21 Minutes of immense Pleasure
If there ever was a special Emmy award for hummus related TV, this episode of Good Eats would have definitely won. Until that happens, the award is all yours. Watch this video.
In most countries (including Israel) people are not familiar with this TV series, but in the States, Good Eats is a very popular cooking show. It is broadcast on Food Network since 1998, and every child knows the mad scientist character played by Elton Brown.
Unlike other cooking shows, which concentrate on explaining how to prepare food, Good Eats also explains why. The show presents the science and technique behind the cooking, the history of the different foods, the benefits and differences between ingredients and cooking methods, and everything else you would expect a crazy scientist to know.
Every episode has a theme, which can be a dish, a cooking method, a holiday or an event. Episode 14 in Season 14 was dedicated to hummus – both the legume and the paste.
In this episode, Brown analyses, among others, some very critical questions, such as the amount of time needed to soak the chickpeas, what does the Sodium bicarbonate do to the hummus, or what amino acids in the Tahini make the combination with the legume into a nutritional treasure. There are also some non Middle Eastern recipes.
In short, make time to watch this. You’re up to a very delightful experience.
It is amazing how this stereotypical depiction of Arabs continues even with their food! Casbah, camels in the background, “oriental” music, all to explain Hummus. Arabs of N. Africa don’t even eat that much Hummus. Hummus is an Arabic dish, not a Middle Eastern dish, eaten mostly in the Levant and Egypt. Its disappointing to see how ignorant this is. Arab Jews brought their food with them to Israel and made it popular, just like Eastern European Jews brought food from Eastern Europe to Israel. That’s what makes up the majority of food in israel.
Matt – it doesn’t sound like you know much about Israeli food or the middle east. Hummus IS common in most middle eastern countries, including Jordan, Syria and Lebanon and is rare in Egypt. Hummus became popular in Israel, not because of “Arab Jews” (what’s that?) but because of the Palestinians.
I was luck enough to live in a moshav (Hatseva) for almost a year and got to eat great hummus, falafel, pita, zaatar and matbucha daily. Now I am in Korea and sadly you cant find any of these things easily.Soybean hummus and falafel is just not the same.
love you site , where is a bureka when you need one 🙂
So glad someone else appreciates Alton Brown! I find that the better I understand the “how” of a dish, the more comfortable I am adapting it!
SOAK GARLIC IN WATER FOR 20 MINUTES……ONLY NEED HALF THE GARLIC..AFTER 20 MINUTES TAKE THE GARLIC OUT ADD SALT FOR 5 MINUTES THEN CRUCH THE GARLIC..ADD TO COOKED CHICK PEAS TAKE SKINS OFF THE CHICK PEAS ADD TAHINI LEMON JUICE STIR UP BRISKLY ADD A SPOON OR 2 OF YOGHURT
ANOTHER TAKE TAHINI,MASHED POTATOES LEMON JUICE,CRUSHED GARLIC 1 SPOON YOGHURT STIR WELL ADD OLIVE OIL N SALT TO TASTE..HAPPY EATING TRY TAHINI MIXED WITH SHREDDED BEETROOT…
Is it just me or did he forget to add tahini to the hummus
Hello?! Matt, Jews lived in the Middle East for thousands of years BEFORE the Arabics appeared AND ate chickpeas, as hummus and in other recipes, for the longest time. Romans, a later but a successful invader (after the Hittites, Philistines , Babylons, Assyrians, Greeks, Persians, etc) called Israel “Palestine”. Palestine is Jewish land now and in the past, no matter these Jordanians, Egyptians and Syrians living there and calling themselves “palestines”. Learn HISTORY!
Actually, Marilia, there is no proof that hummus is ancient and that ancient Jews ever ate it. The oldest recipe of something that even resembles hummus is a few hundred years old. My father who was born in Safed in the 1930’s says neither Jews nor Arabs in Sefad ate hummus. Hummus became popular among Israeli Jews only in the 60’s.
To make things slightly more complicated: it is highly probable that at least some Palestinians are decedents of ancient Jews. Just as we know that some of the Israelis are decedents of people who converted to Judaism along history. Personally, I’m a Jew who believes that god promised the holly land to Abraham, but is this a valid argument for people who’s religion and beliefs are different than mine? Technically, Abraham was from Ur of the Chaldees, which both Islamic and Jewish traditions say was located either in Turkey or Iraq. So lets try to separate history and tradition, and lets be fair and give Palestinians the credit for teaching us how to make hummus, at least in modern times.