Follow the recipe

This is the phrase from one of our favorite animation Ratatouille. What happened to us this Monday night reminded me exactly this phrase.

Last Sunday, Jack bought a package of garbanzo beans from an Indian store next to our favorite Indian restaurant. The next day, he wanted to make hummus with it. Oh, Jack is eating hummus now in an effort to improve his diet, since hummus is this super healthy food.

We carefully reviewed the recipes from multiple cookbooks. Since we bought the dried garbanzo beans in bulk, we had to first soak them in water until they got soft. Jack decided to make a big bunch at once. My logical self told me, we should follow the recipe first and see how it turned out, then we could make a big bunch as we were more familiar with the steps. Jack reasoned with me: "Normally I would agree with you, but since it's a simple recipe, it's like making salsa, you can add ingredients to taste." It's true, this is really no big deal. I was very tired that day, because the Indian coffee kept me awake until 2 AM, so I didn't argue with him. I did my part to help.

Jack chopped up half of an onion, fighting his tears back in the process and dumped it into the food processor, along with Tahini (sesame seed paste with lemon), garbanzo beans and olive oil. I minced some garlic and put it in the food processor. We blended all the ingredients together and it was done. Amazingly, it looked exactly the same color as the Sabra hummus we bought from Costco, which was Jack's favorite. Easy! We quietly congratulated ourselves then did our taste test ...

It didn't taste right. There was too much onion taste and too garlicky, there was also a hint of bitterness. Ah, easy fix, we added more chickpeas in hope of balancing out the garlicky and onion taste. I seriously didn't know where the bitterness came from and how to get rid of it. We blended the mixture together again and tasted it. A little better, but still the onion and garlic tastes were overpowering.

Jack checked the recipe and screamed: Oh, I am supposed to cook the garlic and onion before blending it. O.K. that explains it.

The next day, here's our email exchange with subject line - Our hummus:

think that we put in too much garlic in this batch. I didn't think I'd ever hear myself say that.

I intend to use more olive oil in the next batch.

--
Jack

That's ok... we learn this way. I didn't give 2 bunches as the recipe called for.
I think cooking the onion and garlic would help too.

ying

Not bunches, cloves. Did you give me a bunch? That would explain a lot.

- Show quoted text -

oh! I put 2 bunches. whoa, that reminds me of when I first tried to make Indian curry and messed up between teaspoon and tablespoon. That was funny...

Ying

I was in the office, but I can't help to laugh out loud.

My breath tastes like garlic. It is all your fault :-)

We the smell of garlic and onion will follow us for the days to come, as we are consuming our homemade hummus. Giving us bad breath and coming out of our pores.

I told this story to my wise Indian coworker, she laughed and suggested: "no recipe will call for garlic in bunches. That's too much garlic. But at least your hummus is has a LOT of healthy ingredients." When I offered her some to taste, she declined politely.

For your reference, here is a hummus recipe found online.

The end