Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Trader Joe's Smooth And Creamy Classic Hummus



It has been an interesting discovery for me in recent months that I can not only tolerate hummus, but actually like it. I have been gradually working my way through TJ's assortment of hummus products, though skipping over the obviously icky ones.

I perhaps should have started with this, their plain-jane version. It is, as far as I can determine, just like the red pepper version, except without the red pepper sauce in the middle. Which is to say, it's perfectly fine, though a tad less interesting.

As a bit of self-education, I purchased on the same day at another store a locally produced hummus, also that maker's plain version, so that I could try them side by side. The TJ's was creamier, apparently containing more oil. The other brand had many more ingredients, obviously including more seasoning.

It was not difficult to tell that they were different, but it was difficult to determine which I liked better. I finally landed on the TJ's side, but not by a lot. I think it was mainly due to the smoother, creamier texture.

Will I buy it again? 

That all depends on my ongoing experiments to find out which kind I like best--because I might find something I like so much that I'll abandon all others. But if I had to stop experimenting now, then yes, this would be one that I would revisit.

Addendum 

It's been almost four months since I wrote the above, and my tastes in hummus have shifted hugely. I tried both this TJ's product and the locally produced one (Roots), and my impression was entirely different the second time. I strongly prefer the Roots version. Even more, however, I'm completely in love with several of their other varieties: black bean, roasted red pepper, hot chipotle, and mango sriracha. I'm now pretty much done with all TJ's hummus. I think the Roots stuff is incomparably superior. (So, if you see below, Nina was right all along--it just took a while for my experience with hummus to develop enough to recognize it.)


Nina's View

This is a bland, boring hummus. Despite having less oil than the other variety, it coated the tongue in a way I found unpleasant. I prefer my hummus to have an airier texture, and I don't mind if it's not totally smooth. This would probably never be a pick of mine.



2 comments:

  1. Have you had the Mediterranean Hummus or the Three Layer Hummus?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mediterranean yes, three-layer no.

    ReplyDelete