Hummus Pizza

Talk about Blasphemy. I noticed the world wide web is full of recipes for Hummus Pizza.
Hummus is room temperature and goes with nothing but Pita bread - so the idea of burining it in a Pizza oven is too wierd for me. But then again, maybe I should be more open.

Here's one of the most popular recipes that appeared in the top three of Google search taken from Family Oven website:
http://www.familyoven.com/offsite?r_id=20962&u=http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Hummus-Pizza/Detail.aspx

Submitted By: POODLEMOLUC
Photoabove By: LANEANN
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Ready In: 30 Minutes
Servings: 8
"This pizza uses hummus instead of the usual red sauce - a unique and healthy pizza for those bored with the traditional. Top with your favorite veggies and cheese."
Ingredients:
1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust
dough
1 cup hummus spread

1 1/2 cups sliced bell peppers, any color
1 cup broccoli florets
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees C (220 degrees C).
2. Roll out pizza crust and place on a pizza pan or baking sheet. Spread a thin layer of hummus over the crust. Arrange sliced peppers and broccoli over the hummus, and top with shredded cheese.
3. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the crust is golden brown and cheese is melted in the center. Slice and serve.

Most popular Hummus websites on Alexa

Almost Yom Kippur Eve - The Jewish holiday of reflections. So for all our Jewish friends we decided to show respect by reflecting as well.
Checked on Alexa, one of the websites to check popularity of websites to see who are the top ten Hummus related links online and we're still not there.
So for all the fans out there- do let your friends know about us and do send us info about new Hummus eateries we should write about.
Hopefully soon our website will inch it's way to be in the top ten.
There is still very little Hummus reviews worldwide. The top ten related Hummus websites are mostly restaurants or Hummus manufacturers.

As for the top ten. Here they are:

* 1. Hummus Bros
hbros.co.uk

Mediterranean restaurant which claims to be the first eatery in the UK where hummus is used as a base for the main course. History, press, feedback.
o hbros.co.uk is not in the top 100,000 sites
o Rank: 1,918,011
o Category: Regional > Europe
o Keywords: hummus bros, hummus bros london, humus brothers special offer, hbros, humus bar restaurant

* 2. hummusplace.com
hummusplace.com

o hummusplace.com is not in the top 100,000 sites
o Rank: 2,064,760
o Keywords: hummus place, the humus place, humus retaurant upper east side

* 3. trainz.cz
trainz.cz

o trainz.cz is not in the top 100,000 sites
o Rank: 1,568,947
o Keywords: trainz csu, trs 2009, hummus trainz, auran dls, trainz.cz
4. sabra.com
sabra.com

o sabra.com is not in the top 100,000 sites
o Rank: 937,921
o Keywords: sabra, sabra hummus, colombe jacobsen, sabra.com

* 5. tribehummus.com
tribehummus.com

o tribehummus.com is not in the top 100,000 sites
o Rank: 1,055,301
o Keywords: tribe hummus, free t shirt, tribe, free tshirts

6. Summer Fresh Salads Inc.
summerfresh.com

o summerfresh.com is not in the top 100,000 sites
o Rank: 5,751,719
o Keywords: fresh salads, summer freshed, summer fresh salads, www.summerfresh.com, summerfresh

* 7. Vaření.cz
vareni.cz

Nabízí české i mezinárodní recepty v katalogu s možností vyhledávání, aktuální články o vaření, tipy a triky pro domácnost, gastronomický slovník pojmů, diskuze a možnost tvorby osobní internetové kuchařky z receptů.
o vareni.cz is a top 100,000 site
o Rank: 82,173
o Category: World > Česky
o Keywords: pangasius, recept, lasagne, musaka, chilli con carne

* 8. A Dreamer s Guide - Dream Moods
dreammoods.com

Dream Moods is a free online source in helping you interpret your dreams. Features dream dictonary, discussion forums and articles related to dreaming.
o dreammoods.com is a top 50,000 site
o Rank: 12,993
o Category: Science > Social Sciences
o Keywords: dream dictionary, dreams, dream meanings, meaning of dreams, dreammoods

