“Another hummus recipe. Can you believe it? Chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic and salt. How hard could it be? It isn’t that hard at all, but as with so many simple foods, the care taken in the process is what makes the difference. To make your hummus better, soak the chickpeas in bicarb soda over 2 days, changing the water several times. Try to remove some of the excess skins that float to the top when cooked. Blend the chickpeas while still warm, without adding too much liquid at the beginning. Blend until your machine is about to die. If your machine dies too easily, buy a better one."
RECIPE NOTE: “Once made, cover the surface of your hummus with some plastic wrap or baking paper to avoid a skin forming.”
On September 11, 2001, when those devastating attacks occurred in New York, I was in Aleppo, Syria. I came home for Christmas, worrying about how I would get through the airport.
Re-entering Australia was not a problem for me, but 9/11 was certainly a turning point for Arab Australians. Arabs became the target of some nasty attacks, but even more worrying was the frequent labelling of people ‘of Middle Eastern appearance’. In the days before we opened Rumi, my mother-in-law suggested that we describe my food as ‘of Middle Eastern appearance’. I didn’t have the courage to follow through with her suggestion. It was just too soon.
I tried to write this book excluding the politics, but soon came to realise that one of the driving factors behind Rumi’s birth as a restaurant was the opportunity to provide a counterbalance to the narrative that was so prevalent. My use of the expression in the title of this book was to draw attention to the fact that the much-loved poet-philosopher Rumi; Steve
