Hummusgirl's Blog

I have never had fresh garbanzos, but I have eaten edamame before and wasn’t really impressed with those beans.  But If they’re the cool thing to do, according to an Inquirer article, I definitely need to try some.  I never really considered that one could have them raw, although they are only offered in the spring according to sources. I wonder if I could roast them just like I roast cooked chickpeas? It says you can grill them in their pods!  Whole Foods must have them right?  Or maybe I could order them (although they wouldn’t be as fresh).  Anyway, the main question is, can raw chickpeas be made into hummus?!? That’s what I really need to know…

I wonder if Plato or Socrates ate raw chickpeas. They probably could cook back in 400 BC, but I just wonder I guess.  Hummus wasn’t even considered a staple until 1200 AD, so maybe they were just ahead of their time when they wrote about hummus in their diets.  And like me, I just found out, they believed that self-development was more important than material wealth!  But Plato and Socrates were from Greece, Mediterranean country, which explains why they talked up hummus.

I went on vacation for the past 2 and a half weeks! It was lots of fun, but what made it the most fun was spending time with my aunt, who first introduced me to hummus and probably inspired me to make the most of my time with the stuff. 

My first week off, I saw family (my aunt, uncle, grandma, and I plus a cousin) and we cooked a lot, but one thing we did not cook was hummus.  And because my aunt knows I’m an addict, she bought me about four containers which I ate with rapidity because people just know that when they don’t know what to feed me, hummus always works.  It’s fine, I’m used to it and get high off it, but when we traveled out west, ah that’s when my taste buds and senses went into overdrive!

I went to Pike’s Market in Seattle every morning the three days I was there and was astounded by their flowers (grown in Puget Sound), chocolate covered cherries, multiple kinds of pasta, seafood, produce, cheese, spices, and oh so much more!  I did pop in to a gourmet grocery store because they must have hummus there, and they had something without tahini, but with chickpeas.  It looked kind of watery, and the clerk there assured me it was definitely NOT hummus, so I had to make do the other yummy foods out there. Ah, I even had oysters one evening!

To sum up, I think my hummus addiction happens during the following periods:  When there’s no other food in the house but a bag of chickpeas and a tub of tahini and I need a fix; when I’m with someone who’s hummus friendly and knows that the cheapest way to keep me sane is chickpeas, tahini, garlic, etc; and for future reference, if I ever fatten up again, there’s always going to be that voice inside me that knows that only hummus will make me thin because it’s my forever soulmate.