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Gorgeously plated . . . hummus


Catherine Iino

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If you look at the size of the chickpeas you'll get perspective on the size of the dish. With that said, then, I would guess that they took a fork, dipped it in water or oil, then dipped it in paprika and pressed it into the hummus.

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My best bet is that they have a smaller bowl which is smooth, that they place on top of this one, press down to get that mold...also, this would not be a extremely difficult task to do given the right spatulas etc.

The paprika lines, back of a rounded fork tip, lines, then careful close up sprinkling, or perhaps assisted by a funnel.

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what if..... they just made a pile and then using a small bowl (with oil slathered on the bottom part to prevent sticking?) just pressed into the mound. dip fork in paprika, press. drizzle oil, lay some chick pea. voila! who knows. It's very pretty though.

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If you look at the size of the chickpeas you'll get perspective on the size of the dish.  With that said, then, I would guess that they took a fork, dipped it in water or oil, then dipped it in paprika and pressed it into the hummus.

That's exactly how they do it. Nothing to it.

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

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contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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I've seen something similar done with the hummus placed in an open ring on a plate - then a small orange pushed into the center, twisted and lifted out - the hummus did not stick to the orange and I have no explanation why - the ring was removed and then, as noted above, a fork was dipped into paprika and the decoration placed.

I think it probably takes a bit of practice.

I saw it at a nice little Israeli restaurant we used to have here in Lancaster but it went out of business year before last. They did a lot of little dishes they advertised as a "Meze table" which was very inexpensive and the number of dishes was determined by the number of people in the party.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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If you look carefully at the grains, the particles appear coarse and made up of different colors. The Spanish and Hungarian paprikas I've used just don't look like that ... not that I'm a paprika expert or anything ...

Edited by Batard (log)

"There's nothing like a pork belly to steady the nerves."

Fergus Henderson

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If you look carefully at the grains, the particles appear coarse and made up of different colors. The Spanish and Hungarian paprikas I've used just don't look like that ...  not that I'm a paprika expert or anything ...

That's because what you see in the photo is (should be) cayenne pepper.

The well is formed using the pestle with which the Hummus was mashed.

Edited by ChefCrash (log)
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My best bet is that they have a smaller bowl which is smooth, that they place on top of this one, press down to get that mold...also, this would not be a extremely difficult task to do given the right spatulas etc.

The paprika lines, back of a rounded fork tip, lines, then careful close up sprinkling, or perhaps assisted by a funnel.

i really don't think its the first one... i think it's just a very skilled hummus plater.... first he put a big glob in the center and then with a big spoon most likely, or with a ladle, works all the hummus out to the sides.... I'm almost absolutely sure of this since you can see the spot where he lifted the spoon out of the center of the hummus.... on the right side, in the area where the whole chickpeas are... you can see this. Also you can see that under the mint that there is a raised area... that would also be created with the spoon.. it's more of a side effect of using the spoon.

--- if they were to use an oiled bowl to make the shape, you would see the sheen of oil on the sides of the hummus... anyone who's up for more speculation opposing mine, bring it on.

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