We need to talk about what 'foodies' are doing to hummus

[Mosby]

One of the songs my toddler listens to as part of the endless loop of nursery rhymes that permeates our home these days starts like this:

'Do you like broccoli?/ Yes, I do, yes, I do/ Do you like ice cream?/ Yes, I do, yes, I do/ Do you like broccoli ice cream?/ No, I don't, yucky!'

This unflinching lesson in the art and discipline of food combinations is now more important than ever.

Not content with the extent of the calamity that is the year 2020, vandals have taken to the dark corners of the web in recent months, wielding an axe to a cherished symbol of many – the spartan but kingly hummus.

https://amp.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/we-need-to-talk-about-what-foodies-are-doing-to-hummus-1.1125628

It all started with white bean hummus, which is not hummus.

[handmade34]

1. "That is what hummus is"

agree... I make a pretty good hummus and love it!! funny though, I had put some great northern beans on the other day to start baked beans... I ended up leaving them on too long and they were mush... figured I would just use them to make "white bean hummus"

just came in from feeding it to the chickens

[CrispyQ]

2. I love some Hatch 505 green chiles on my hummus.

[Kali]

3. I TOTALLY agree!!!

hummus is hummus, those other things are bean dips or just inedible mixtures.

[Backseat Driver]

4. LOL - I know - what the H is "chocolate hummus? n/t

[Retrograde]

5. It's been going on for a while

First there was hummus with roasted red peppers. Then hummus with pine nuts (which are at least a Mediterranean ingredient). Then the floodgates opened and just about any combination is called "hummus" if it has some mashed beans in it somewhere.

I like a spicy black bean dip or a white bean and garlic spread, but as far as I'm concerned hummus contains garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, and salt. These days I make my own (thanks, Instant Pot!) so I can control what goes into it.

[TygrBright]

6. I admit to a debased appreciation for olive hummus...

...that is, "real" hummus with chopped olives (preferably kalamata or some other very tangy, salty variety) mixed in.

But beyond that, I will NOT go.

And roasted red pepper hummus is an abomination.

I refuse to acknowledge that any of those other slorpy concoctions are even in the same food family.

confessionally,
Bright

[mopinko]

7. whole foods sell avocado hummus.

i was- wait, wut?

i agree. call marketing. tell them you need a new name.

[Major Nikon]

8. Hummus is essentially bean dip

And like every other bean dip it lends itself very well to adding other flavors into the mix.

I find the analogies listed by the author a bit ridiculous. While using something other than the original basic ingredients does make it something other than hummus, adding additional ingredients not found in the traditional recipe to hummus does not make it not-hummus.

[Mosby]

9. I basically agree with that

For me it has to have chickpeas, tahini and lemon.

Any dip without those ingredients is not hummus.

Put anything in it, peppers, olives, pine nuts, all good.

And in my experience, olive oil is a little heavy, it needs to be cut with sunflower or some other healthy oil.

I think the author was being a little tongue and cheek.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Now you've done it -- I had to go and whip up a triple recipe of hummus !

I tried the Milk Street recommendation of adding some tahini (not as much as their recipe called for), though I didn't follow their recipe otherwise. I use canned chickpeas, so it's supposedly not as good as starting from dried ones, but a little cumin helps to compensate.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. A few weeks ago, there was pumpkin hummus

Heresy!

[Mosby]

12. OK, this is just unacceptable.

Link to tweet

[Retrograde]

13. But it's gluten free!

another of my pet peeves - slapping a gluten-free label on foods that normally wouldn't have any in it in the first place.

[Mosby]

15. Same here.

The worst is when its a single ingredient, like say almond flour.



Eta and they make sure to tell us they're kosher almonds, don't want eat the non kosher ones by mistake, lol.

[Mosby]

14. This is how bad its getting

Link to tweet