until 1493, the only pepper outside the American continnent was the one we know today as “black pepper”. And when Christopher Columbus brought the first chilis to Europe, no one seemed to care.
It took some 150 years until the old world came to it’s senses, but after that the tiny veg was caltivated and quickly spread to all Europe (espcialy Italy and Hungery) and from there to North Africa, the Middle-East and Asia, where it was engineered into over 2000 species and varaieties of peppers, and dozens of different spices.
Hot peppers are very common in all Midlle Eastern cuisines, where it is eaten fresh, cooked or pickled. In most hummus places in Israel and Arab countries, hot peppers are an integral part of the course – fresh or as part of a sauce of some kind (NEVER as one of the hummus ingredients).
In some places the hummus is served with Tatbila, a thin sauce from ground green peppers with lots of garlic and lemon. Many Israeli hummus places serve it with Harif (“hot”), a local variation of the North African sauce called Arissa, in which red chilis are the main ingredient. Read more
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
Perfect Baba Ghanouj in 6 Steps
There’s no way this hummus blog could go on with no baba ganouj recipe in it, right?
Baba ghanouj (or “baba ghanoush”) is the Arab name for roasted eggplants with tahini, a dish which is found all over the middle-east and in some Mediterranean countries. It’s very easy to make, but the taste can go all the way from horrible to divine – depending mainly on the quality of the ingredients and the proper roasting of the eggplants.
Well, you know what they say – practice makes perfect. So start practicing this recipe. Read more
The Quick Guide to Eggplant Roasting
Baba Ganouj is only one of several amazingly good dishes you could make out of a freshly roasted eggplant. Most of which go wonderfully with hummus and tahini, naturally. The traditional open fire could easily be replaced with a simple kitchen stove.
In order to make delicacies like Baba Ganouj (and other super-tasty eggplant dishes), you should first have your eggplants roasted and peeled. This should not be too much of a hassle if you know what you’re doing, but most people don’t. So, here’s a quick list of crucial tips.
Choose your eggplants wisely. Most people have a hard time choosing the right eggplants, which may sound trivial but isn’t. As a rule of thumb, a good eggplant is one with little or no kernels. Eggplants with too many kernels are often too bitter and watery, and will make a lousy Baba Ganouj. Read more
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