While in Israel a month ago for work, some of my co-workers took me for a lunchtime humus adventure to a place called Taami. It’s a hummus-slinging hole-in-the-wall in downtown Jerusalem. The owner is infamous for rushing customers through their meal once they’ve been served so that he can turn the table. “Don’t chew–swallow!” and “What’s taking you so long? There’s no bones in hummus!” are were frequently heard examples.

I think the atmosphere has calmed a bit since those days and we were allowed to take our time. Each of us was served what would be a largish salad-plate sized mound of hummus, covered with whole chick peas and swimming in a moat of luscious olive oil. We also finished off a shared dish of beans w/ rice, a plate of stewed okra and a couple dozen falafel. I skipped dinner that night I was still so stuffed.

I’m not the only one who enjoyed their visit. And googling for “Taami Jerusalem” turned up this writeup in the Globe that I somehow missed.

Sorry, no recipe available. Also, I didn’t have a camera and I couldn’t find any authentic pictures of Taami; the photo above I found online and it is actually from a place called Lina in the Old City where I’m sure they also have excellent hummus.