Hummus made Here

[Ashforth]

I have become a lover of hummus, and there are some really good local versions available in the grocery store. I like Solar's various versions (including Turbo. Hot!) and Tom's Tabooley. I bought some at Phoenecia recently, but it got eaten before I had any of it! I haven't been to Tino's yet.

I was terribly disappointed to find that HEB's store brand has high fructose corn syrup, and I have noticed that some other brands also have HFCS or water as ingredients.

I'm interested in hearing what people's favorite hummus in town is and why (restaurant and packaged, plain and flavored versions).

[brentwood]

Reviving this with the following notes:

The Grandma's hummus mentioned above is now at CM, Whole Foods, and Wheatsville, among others. http://www.themedchef.com/grocery_stores_and_wholesale_menu

You can also buy Sarah's hummus from the refrigerator at their store. I like theirs better than Phoenicia, but I usually get the pita at Phoenicia then head down the road to Sarah's for hummus.

If you want to try something different, all three also carry Baby Zach's smoked hummus varieties. I read about it in the Central Market thread before trying some samples one weekend at Whole Foods. There's a smoked traditional, a spicy BBQ, a version made w/black beans instead of chick peas, and even a thai curry version with coconut milk instead of tahini. http://babyzachs.com/wheretobuy.htm

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Central Market
4477 S Lamar Blvd Ste 100, Austin, TX 78745

[2kindsofcheese]

I'm sure there are some brands I haven't tried, but after trying out every hummus I could find in each place I've lived - Austin, the northeast, and the bay area - I still think Phoenecia's is the best hummus that can be bought! It's so good I could eat it with a spoon the way some people eat peanut butter.

[thebodytx]

The hummus from Sarah's and Obee's comes closest to what I remember from living four years in Beirut.

[topodrinko]

I like out to lunch brand. I believe it's local.

Obee's off Anderson in the Alamo Village area has a great mediteranean menu including hummus!

[dc2austin]

I have to second the Costoc hummus. It's organic--and I don't think is has any extra crud like HFC. Nice big tub. We buy it all the time, everyone loves it! Oh and they have big bags of Stacy's pita chips too if you want to splurge.

[texone]

Yah know, you can get it at restaurants for carryout.
I suggest El Greco & Zakias hummus.

[toripowell]

Like a couple other people who posted, I make my own. Sometimes if my beans are too dry I add water to help with consistency. I would avoid the HFCSs at all costs but a little water is, in my opinion, acceptable. (Does it help that I learned this trick from the son of a Lebanese man who makes it regularly?) I add lots of oil to mine but sometimes you really need some water.

[citizengray]

I eat at Zorba's all the time - I understand it is owned and operated by the same folks who run Tino's. Their hummus is really good and they sell take home containers of it. I have been experimenting with a home version but I'm not happy with it yet.

[chowinginaustin]

I cannot think of the brand but costco carries a line of hummus in two flavors, with pine nuts or chipotle. The Chipotle is soooo good! We stock it in our house every week. It is so additive!

[judiftx1]

I wonder if that is true ..I love Zorba's and eat there all the time and have pretty much tasted everything on their menu and I have tried Tino's twice and been totally disappointed both times, especially in the hummus and the flalafel

[slowcoooked]

My favorite hummus I've tried is the stuff sold at the mediterranean food booth on Saturday morning at the farmer's market downtown. Get there before 9:30 or you'll risk it being sold out. A kick in the face of garlic, and for me, it's perfect and flowery with olive oil and a tinge of bite.

[bubbleboy79]

I may be wrong about this, but I believe Royal Blue on 3rd sells the hummus to which slowcooked refers. I do know they sell a delicious hummus that is normally found only at the downtown farmer's market, and that I can no longer buy any other brand.

[bubbleboy79]

Reviving a dead thread to note that the hummus I was trying to name, Grandma's Humus, is available at WF downtown now. It features a delicious garlic bite and just enough lemon juice, and will continue to be my brand of choice until I learn to make it myself.

[bookgrrl72]

I LOVE the hummus at Sarah's Mediterranean. It's so creamy and the flavors of the lemon and tahini are perfectly balanced -- I also like how smoothly the hummus is blended. I don't really go in for the chunkier/more coarse hummuses (hummi? hummae?); the texture of this one is perfectly suited to my tastes.

I'm not a huge hummus fan, but I CRAVE Sarah's, as does my husband. In fact, we just had it for dinner tonight!

[moosy]

I know this is not answering your question, but making Hoummus is one of the easiest things to make. Most of the pre-packaged stuff has some nasty stuff ranging from high fructose corn syrup , mayonnaise, to a variety of preservatives.

[Ashforth]

Well, yeah, I know it's easy to make, but I like the convenience of buying it. Thus I posted here and not in the recipe section. Thanks for keeping the thread alive, though! : )

[taliesin15]

I love Phoenicia's hummus, and all the other places mentioned. It would be interesting to discuss variations on it. I myself always use some extra virgin olive oil, quite a bit of garlic, and a bit of chili powder. Some restaurants in town use no olive oil whatsoever replacing it with quite a bit of lemon--which is a very interesting variation. I've also seen it lumpy--good if all the garbanzos are thoroughly cooked, makes it a bit like mashed potatoes not completely pureed. For home cooks, I like to recommend soaking dry garbanzos overnight, and cooking them with a pressure cooker if you have one. Some like to add a bay leaf.