By now, it is hard to imagine our lives without hummus. This staple of the Middle Eastern cuisine has a permanent place on any Shabbat table in North America. Certainly, in Israel you can find it everywhere, one place serving it better than the next.

I was a huge fan of hummus with ground meat חומוס עם בשר (lamb, of course, being my favorite) made by the Arab-Israeli chef of a kosher restaurant I used to own.

Now, that I am practically off meat, I love hummus with my Shabbat bread, be it challah, pita or my new rye bread experiments. They are not good looking yet so I will have to write about them later.

The reason I am posting this little note is the article from Joan Nathan I read recently about hummus variations and best places to have it in Israel. If you are a food lover like I am, you will enjoy reading it.

Joan gives the recipe for preserved lemons as well. Here’s my take on them:

I used a slightly different recipe adding some cloves, plenty of peppercorns and a cinnamon stick to my lemons.

I know many people that make hummus from canned chickpeas. I always found that chickpeas are really not taking so much time to cook if you soak them overnight.

Would love to know your hummus recipes and tricks!

Until next cooking adventure.