[Sca-cooks] hummus kasa (was cooking for a vigil)

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Madhavi wrote:
>All I read into that is you?re supposed to let it sit overnight to let the
>flavors meld, which does work quite nicely. There?s nothing in it to go bad
>overnight, so it doesn?t need refrigeration necessarily. Maybe they rolled
>it flat because the traditional tray to serve it in was flat? Or the
>favorite serving dish at the time was flat? Maybe the ?roll it flat? is for
>presentation, how could that possibly affect flavor?

The directions do not just say let it sit overnight. The directions 
say "roll it flat and leave it overnight and take it up."

Given the climate in Cairo, where this cookbook originated, rolling 
it *flat* (not just patting it down to make it smooth) and letting it 
stand overnight out in the dry air would dry out this thin layer of 
crushed chickpeas and nuts (which i assume would be chopped). The 
result would be *very* unlike letting a bowl of fairly liquid stuff, 
nicely covered, rest overnight in a modern fridge.

Clearly it is not merely to "let the flavors meld". It will 
definitely have an effect on the very nature of the paste, drying it 
into something firm and a bit chunky, like a rough blanket. Following 
the original directions in a climate like that of Cairo or Baghdad 
will definitely *not* produce a moist dip.

Having prepared it as directed, although it is far from as dry here, 
i found that to eat it i needed to break or cut it into pieces. 
Cariadoc's was apparently drier then mine, but even mine was not 
"dip-able" and had to be eaten in crunchy chunks.

-- 
Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
the persona formerly known as Anahita