Editor’s Pick: Heavenly hummus at Cafe Mediterranean

Hummus is a food that’s all too easy to get wrong. Fail to get the balance of taste and texture just right and you’ll end up with mush the flavor and consistency of wallpaper paste that sits on the stomach like a lead weight. One fingerful of the hummus at Cafe Mediterranean, however, will banish all your fears. This piquant appetizer at the small Southdowns eatery is bursting with fragrant garlic and tart lemon. “We use only fresh ingredients,” says owner and chef Diane Zhang. “And we make it fresh every day.” Zhang makes the hummus by hand, blending chickpeas, chopping garlic, squeezing lemons, and tasting each batch to make sure it’s up to her exacting standards. Due to the tendency of fresh ingredients to taste different depending on the season, she points out, you can’t be a slave to a set recipe. “Sometimes one type of garlic is more spicy than another, and it affects the flavor,” Zhang says. “You have to be flexible with your amounts to maintain consistency.” And what consistency—Cafe Med’s hummus is more like porridge than paste, and has a light, sweet bite that makes it pleasantly flavorful rather than uncomfortably filling. It’s just the thing to get you in the mood for the rest of your Mediterranean meal.—Rachael Upton