Thoughts on Hummus

Whilst fairly ubiquitous in the context of Middle Eastern cuisine, and relatively straightforward to make, there is nothing (save perhaps for Umm Ali - which would require a post all to itself) that sets a local restaurant apart from its competitors than the quality of its hummus.

This unpretentious dish (made from a combination of chickpea, tahini (a sesame paste), lemon juice and garlic - with a garland of olive oil) is usually served as a starter but has become for me a firm favourite as a meal on its own (particularly for lunch) when served with baked flatbread straight from the oven - in fact one of my favourite restaurants - Bosphorus at DSO - serves the bread as a kind of large inflated ball which you can poke with a knife to release a cloud of hot air.

Each restaurant worth its salt has its own recipe (a little like kimchi in Korea). Another favourite restaurant is On the Wood whose hummus is a very pale yellow/white with a generous drizzle of olive oil and which I regularly have on its own with bread and some olives - delicious. The Bosphorus hummus is a much darker yellow and is served with paprika and is also very tasty.

I was reminded of this at a meeting today at a cafe near my work where one of the other participants was having a late lunch of hummus which was almost brown in colour and very dense which reminded of the various different approaches to making it. 

I can however say that the one thing all of the various versions mentioned above have in common is that they are far and away tastier than any of their equivalents that I have managed to find back in the UK!