* 9. חומוס להמונים
humus101.com

הכל על חומוס: היסטוריה, תרבות, ערכים תזונתיים, המלצות על חומוסיות איכותיות, וכמובן - מתכונים. איך להכין חומוס, מסבחה, טחינה, חומוס-פול ועוד.
o humus101.com is not in the top 100,000 sites
o Rank: 462,331
o Category: World > Hebrew
o Keywords: חומוס, humus recipe, מתכון חומוס, hummus recipe, אבו חסן
o From the site: Everbody in the middle east eat Hummus. Although considered an Arab dish, Israelis too consider it to be their national delicacy. In recent years, hummus has gone global, and you can find it anywhere in the world - sometimes reffered to as “Houmous” or “Humus”. This blog is about Hummus, regardless of sex, race, religion or color. It is about the love for Hummus and the things you can do with it - including making it yourself. ... More...

* 10. Coupons - Couponsurfer.com - Free Online And Printable Coupons For G
couponsurfer.com

o couponsurfer.com is a top 100,000 site
o Rank: 82,786
o Keywords: coupons for groceries, red lobster, free coupons for groceries, coupon surfer, free coupon
o From the site: Welcome to CouponSurfer.com - Just click, point and save - it's that easy! Our mission at CouponSurfer.com is to save you money when you shop by offering top brand-name deals and coupons as a free service for you. We offer hundreds of money-saving coupons for groceries, clothing, gifts, shopping, toys, travel, and lots more. ... CouponSurfer.com Offers 2 types of Coupons: 1. On-line Coupon - These coupons are used at On-line Stores like Buy.com, PETsMART.com, and others. ... More...

Muma - Melrose Hummus

Melrose used to be a trendy place in Los Angeles until several years ago when the Grove shopping mall opened nearbye and sucked out the life out of this hipster's paradise.
Many of the hip and fun stores closed and the street started looking more like a ghost street.
Even the Hummus restaurant there like Wholesome Pita closed.

Now a new attempt is being made to open a new Hummus place with a twist and being a huge fan of Melrose I went to this place hoping that indeed they'll nail it.

The place is called Muma and the interior design and the way they serve shouts FRANCHISE. They are trying to do to Hummus what Pinkberry did to frozen yogurt.

Unlike many of the other Hummus restaurants which look like a cheap low class rundown diner- Muma has a cool and hip look which makes the tiny place feel much more spacious and fun.

They have fresh vegetables and salads that are made on premise and have interesting options for the Hummus.

The Hummus itself is good and interesting.

Their Falafel is fresh and made to order and their Pitas are also fresh.

The place is still brand new and caters to 3 different crowds:
Orthodox Jews living nearbye in La Brea/Melrose area
Israeli's working on Melrose
Vegeterians looking for a fun and tasty place in the Fairfax district.
Hipsters wanting a fast and clean meal on Melrose after shopping there.

One of the things that always dissapoints me with new places is how fast they surrender to mediocrity after the first few month's of existence.
This place is new and the two charming and charismatic owners are working there hard to make sure the food is fresh and tasty and hot for every customer.
The fans have noticed their hard work and the place is full most of the day.
I do hope they will stay this way and not give up their desire to make the best Hummus on Melrose.

Muma's is aiming directly for the Chipotle crowd. Those wanting a fast meal in a clean place that's both tasty, fast and hip but also will give them a full meal for under $10. Chipotle seem to have a lot of repeat customers that come there almost daily to eat cheaply.
Time will tell if the same concept will work for Mumma.

As they are located so close to the ultra Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of La Brea and Melrose they will hopefully attract some of the same crowd that used to go to Wholesome Pita. But in order to survive in the competitive Melrose Avenue they'll hopefully manage to get the hipsters to adopt this place to.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this place.
It's inspiring to see young people try to bring new life into a traditional meal in such an exciting way and especially in LA which is such a hard town to bring anything new to.

