HUMMUS TO GO BIG TIME IN NYC AND ELSEWHERE

Hummus and spin-offs
The popular dip has spawned progeny appropriating its name.

By Joyce Gemperlein

For The Inquirer (Philadelphia)

Imagine an evolutionary timeline of party spreads and dips.

It would show salsa eventually replacing the 1970s sour-cream-and-onion mix called California Dip and then morphing into hummus, which is now omnipresent.

But “hummus” made of pureed vegetables is positioning itself to take over when the ancient Middle Eastern spread, which is made of chickpeas and tahini (sesame paste), wears out its welcome.

This is not to say that the popular pita-bread accompaniment is stepping down any time soon.

Ten years ago, hummus sales in the United States totaled about $5 million, according to the tracking firm A.C. Nielsen. By 2007, that figure had risen to about $192 million, and some marketing companies predict that sales will reach $250 million within four years.

In New York City and other cities, parlors that serve only hummus are popping up in attempts to replicate the hummusiot, the hummus parlors of Israel. There and in other Middle Eastern countries, it is decidedly not an ancillary part of a meal, but the main event.

Still, the new global popularity of hummus as a spread or dip reflects an acceptance and promotion of such concoctions that are quite different from the classics that graced coffee tables and buffets over the last several decades. This is a difference that can be generally summarized as “fat content” vs. “vegetable matter.”

Perhaps we have the popularization of the food processor to thank for this revolution. Without it, all party or “cocktail” nibbles might still be mixed by hand and based on sour cream, mayonnaise and cream cheese.

Then again, optimists might say that we are increasingly turning to vegetable spreads because we’ve finally heeded warnings about the empty calories and saturated fat contained in the nibbles of yore.

Hummus also appeals as a popular party food, since it meets the dietary restrictions of many guests, vegetarians, vegans, celiacs, and diabetics alike.