Q&A -- Lebanese Cuisine

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Try the following proportions, they came originally from Claudia Roden's Complete Middle Eastern food and have been modified by experimentation since.

One can chickpeas (including water from can)

Juice of 2-2.5 lemons, or to taste

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

Salt

I usually put all these ingredients in a blender and process until it is very smooth then drizzle in Tahini gradually until it gets a texture like thick cream.

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Thanks for the suggestion I lost count of how many variations and dosages I tried trying to get that hummus taste I enjoyed many years ago.

[30 SECONDS REVIEW]

I agree that Lebanese hummus should have a healthy amount of both garlic and lemon juice. However, what most folks miss and never seem to figure out is that it also needs Cumin! I never make it without it. I bet that is what yours is missing. Also, to loosen it up a bit, use some of the chickpeas cooking water (or some of the liquid from the can if you are using canned--which are great BTW).

Hope this helps.

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Hi FoodMan, I did experiment cumin. My fear is that I'm not using the right dosages. Do you mind telling us where to find you recipe for hummus?

I looked around and found your post "introduction to Lebanese Cuisine" very impressive. actually it's not a post but more like a thesis. But there was no hummus recipe. Unless I'm blind, can you post it here?

thanks

Mike

[FoodMan]

I agree that Lebanese hummus should have a healthy amount of both garlic and lemon juice. However, what most folks miss and never seem to figure out is that it also needs Cumin! I never make it without it. I bet that is what yours is missing. Also, to loosen it up a bit, use some of the chickpeas cooking water (or some of the liquid from the can if you are using canned--which are great BTW).

Hope this helps.

←

Hi FoodMan, I did experiment cumin. My fear is that I'm not using the right dosages. Do you mind telling us where to find you recipe for hummus?

I looked around and found your post "introduction to Lebanese Cuisine" very impressive. actually it's not a post but more like a thesis. But there was no hummus recipe. Unless I'm blind, can you post it here?

thanks

Mike

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Honestly, I never use a recipe for Hummus, I go by taste. If I had to guess I'd say use:

1 can chickpeas + 2 to 4 Tbsp of the water the chickpeas are packed in. Do not use all the water in the can! (of course you can use an equivalent amount of dried, boiled chickpeas instead)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup tahini

1 Large clove garlic, mashed

2 tsp to a Tablespoon ground cumin

Salt

Of course taste as you go. If it is too thick loosen it up with some water or lemon juice. I like my hummus on the looser smooth side, not stiff and coarse.

Hope this helps.

[nickrey]

Reading the last post and not having made hummus for a while, I had a play.

I used all the liquid in the can plus a particularly juicy lemon and the resultant mixture was too moist.

Basically it came out as a thin cream type consistency and then thickened up with the tahini. It got to the stage where I didn't want to add more tahini because that would have moved too much away from the desired taste. So back to get some more chick peas (I used about another third of a can) and I used a bit more lemon juice to get the right balance.

This mixture gave a pronounced chick pea taste like what you stated you were after in your first post.

Someone earlier mentioned about the effect of different types of tahini and I'd concur wholeheartedly. My one poor outcome making hummus occurred when I couldn't get my regular brand and substituted (the tahini didn't taste appealing, so I'm not surprised). I use an Australian tahini so that doesn't help you much but do experiment with different ones.

The other key variable is the lemon. When you are choosing lemons for the hummus, go for those that have dimples close together and are somewhat soft to the touch. These will be more juicy than others and less likely to have a bitter edge.

I don't use cumin but do use a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Like FoodMan, I like a more smooth hummus and process it thoroughly until it's the consistency of thick cream.

Good luck.

[maurdel]

I just thought it was topical- I have no political agenda at all, but I did read that Ralph Nader is sending out his mom's hummus recipe for a donation (note that he mentions she used 3 lemons):

".............my mother Rose was born in Lebanon.

And she made perhaps the best hummus I've ever had.

And I've had a lot of hummus.

Hummus is nutritious.

And delicious.

It makes you stronger and healthier.

So, Bloomberg's report on the Lebanese claim to hummus got me to thinking about an idea that would help us raise funds to push our substantive agenda onto the front burner of American politics.

Here it is:

If you donate to Nader/Gonazlez by midnight tonight an amount that has the number three in it (three being the number of lemons in my mom's hummus recipe), we'll e-mail to you Rose Nader's hummus recipe tomorrow."