Sunday Times Food Awards
Which supermarket makes the yummiest hummus?
Served with crunchy crudites, pita bread or mini kebabs, hummus can be the star of an easy crowd-pleasing snack platter. To help you buy the best, we put dips from leading supermarkets to the taste test
Image: 123RF/naltik
HOW WE CONDUCTED OUR TASTE TEST
It's free and fair!
Taste is a subjective thing, we know, but if you gather a group of Sunday Times readers together and ask them to blind-taste two types of readymade hummus — spicy and traditional — from leading supermarkets, you are bound to find winners and losers.
The readers were presented with each of the dips "naked" without any branding or packaging. They were asked to score them according to appearance, taste, suitability as a cocktail snack, generosity and whether they would buy the item.
To be sure of fairness, auditor Jade Craig oversaw the event, tallied the scores and gave the tasting her stamp of approval.
THE RESULTS
SPICY HUMMUS
FIRST PLACE: Woolworths Roast Red Pepper Hummus
Price: R29.99 for 180g
Judges's comments:
- Caroline: Easy on the mouth, smooth and tastes good.
- Christian: Could be more spicy.
- Rory: Well presented, nice colour.
SECOND PLACE: Pick n Pay Chipotle Hummus
Price: R21.90 for 120g
Judges's comments:
- Liz: Too hot for me.
- Prinesh: Nice strong taste - stings in your mouth in a nice way.
- Lena: Leaves burning sensation in back of throat.
THIRD PLACE: Checkers Jalapeno Hummus
Price: R22.99 for 125g
Judges's comments:
- Sasha: Not a chilli fan so this is too hot for me.
- Wynand: Tastes better than looks.
TRADITIONAL HUMMUS
FIRST PLACE: Pick n Pay
Price: R19.90 for 120g
Judges's comments:
- Nigel: Beautiful flavour, a definite to serve to guests.
- Rory: Best all-rounder with nice texture and flavour.
- Liz: I eat a lot of hummus and this is a strong contender.
SECOND PLACE: Woolworths
Price: R26.99 for 180g
Judges's comments:
- Cristian: Close to an original hummus.
- Zanele: The roughish appearance gives me the feeling of homemade.
- Shantal: This won my taste.
THIRD PLACE: Checkers
Price: R22.99 for 125g
Judges's comments:
- Betsy: Texture too loose/soft.
- Yvette: Slightly disappointing, I want to say bordering on boring.