The Ambassador's Table: Egypt

Oriental Nights With A Savoury Hummus Trilogy

We spent 5 beautiful years living in Egypt and enjoyed traveling and discovering the incredible archeological, cultural and culinary treasures of this magic country.
One of the delicacies I enjoyed most were the delightful mezes (dips, small plates and salads) which are to be found all over the Middle East and some mediterranean countries.
Hummus has already conquered our tables a long time ago. We definitely prefer the home made one to the many offered ready made.
One of the virtues of this spread is it's fantastic versatility and how fun it is to play around a bit with different flavors and spices to add a multi-cultural touch.
Of course it's only half the fun when you don't add an oriental touch to your table as well when serving these delicacies.

We found this beautiful, handmade teapot holders in the Khan el Khalili Bazaar in Cairo

as well as this lovely tea glass

Hope this table setting serves as inspiration to awaken your creativity and try out different ways to give an interesting 1001 nights touch to accompany your Hummus Trilogy.
Have fun, I would be happy to know the results of your inventiveness :)

You need for the classic Hummus:

250g canned chickpeas, drained (keep the water apart)
2 tablespoon high quality Olive oil
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
2 medium garlic cloves
2-3 tablespoon of the chickpeas water (or normal water)
1 tablespoon Tahini paste (optional)
Salt for seasoning

about 1/2 tablespoon olive oil for serving
Finley chopped tomatoes or Paprika to sprinkle on the basic Hummus
Chopped ,flat parsley to sprinkle on the Curry Hummus
some whole chick peas to decorate the avocado parsley Hummus

Method:
Combine the chick peas, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, garlic cloves, cayenne pepper and water in the bowl of a food processor and process until obtaining a smooth and creamy Hummus.
If necessary add some additional water or olive oil.