Brits have an unhealthy obsession with hummus

[insoectorgina]

It seems to be the only chilled product where a third of an aisle is taken up with a mind boggeling array of versions. Most people think its some king of health food, when actually its filled with generic vegetable oil and has far far more than a packet of crisps.

Its also uber easy to make your own in less than one minute that is vastly superior.

I just dont get it.

Hummus is yummy

2/3 of Brits are obese or overweight! all because of hummus.

I love my hummus I have it every Saturday with bread sticks. It's like a Saturday night tradition.

What's in homous? Chickpeas, lemon, olive oil, tahini - anything else? Seems healthy to me.

One thing that does annoy me about the UK and hummus involves falafel. It's impossible find falafel without a huge mass of hummus on top but no chilli. I don't want blended chickpeas with my deepfried blended chickpeas. I want tahini dressing, chilli sauce, lemon juice and salad. Or baba ganoush, chilli sauce, lemon and salad.

We love it. Sorry. My daughter thinks everything is 'hummus', even if it's peanut butter or some other spread/dip. I fear she's not very bright.

We shop in Aldi and one time a very confused, older, 'posh' chap came up to me (it was very clearly his first time in Aldi and he was finding it disorienting). His opening line: "My dear, you look like you might know where the hummus is..." DH found this absolutely hilarious and 'knowing where the hummus is' has become a byword in our family for being inescapably middle-class.

And yes, trollkonor, who puts hummus on falafel?!

It's the reverse of healthy so far as I'm concerned, it makes me puke my guts up. Effing sesame allergy.

Don't get me started on The Handmade Burger Company who have put pita options on their menu, one of which is falafel, served with "an authentic tikka masala sauce" WTF? Why would they do that to me.

The big question is- what is the true spelling of the word!?

I love hummus and used to eat it daily with crudités (even carrots, BIWI ) when I was dieting for my wedding. I lost loads of weight. I rarely eat it now and I weigh 3 stone more - maybe it is the king of diet foods and I should stock up.

Seriously though, it is filling as it has more fat and protein than most snacks. I used to either buy the small pot trios or portion it out so I didn't eat too much at once.

The big question is- what is the true spelling of the word!?

Houmous - that's how Waitrose spell it so it must be right.

Homemade houmous (with no tahini way less oil and loads of garlic) is awesome, shop bought, not so much.

I love hummus. About once a month on a Saturday we have tea which is picky bits from M&S - those wee pasties stuffed with things like chorizo or haloumi, hummus and pitta breads, olives, cheese, crisps, and cold meats. YUM. To me it's a lovely, lazy weekend thing and a bit of a treat.

I like it, I always buy it I like the one with chickpeas on the top. I don't think it is healthy.....I dip crisps into anyway! I have tried to make it and it was awful.

I love hummus and living abroad have had to make my own - I do prefer it home made and I substitute the oil for low fat yoghurt (also kind of home made - I must get some MN smug points for that!) which reduces the calorie content slightly, it still has plenty of oil in from the tahini and is pretty filling because of the fat and protein. I think it is actually reasonably 'healthy' although fairly calorie dense, especially when eaten with veggies. Unless of course you believe carbohydrates are the work of the devil...
All that said now I'm back in the UK I will probably just buy it instead of faffing with tins, jars, measuring spoons, chopping boards and blenders....!

Hummus is perfectly fine and filling, bit beige maybe. It might be nutritionally superior if self-made, but no less boring. I cannot imagine anybody being obsessed with hummus.

well it's like cheese with stuff in it - people always go to far

Stilton ... lovely - with apricots - fine - with apricots IN THE CHEESE ... are you on DRUGS?

Ditto Hummus with 'stuff' like lime or chilli - get to fuck - I like it because it's safely foreign - I am a child of the 70's when spag bol was exotic

too far too fucking far ffs

I lived in Greece, they were pretty big on houmous there. I make my own tahini(salata) so I have tahini in, but my houmous never turns out right so I just buy it.

Canada here. Obsessed here too. I think the OP lives in Waitrose in the UK and has never been anywhere else.

I love hummus. It goes with anything to make a quick snack or lunchcarrots, cucumber crisps-- pitta bread etc.

I like it, but I don't consider it a health food.
I do agree to an extent that folk seem to think it's great if their toddler eats it, that or pasta fucking pesto.
And why the obsession with serving sticks of cucumber and peppers with every meal?

DD3 used to eat her way through a tub in the car on long trips. If she spilled, it dried on her clothes and could be brushed off in flakes, leaving no residue. It was the perfect car snack when she was old enough to hold her own tub. She dipped her finger into it. I am fanatic a fan of roasted red pepper hummus myself.

I like it, but don't see it as a health food. I like the spick jalapeño hummus that Tesco do.

Who moose? [/Delia]

It's on every second supermarket aisle here in EnZed, too.

It's having a zeitgeist moment everywhere - not just the UK.