"hummus" news and stories

Break out of the same old, same old hummus routine-add eight cloves of garlic. And for an authentic touch of the Middle East, sprinkle the surface of the hummus with powdered sumac, which imparts a tart, lemony flavor. At blog purplefoodie a batch of the chickpea dip accompanies a stack of thin, crisp olive-oil-based crackers that they say has same consistency (and take a lot less time) than traditional lavash (ultrathin and brittle Arabic bread). Find both recipes here. The crackers are adapted from U.K. restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi and his Ottolenghi cookbook.

See how Gail Simmons makes her hummus (along with some toasted pita chips), at Kitchen Daily.

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Last weekend in Lebanon, not one but two world records were broken: On Saturday the world's largest amount of falafel was prepared (over 11 thousand pounds) and the following day the world's largest amount of hummus was prepared (nearly 23 thousand pounds).

After all if you're going to stir up a giant batch of falafel -- those tasty fried balls made from ground chickpeas -- then you've got to have the traditional accompaniment with them which is hummus -- a garlicky, lemony dip also made from chickpeas.

The gargantuan batches were prepared because the Lebanese were irked that last year the Israelis had set a new world record and bested their old effort.

It turns out that food in that volatile region is also a fraught subject. Lebanon has accused Israel of co-opting traditional Arab dishes like falafel and promoting them as authentic Israeli dishes. Lebanon is trying to win approval from the European Union to register hummus as a national dish.

Beige hummus, be gone. And borscht, there's a new player in Beetville. Using beets instead of chickpeas makes this Middle Eastern dish intensely purple-red, and the best eye candy of an appetizer we've seen in a long time. Plus, it's earthy and delicious, according to beet lover and blogger elanaspantry, who photographed this hummus, and simplyrecipes, whose recipe calls for the usual suspects -- tahini, lemon juice and zest, garlic and cumin.

One word of advice when it comes to peeling roasted beets: Wear rubber gloves unless you want your fingers to look as if you've dipped them in a vat of red dye. However (fun fact alert), you can use the beet juice to dye Easter eggs (let them sit in the juice overnight).

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In a hummus rut? Swap out the chickpeas and come up with exciting new dips in a snap.