I also hope they don't fall into the trap of a lot of middle eastern places that eventually try to hike up prices believing Israeli's, Jews and Arabs are suckers. They might be for awhile but eventually all places that had crazy prices for Hummus went under. Hummus and Falafel are the Pizza of the middle east and as such should be priced accordingly.
As their new competitor on Fairfax, Pita bar and Grill turned from a sweet darling to a disgusting, stale Pita serving, lousy Hummus making place in less than 6 month since they opened and also hiked up the price and so lost quite a few clients in the process - I truly hope this sweet new place doesn't look at the conduct of the current crop of middle eastern restaurants but rather at what it could become- the middle eastern Chipotle chain.

Good luck guys and may the force of chickpeas be with you.


Their info:
http://mumarestaurant.com/
7275 Melrose Ave
LA CA 90046
323-936-7697

Hummus on Google

One of the interesting things is to see the popularity of different Hummus combinations on Google.
Well, based on a quick research as of September 2009 here are the numbers: ( Thanks to Google Keyword search)


hummus recipe 90,500

hummus recipes 33,100

hummus dip 4,400

hummus 368,000

It's a pretty impressive number until you check on words like Pizza and Hamburger and are humbled.

Seems like Hummus still has a long way to go before it becomes a little more popular in the ultimate virtual world of Google.

The world never sleeps.

Two more restaurants to avoid in Los Angeles

In the last few month's I've eaten in mostly horrible LA restaurants and so preferred not to write any new review cause it annoyed me.


PITA BAR AND GRILL
Fairfax Avenue. Fairfax district. Los Angeles. California


A new restaurant that opened strong and got a half decent review in this blog. They had a special deal where one could get a pita with Falafel and a soft drink for $5.
The first 3 month were a dream. Fresh Falafel, Fresh pita and pretty good hummus.
But all that changed.
No more special deal.
Now for $5 one gets onlythe Pita without the soft drink.
The Pita's are no longer fresh - but a day old.
The amount of Falafel's has been reduced by about 30% in each Pita.
I gave them a second chance before writing this review and the same thing happened so I guess it's no longer just a one time thing.

Sadly PITA BAR and Grill have joined my AVOID LIST


HABAYIT RESTAURANT
Phone 310-479-5444
11921 West Pico Blvd
LA CA 90064

Another new place I tasted was HABAYIT RESTAURANT.
They're pretty good.
The Hummus isn't Lebanese but rather a Polish Israeli take on the classic dish - but for an Israeli Glatt Kosher restaurant it's pretty good.
But the prices of everything else is so ridiculous that I can only give it an AVOID rating.
I hate it when restaurants that have a GLATT KOSHER rating believe they can overprice cause they think that religous Jews are dumb.
But the place was full for lunch so I don't know what to say.
Here's the lunch menu they gave me:
Entrees:
Meetballs $15.95
Kebab $15.95
Schnitzel $15.95

Falafel Plate (with 2 pitas) $10.95
Shakshuka $9.95

Falafel Sandwhich $7.95
Hummus Sandwich $6.45

Hummus plate $6.45

Salads to go (Per Lb) $9.95

The place looks like a super cheap diner. It's not located in the easiest to find place. It's mainly looks like a place to grab a quick and fast lunch.
but these prices puts a meal with a Hummus opener plate and a soft drink and a coffee at $25-$30 per person. FOR LUNCH.
So I don't know who's their clientele.
It's neither for those wanting a fast and cheap lunch - cause it's too expensive.
The place looks too cheap for a business lunch - so it's not a place to invite a person to discuss business.

I guess it's a place for Israeli's wanting a Glatt Kosher place and a little bit of Hummus but nothing else.

Their minimum delivery policy is $40 so they're not fit for a single person craving a fast one either.

A pity- the place could have been so much more successful if they would lower prices and have a real lunch menu with decent pricing.

Anyways, for now it's an avoid.
Big time!