Home & Lifestyle, Food

Mezze Spread: Hummus With Confit Garlic and Tahini

Yotam Ottolenghi

Lesson time 27:38 min

Find joy in the kitchen and at the table as Yotam shares the most recognizable mezze: hummus. Learn how to make two more condiments and how to prepare before gathering so you can spend more time with your guests.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Tahini Sauce • Confit Garlic Oil • Hummus • The Middle Eastern Way

Preview

[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING] [00:00:02.93] YOTAM OTTOLENGHI: I feel like everybody in the world knows hummus now, but a few years ago, it was like a little secret kept in the corner of the Middle East where all the hummus lovers have been huddling up together and now it's like a world food. [00:00:23.94] For me, hummus-- growing up in Jerusalem, where hummus is like a competitive sport. People really feel very strongly about their hummus and how it should be made, so it used to-- you could only have cooked chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice. Those were the ingredients. Now, a bit more forgiving. I've seen hummus with all sorts of things added to it, and I can live with that. And my hummus today will actually have an addition of confit garlic, and it's just that extra layer of flavor that goes into hummus. [00:00:59.46] I don't think that it's too much of a transgression because there is garlic in hummus, so confit garlic just adds that extra layer of flavor that we all love. I want everybody to love hummus as much as I do and make their own and serve it as part of a wonderful Middle Eastern mezze spread. [00:01:16.53] [MUSIC PLAYING] [00:01:23.02] Tahini is something that runs in the veins of the people in the Middle East. It's like the olive oil of southern Europe. It's used in a multiple of occasions. I'd say it's used all the time, in every meal, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And as long as you know how to use it, you're in for a real treat. It's a wonderful thing to have. [00:01:45.85] It's better than olive oil, better than peanut butter. It's a kind of a cross between the two. It's something that I think everybody should learn how to use. It's really healthy, it's really delicious, and it's hard to stop using once you started. It really is a thing of wonder, and it's super easy to make from the paste, which comes in jars or tubs like this to make a sauce. [00:02:11.28] So I'm going to make a tahini sauce, and I'm going to use it for hummus, but I'm also going to use it for a million other things in my daily life, which I'll tell you all about. And so to make a good tahini sauce, you need that tahini paste. So there is a little separation between the solids and the oil on the tahini. That's totally normal. If you stir it nicely, it will all come together in a homogeneous kind of way. [00:02:40.14] Some tahinis would be a bit paler or whiter than others. Other-- the sesames a bit more toasted, so they look a little bit darker. It's all up to you, but you really want to find a brand of tahini that you love. I find that the brands that come from Lebanon, from Jordan, from Palestine and Israel are normally the better ones. But I think it's all about the good sesame seeds, normally Ethiopian sesame seeds have been toasted nicely before they've been turned into a paste. [00:03:11.94] So I've got my tahini paste here and I'm going to add some crushed garlic. Tahini sauce, which is what I'm making, is something that you could reall...

About the Instructor

One of the most influential chefs working today, Yotam Ottolenghi creates dishes that layer color and flavor for maximum impact. Now the James Beard Award winner teaches you simple steps for making and mixing Middle Eastern–inspired recipes. Learn how to make generous platters—mezze and brunch spreads to homemade condiments, stunning stand-alones, and delicious vegetables—so you can entertain with ease.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Yotam Ottolenghi

James Beard Award–winning chef Yotam Ottolenghi teaches you his recipes for delicious Middle Eastern platters layered with color and flavor.

Explore the Class
Sign Up