Life's Lesson N°9: Hu Hu Hummus and Sisterly Love

I decided today that anyone who doesn’t like to eat hummus is a racist. Yeah, there, I said it. Even though I am from a family that is rather food savvy, eating hummus was considered “just going too far.” Whenever I tell my husband that I would like hummus for a snack, he looks at me like I’ve agreed to become an Al Qaeda bride. What is it about hummus that scares everyone? It’s just a vegetable! How is it possible that someone can consider escargot a delicacy which is basically snot in a shell and then look at hummus (which is a darling little chickpea) like it is the gateway vegetable to terrorism.

While doing a little research on hummus because I’m such a scholar, I learned that there is such a thing called The Hummus Wars. As in life there are wars over religion, property and yes, wars over chickpeas. If you are interested, there is an interesting article on The Hummus Wars. Click HERE.

According to Bodrum.com, the origins of hummus are ancient… “You need only look at how old the ingredients are to see that Hummus bi tahini has an unwritten history that we may never fully understand. The ingredients have been in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East for thousands of years. The last major ingredient to arrive in the Middle East was lemons in 700 CE, but the primary two, chickpeas and tahini, extend back to the beginnings of civilization. From archaeological digs, we know people have eaten chickpeas in the Middle East longer than there has been pottery, or approximately 10,000 years. That predates writing too. The tahini part of hummus, made from sesame seeds, has also been in the Middle East since ancient times. Sesame seeds were used to make sesame oil in food in Mesopotamia since 2500 BCE, so tahini is likely to be about that old. Nor was garlic preventing the creation of a food similar to modern Hummus, as it is as old as the ancient Egyptian pyramids of Giza.”

Okay, now can we all just relax about hummus? It’s been around since before pottery for God’s sake. Are you afraid of pottery, as well? And when I say “you“, I am mostly referring to my own family.

While there are four simple ingredients to hummus (chickpeas, tahini, lemon and garlic) there are still some tricks to the trade that we need to investigate…

•            When making the hummus, mind the process. There is a certain order of ingredients that works best. Check the recipe. Don’t just throw everything into a blender all at once like an animal.

•             Remove the skins of the chickpeas.

•             Add a scoop of yogurt for creaminess. The best for this is a Lebanese labne. Look it up. :-)

•             Cook your own chickpeas from scratch.

•             Emulsify the tahini in a water-based liquid first. Water or lemon juice.

By the way, I learned that hummus is just the Arabic word for chickpea. What we are really eating is called hummus bi tahini. Let’s look at some recipes…

 Hummus via Rose Water & Orange Blossom Blog. Recipe HERE.

 

 

 Hummus via Susan Jane White Health Geek Blog. Recipe HERE.

 

 

Avocado Hummus via Cooking Classy with a Sprinkle of Fancy Blog. Recipe HERE. 

 

 

And just for fun...a pita bread recipe via Under the High Chair Blog. Recipe HERE.

 

Voilà! Hummus mastered… Next up, let’s get into pesto, shall we?

*Something you don’t know about me? My sister and I are polar opposites. However, she is my favorite person to talk to. There is no better laugh than a laugh with your sister. I should also add that there is no better fight as well. But polar opposites we are… My sister only likes new carpets. I only like old nearly threadbare carpets. My sister loves makeup. Carmax is my version of lipstick. My sister is always very pulled together with her outfits. My outfits consist of jeans and a gray Cashmere sweater. My sister will never utter a swearword. I use the F bomb like it is salt, I sprinkle it on every sentence. My sister actually takes the Bible literally. To me, it is fiction. My sister sucks at sports and cannot do the splits. Sports were my life. My sister makes spinach artichoke dip as an appetizer for a party. I would make a goat cheese tart. My sister has never and would never smoke a cigarette. I would smoke a cigarette at church if I could. My sister’s hair is always perfectly blonde and perfectly brushed. My hair is basically a big dreadlock. My sisters decorating style is “white picket fence.” My decorating style is “bohemian.” My sister would rather die than go to the flea market in Paris. I would rather die than go to Crate & Barrel. My sister is very private about her illness (lupus). I am a blabbering open book about my illness (ALS). My sister is a very forgiving person. I am not. My sister, right on time, mails a birthday card arriving exactly 2 days before one’s birthday. I email a Paperless Post card the day of one’s birthday, at best. My sister has proper tea parties. I have karaoke tequila parties.

We do have our similarities… We are both total prudes. We both always did our homework straightaway. We are both extremely overprotective, overbearing mothers. We hate the same people. We laugh at the same things. We both love to cook. We both love to travel. We both love to read and go to museums. We both approve of homeschooling. We are both sad that my brother is no longer with us but at peace that he is in a safer place. The best part is that we both agree that Gracie is the best thing since sliced bread. If anything ever happens to me, I know my sister will have Gracie’s best interest at heart. She may not let Gracie do everything that I would let her do but I know that she will make the best decisions for Gracie. And I know she will always remind Gracie of how awesome I am. She will always make sure that Gracie is appropriate… Appropriate fingernails, appropriate outfits, appropriate boyfriends, appropriate career, appropriate wedding dress, appropriate hair, no piercings, no tattoos (oops, too late) and definitely no swearing. My sister loves Gracie as her own child and for that I will forgive my sister for her Pottery Barn rugs. :-)