Sebastopol chef goes beyond chickpeas with new, tasty hummus flavors
Hummus is one of the few crossover dishes of our time, occupying the peaceful, demilitarized zone between the hard-core carnivores at one end of the table and the vehement vegans at the other.
The Middle Eastern meze is having a moment and appears to be hotter than an Aleppo pepper right now. Everyone loves it, from finicky kids and husbands to foodies and restaurant chefs.
“It seems you can’t scroll through a menu without at least one offering,” Noelle Carter recently wrote in the Los Angeles Times. “It’s become the muse of many a chef. You might even argue hummus is the next avocado toast.”
Hummus b’tahini in its pure form - chickpeas, sesame paste, lemon juice and garlic - has been fought over fiercely in the Middle East for centuries, with everyone from the Turks and the Jews to the Syrians and Egyptians claiming it as their own. The creamy spread even ignited the “Hummus Wars” in 2008, when the Lebanese government tried to sue Israel for infringement of food-copyright laws.
But it’s not your Middle Eastern staple anymore. In the hands of a new generation of chefs, hummus has become an endlessly delicious variation on a theme, with the traditional chickpeas subbed out for everything from edamame and black-eyed peas to beets and butternut squash.
“I am a hummus enthusiast,” said Muir’s Tea Room Chef Barney McGrath, who owned a vegetarian restaurant in Bristol, England, for seven years. “I think it’s a really wonderful, simple food that’s absolutely delicious. And, as a vegan, it’s a great thing to have on hand.”
At the Sebastopol tea room, McGrath incorporates hummus into the plant-based lunch menu served Friday through Sunday in summer (along with a an English/Scottish high tea) as well as on the Meatless Mondays menu, a one-night-only, take-out dinner option that incorporates salads, sauces and sides with an entree.
“Meatless Monday is my thing,” he said. “I like the idea that for a plant-based meal, you can have a full meal, with thought-out dishes. People don’t get that very often.”
Although McGrath has doubts about whether it can be called hummus if it’s not made of chickpeas - after all, hummus MEANS chickpeas - he agreed to come up with a few hummus-inspired dips that still incorporate tahini, lemon and garlic, along with garnishes of crunchy nuts, pickles and herbs.
“I like to jazz it up,” he said. “It’s not enough to just have plain hummus on your menu anymore. You can go any way you want to go.”
The chef has made a smoked hummus from smoked chickpeas, and he’s also created a raw hummus by soaking the beans, then adding garlic, lemon, tahini and water, whipping them together until creamy (but not as creamy as with cooked chickpeas).
For home cooks, McGrath developed three colorful, flavorful and easy hummus variations using interesting beans and seasonal produce that the tea room sources from York farmer John Garth of the Cumbria Guest House on Blucher Valley Road.
“He has two acres of vegetables, and he works the entire thing himself,” McGrath said. “We’re his main client.”
For one of the hummus variations, McGrath blended butter beans (better known in the states as lima beans) with beets to create a pink hummus as pretty as it is delicious.
“I like it very smooth, and I find with chickpeas it’s not easy to get that consistency,” he said. “With the butter beans, it’s easier.”
To add flavor, he boils the beet, then glazes it in a pan with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and sugar. The hummus is garnished with toasted pistachios, pickled carrot and shredded mint, then served with toasted ciabatta or focaccia.
Another tasty variation - his South-of-the-Border Hummus - starts with pinto beans, then adds chipotle paste for smoke and lime juice instead of lemon.
“I like to spice things up by introducing a chipotle paste,” he said. “You can get depth of flavor that way.”
For garnishes, he throws on shredded green onions, crispy tortilla strips and pickled red onions, with some soft, warm tortillas on the side.
Finally, he headed to the Indian subcontinent - home to some of the world’s most delicious vegetarian food - for a carrot, cumin and cilantro hummus made with half orange juice and half lemon juice.
“The acid lifts the flavor,” he said. “If you don’t have the acid, it would end up too salty.”
To complete the carrot hummus plate, he added slivered almonds and pickled cauliflower, then drizzled it with cucumber raita, serving some warm flatbread or naan for dipping.
In addition to being delicious, hummus has been recognized as a healthy food since it was eaten in times dating back to the ancient Egyptians, when it fulfilled almost all the nutritional needs of those trekking through the deserts.
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