On a shoot the other day and starving, we decided to snack on some hummus. It was Tribe Brand 40 Spices Hummus. I couldn't believe it, 40 spices! What could they be? On trying, it tasted overly spiced and strongly of oregano, which is not in my spice top five. Why so many spices anyway? Hummus should be simple: grind me up some chick peas, garlic, olive oil and some cumin and I'm good to go. On the packaging they feature basil, cinnamon, ginger and a hot chili pepper and their ingredients lists just "spices." How about elaborating? I had to find out so I called them up. From the automated menu I chose to speak to the Quality Assurance lab. Surely the lab would know. Isn't that where they come up with the 40 spice concoction? The man who answered said he didn't know and that I should call back and dial another extension. When I asked which extension, he hung up on me! I guess he's too busy mixing all the spices. So I called back and spoke to customer service. The woman who answered was a sweetheart. She had a lot of patience and explained that the spice blend is a secret, but I can ask her individual spices that I am "allergic" to. This became a group effort of us spurting out spices off the top of our heads. There were some random spices in there, like dill and parsley. I guess you just have to add anything to reach the 40 mark. Unlike the packaging however there is no cinnamon and the ginger looking herb is actually horseradish. As I asked it sounded like she was actually running down the list of spices. But after a bunch she reminded me that its a secret, so we gave up. We couldn't come up with 40 spices on the spot. She was truly upset that the lab guy hung up on me and assured me he would not get in trouble but she would talk to him because Tribe customers deserve the utmost respect if its not measured in giving away the secret hummus spice recipe. In my opinion, I think they should cut dow on the spices; quantity over quality never wins.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
40 Spices Hummus
On a shoot the other day and starving, we decided to snack on some hummus. It was Tribe Brand 40 Spices Hummus. I couldn't believe it, 40 spices! What could they be? On trying, it tasted overly spiced and strongly of oregano, which is not in my spice top five. Why so many spices anyway? Hummus should be simple: grind me up some chick peas, garlic, olive oil and some cumin and I'm good to go. On the packaging they feature basil, cinnamon, ginger and a hot chili pepper and their ingredients lists just "spices." How about elaborating? I had to find out so I called them up. From the automated menu I chose to speak to the Quality Assurance lab. Surely the lab would know. Isn't that where they come up with the 40 spice concoction? The man who answered said he didn't know and that I should call back and dial another extension. When I asked which extension, he hung up on me! I guess he's too busy mixing all the spices. So I called back and spoke to customer service. The woman who answered was a sweetheart. She had a lot of patience and explained that the spice blend is a secret, but I can ask her individual spices that I am "allergic" to. This became a group effort of us spurting out spices off the top of our heads. There were some random spices in there, like dill and parsley. I guess you just have to add anything to reach the 40 mark. Unlike the packaging however there is no cinnamon and the ginger looking herb is actually horseradish. As I asked it sounded like she was actually running down the list of spices. But after a bunch she reminded me that its a secret, so we gave up. We couldn't come up with 40 spices on the spot. She was truly upset that the lab guy hung up on me and assured me he would not get in trouble but she would talk to him because Tribe customers deserve the utmost respect if its not measured in giving away the secret hummus spice recipe. In my opinion, I think they should cut dow on the spices; quantity over quality never wins.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
Hi Morta Di Fame!
I had just purchased the 40 Spice hummus and was wondering the same thing you were! After a quick Google search I came upon your blog and really enjoyed reading about your quest for the list of spices!! Anyway, great post and boo that guy in quality assurance! lol
Papavoo
I'm with you! We love hummus, babaganoush, falafel,etc.; but this is so hot that you can only taste the hot chili pepper and nearly all the other flavors except for the cumin and coriander are drowned out. After 2 bites you get only the texture and not the taste of the chickpeas, My wife, who often snacks on hummus and carrots, tasted it and won't eat any more. What were they thinking? And there is no indication of how hot the item is. Sounds like their lab is poor quality assurance!
I absolutely LOVE the taste of the spices in this hummus!!! I have found nothing else like it on the market, but there are plenty of other 'plain' versions and its so easy to make on your own with chickpeas lemon olive oil tahini. spices in or out.
i Love the 40 spice hummus!!!!
I absolutely LOVE the taste of the spices in this hummus!!! I have found nothing else like it on the market, but there are plenty of other 'plain' versions and its so easy to make on your own with chickpeas lemon olive oil tahini. spices in or out.
i Love the 40 spice hummus!!!!
Post a Comment