Hummus
Mmm. I love hummus. Especially made with black beans and a touch of harissa!
I was just out to eat at a new Greek restaurant here in town (talk about all-meat dishes---I did manage to find some wilted greens and a lentil soup to eat, luckily) and we had a really yummy hummus appetizer---it tasted as though there was raw onion in it. It was a tasty touch! So anyway, I thought it odd that this was on their menu because I have never associated hummus with Greece (always Arabia) so while I was searching online for its origins I came across this really neat way of serving it on Wikipedia. It's called "hummus of the Nile" and has a little olive oil and lemon juice in the centre... and I'm guessing the bits of red are paprika, the green maybe dried parsley or some other herb. I thought it was so neat that I wanted to share it with you all at VegWeb. Have you ever seen it served this way before? I can't wait to try it out on some friends.
yum, i looooove hummus! loads of garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and sometimes some roasted red peppers.
YUM!
- jason
The red is probably sumac, a wonderfully sour spice. And the green is most probably parsley, as you supposed, or possibly mint, cilantro, or zattar (dried thyme and sesame blend).
The two Arabic restaurants in my neighborhood serve their hummus and baba ghanoush lavishly decorated with sumac, parsley, whole olives, and olive oil in a similar fashion (though I think they are less lavish with the oil than the pretty picture you posted). It's gorgeous and delicious that way! I'm a huge fan of the sumac seasoning.
Hummus is ubiquitously Arabic-- throughout the entire region. I hadn't thought of it as Greek, either! But how nifty!
You must remember the Greeks were ubiquitous travellers in the old days (as in Biblical times) and everyone on the Med shares a lot in terms of recipes, food customs etc. The garbanzo is the basis of life here in the Med basin and you can do just about anything with it! The ancient Greeks (and hey, the modern ones for that matter) loved good food and weren't above adapting a recipe!
I like to use lime instead of lemon (makes a tangy and delicious world of difference!), throw a couple small chilis in there, plus some salt. Hummus is a staple for me, I'm constantly whipping up fresh batches though I haven't done much experimentation beyond fresh/dried beans vs canned. I did try using dried black garbanzos, which was interesting, and just the other night I went back to canned but tossed a handful of walnuts in there... friggin delicious. So good I was tempted to post it as a recipe... "Calypso Walnut Hummus" or something.
I hear that in Israel, little local places are hotly competitive about who has the best hummus in town, and each does it a little differently.
Viva la hummus!