I will start with this, I never considered myself a huge fan of hummus. Despite my former gripes, this single hummus dish might be the best thing I have ever cooked. Hummus im Bassar is a dish native to the Levant region (Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan), that consists of fresh-made hummus with spiced ground beef. Making this dish was a very time-consuming process, as I had to soak the chickpeas overnight, then cook them for almost two hours before even starting to finalize the hummus and the beef. But all that time is worth it, as this hummus compares to the hummus I had in Israel. The beef that went with it required me to make my own spice blend, called Baharat, and grind a lot of spices myself, which is new territory for me as a cook. Another learning curve for me was fully planning my recipe, as I overestimated how many ingredients we had at home then underestimated how much time making this dish would take. Over the coming weeks I will be sure not to make these mistakes again.
Hummus to the Levant is a very important thing, almost a way of life. There are certain ways to serve it and everyone has their own recipe. When I was in Israel, I got to try hummus straight from the source and so I was excited to make it myself. The tastes and smells of this dish brought me right back to the shuk (marketplace) in Jerusalem. Speaking of shuks, the book I got this recipe from was called Shuk, and it chronicles Jewish recipes from all over the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The book uncovered parts of Jewish cooking that I wasn't even aware of. For instance, I had never seen ground beef used in any of the Jewish food I've had before.
Overall, this dish was amazing and everyone in my family loved it. Join me next week for a Yemeni Shakshuka.
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