2

I followed The Pec Shef's hummus recipe and I am getting a strong horseradish after-taste in my hummus. I only used 6 cans of chickpeas instead of 8, and a 9.25oz jar of horseradish. Is there anything I can add to the mix to reduce or neutralize the strong horseradish taste?

Garry
  • 123
  • 1
  • 6
  • 1
    That is a *huge* batch of hummus! Is it supposed to be the only thing you eat? If you make smaller batches (and taste test before you add all the seasonings) you won't end up with a huge wasted batch if you make a mistake like this. – Cascabel Jan 19 '14 at 17:59
  • 5
    Horseradish in hummus? Someone needs to talk sense into that Pec Shef guy. – GdD Jan 19 '14 at 20:33

2 Answers2

15

Yes. Make it again and don't add horseradish. I'm totally serious - no traditional hummus recipe in the known universe has horseradish in it. There is nothing you are going to be able to do to your existing batch to remove that flavor, other than diluting it, but I don't think you'd be able to dilute it enough to be worth the effort.

Michael Natkin
  • 30,230
  • 16
  • 86
  • 172
  • Agreed, leave it out, or if you like some of the flavor, use less. I expected that the recipe must provide some dubious health/nutrition reason for the horseradish, but there isn't on - it really does look like it's just for flavor. Maybe it's better for you if it tastes bad? (And "one jar" of horseradish and "one can" of tahini - hope yours are the same size as his!) – Cascabel Jan 19 '14 at 17:57
  • +1 I mostly second the part about the whole "known universe" ^_^ – Martin Turjak Jan 19 '14 at 19:16
  • 3
    I should have looked up some other recipes first. Must have been hypnotized by the pecs. – Garry Jan 19 '14 at 19:31
2

One way you could reduce the potency of the taste is by adding more chickpeas, but that assumes you like the taste of horseradish and just want it to be more subtle. (It also assumes you have a more reasonably sized batch that doesn't already have a whole jar of horseradish in it.)

Once you're using more than one or two cans of chickpeas, you should consider buying a bag of dried chickpeas and making them from scratch. A typical sized bag (16oz) makes a lot of chickpeas, they taste better, and it costs less money.

Third, when adding ingredients with a strong flavor, or a flavor that could find disagreeable if having too much, add a little bit at a time and taste it as you go. This is a good rule to follow with any dish, especially when salting.

If you want to try horseradish again, just make the hummus without adding the horseradish. Then when you have a meal, set aside a portion of the hummus and add a little horseradish to taste.

A suggestion I'd make next time, is using a few cloves of garlic (raw) instead of horseradish.

Last, maybe it's opinion, but this recipe is ridiculous. I'd make a serving size this larger if I were having a party. Be prepared to have nothing but hummus for every meal for the next week if you want to use it up before it goes bad. If you are going through the trouble of making hummus, unlike "The Pec Chef", you should also try to use as many fresh ingredients as possible. No bottled lemon juice, no canned chickpeas.

Hemm
  • 121
  • 2