Hummus Part 3: Hummus Asli in Jaffa

The best hummus is in Yaffo (Jaffa) at the Arab restaurants. This time I took my camera (and my appetite) to Hummus Asli, at 73 Yefet Street with another overflow branch directly across the street. We've been there on a weekend and waited up to an hour for a spot. But on a Monday afternoon there were plenty of tables.

One of the reasons I love this restaurant is because while the hummus is perfect, divine, and probably not of this earth, Asli (which means true, or authentic in Arabic)

also serves amazing salads, as only the Arabs know how to do. Out of the 20 options, we ordered:

 

 eggplant,

 cauliflour,

Felafel and chips,

cabbage,

and tabouli.

Irad always gets the straight up hummus, but I like hummus-ful. Ful is an Egyptian dish of small fava beans that is slow cooked all day and makes the perfect complement to the sweetness of hummus. The ful has a richness all of its own.

 hummus ful

Like most buildings in Yaffo, the ceilings are a series of arches.

But seriously, who is looking at anything but the food!

And here comes the Turkish coffee, compliments of the house, without which no meal is complete.

slow sips

And that wraps up the hummus for this trip. Stay tuned for more adventures on the hummus warpath when we next return to Tel Aviv. 

Hummus Part 2: Shuk haKarmel

Tucked away in the Carmel Market (shuk hakarmel) in Tel Aviv is a wonderful hummus place. You could easily miss it hidden away in the alley of outdoor vendors.

But a quick turn to the right in between the onions and the eggplants reveals a little doorway that leads into a cavernous space with some truly excellent hummus.

Opens sometime in the morning, and closes whenever the hummus runs out, usually late afternoon and definitely before dark. (When we arrived in mid-December it was already dark by 4:30 pm.)

Don't let the lines deter you, it goes really fast. You are waiting in line to order at a counter, fast-food style, where you specify the hummus you want with its toppings. The schug is excellent! You'll notice the line is all locals.

The inside looks like the synagogue it once was, with Hebrew sayings on the wall (about food), some interesting Judaica details, copper pots and old synagogue benches.

However, this is strictly a temple of hummus. And the hummus is delicious, creamy and amazingly low priced, probably half of where it is anywhere else. (About $3 a plate). May be my favorite hummus in Tel Aviv (not including Yaffo.)

 

And there it is, the perfect hummus, loaded with tehina, pickles, gargirim (chick peas), parsley, an egg, and schug. Highly recommended—if you can find it!

11 Hacarmel

Hummus Part I: Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv is fanatical about its hummus. Every year the newspapers publish the list of best hummus places, in Tel Aviv. And each place has its own character. My family is likewise fanatical about hummus. We make our own in Cleveland, but when we are here, we have a circuit of places we frequent. We prefer the hummus joints to any Michelin starred restaurant and it is one of the joys of being in Tel Aviv.

Yesterday we went to Abu Dhabi—to all outward appearances a hole in the wall, small tables with plastic chairs pulled out onto the pavement in front of the store front, and reggae music. Of course.

 but the hummus...ah the hummus.

We ordered three different varieties:


Meshouwsha
Cold hummus base, coarsely ground garbanzo beans with garlic and lots of lemon juice and topped with parsley and cumin and paprika, whole garbanzo beans and drizzled with olive oil. Optional (and recommended) hard boiled egg.









Machluta:
Same as above but also mixed with ful and t'hina on top.

Hummus-Ful

Hummus combined with ful (slow cooked small fava beans), topped with t'hina, olive oil, cumin, parsley and paprika and drizzled with olive oil.

Don't be shy about ordering "chips" with it.
And felafel (deep fried chick pea balls) is always delicious as well. This felafel is bright green inside from the chopped herbs with which it is made.

The pickles are on the table already.












An Israeli salad helps wash it down:

The proper technique for eating hummus is to wipe, or "l'nagev" the food from the plate with a pita. Only tourists eat hummus with a fork.

And for the hard-core, there is schug, a hot, hot concoction that was brought to the Israel by the Yemenite Jews. My husband's grandmother used to make it fresh.
It can be green or red depending on the recipe.













And now the table is set...

 The serious afficianado will leave a plate that looks like this.

Wiped clean!

And will be rewarded with a "tosefet," an additional portion of plain hummus in a plate.

And the additional portions will keep coming until the expert eater declines. Because you don't just pay for your plate, you pay for a full stomach, and they will bring the hummus until they are sure you have reached repletion.

And then comes the coffee!

The generosity is not just for the paying customer. While we were there a homeless man came and asked a waitress for money. She sent him into the kitchen to get a plate of hummus...