help with hummus

[Chef #1219442 joyce.W]

every time I make hummus, it comes out little bitter. I cant figure out what I need more of!, anyone got an easy hummus recipe??

[UmmBinat]

Maybe you have a poor olive oil or tahini. Both can be bitter if cheaper quality.

[Chef #1219442 joyce.W]

some recipes have tahini, some dont, which do u prefer, and is their a shelf life on tahini, i've had my jar for a long time

[UmmBinat]

I'm not sure, I'm not Arab BTW. I think you can keep them a long time and I do prefer with tahini to be authentic but like I said I have tasted a quality difference between cheap and better quality tahini and the same with olive oil.

[chef FIFI]

The secret to hummus is to boil dried garbanzo beans with a spoon full of baking soda....This trick was given to me by my BIL who owns a restaurants in Jordan which serve hummus....After that you want to grind it in the food processor. I always add a very descent amount of tahini, and lemon juice, and some water left over from boiling the hummus, and garlic smashed up very very well. Traditional hummus, doesnt have cumin or allspice, or anything of that sort. I have seen recipes that include it here on zaar, but in true reality hummus is a very simple dish. Usuualy dont need to add too much salt when using baking soda, for the baking soda adds a salty taste and seems to help the garbanzo beans to cook faster.
I would never buy tahini from a local grocers unless that grocers is a middle eastern grocer....only because there is a difference between what is authentic and not.
Here is a major distributor that carries most if not all the products we use in middle eastern cooking. http://ziyad.com/

[Chef #549411]

Make sure you are using tahini made from hulled sesame. The unhulled sesame tahini is more bitter.