Adam Wolfers’ hommous

Ingredients

  • 120g chickpeas, soaked overnight
  • 2L water
  • ½ tsp bicarb soda
  • 2 garlic cloves, skin removed
  • 2 bay leaf
  • 50g fermented chickpeas (or you can buy chickpea miso from Meru)
  • 75g reserved chickpea liquid (from cooking the chickpeas)
  • 125g ice
  • 100g tahini paste
  • ½ tsp cumin powder
  • 10g salt
  • 30g lemon juice
  • 70g toum (make your own or buy it from a specialty grocer)
  • 50g olive oil (Wolfers uses Mount Zero)

Toum (garlic sauce)

  • 2 whole head of garlic, cloves peeled (about 160g)
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • Juice of 4 lemons
  • 700ml vegetable oil
  • 3 blocks of ice

Method

  1. Place soaked chickpeas in a pot, add water, bicarb, two garlic cloves and bay lead and bring to a boil, continuously stirring as the water comes up to temperature. Using a ladle, skim the scum that comes to the surface. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the chickpeas have no resistance when pressed between your fingers. Strain, taking out the garlic and the bay leaf, and set aside cooked chickpeas (they should make about 250 grams). You can reserve the whey from the chickpeas; we use it as a replacement for eggs in our cocktails and desserts. Store in the freezer if you’re not going to use it straight away.
  2. If you’re making your own toum, peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves, then place them in a chilled blender or liquidiser with salt and lemon juice. Blend for around 2 minutes, until smooth, scraping down the sides occasionally.
  3. Next, add the oil very slowly, as if making a mayonnaise, and blend on high until emulsified. As the sauce heats up, add a block of ice. Continue to dribble the oil in slowly, until it’s all absorbed. Add the remaining ice. The whole process will take less than 10 minutes and you will end up with a light, fluffy sauce. This makes around 800 mils, which will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.
  4. Place cooked hot chickpeas, fermented chickpeas (or chickpea miso) and chickpea liquid in a food processor (at the restaurant we use a Robot Coupe). Pulse for 2 minutes and continue to scrape the sides. Add the ice and tahini and blend for a further 2 minutes. Add cumin powder, salt and lemon juice.
  5. Once it’s reached a smooth, whipped consistency, add the toum and blend for another minute. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on top so a skin doesn’t form. You can store your hummus in the fridge for 3 or 4 days.