Hummus is now everything - from the snack sold on every supermarket shelf to the magic ingredient of every „healthy" menu. But real hummus, the one Lebanese, Syrians, Palestinians and Jordanians have on the table every day, has nothing to do with the industrial version. It enjoys its earned fame for a reason: five ingredients, fifteen minutes, and technique.

The classic recipe is simple: boiled chickpeas, lemon, garlic, olive oil, salt and tahini (sesame paste). Optionally - cumin or paprika for the colour at the end.

What makes the difference between „good" hummus and „great"? Six tricks, by which the professionals recognise each other:

1. Use well-cooked chickpeas. If you're using a can, get a quality one. Half-cooked chickpeas leave lumps.
2. Peel the chickpeas. Yes, each one individually. This is the most tedious step and at the same time the biggest difference in the result. The skins give a coarse texture - without them, you get silk.
3. Mix the tahini with lemon juice first. Not with the chickpeas. First tahini and lemon - once it forms an airy mass, you add the chickpeas.
4. Add the water gradually. Not all at once. A little, mix, a little more, until you reach a consistency that's thick but „walks" off the spoon.
5. Go easy on the garlic. One small clove is enough, unless you want an intense taste. Too much garlic kills the balance.
6. Let it rest. Minimum 20-30 minutes in the fridge before serving. Hummus is like soup - better the next day.

Ingredients for 4 servings: 400 grams of cooked chickpeas, 2-3 tablespoons of tahini, 1 small garlic clove, the juice of one lemon, 3-5 tablespoons of cold water (or water from the cooked chickpeas), 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, a pinch of cumin (optional), salt to taste, paprika to garnish.

For Balkan tastes, hummus works in unexpectedly familiar directions. It's served on the table as a „starter" exactly the way kajmak or ajvar is - for wrapping in bread (pita here is being replaced with a homemade flatbread), for spoonful after spoonful with beer or dry wine. It's a dish that doesn't ask for decorum.

Variations? Roasted pepper (red hummus), beetroot (pink, with a slight earthy note), avocado (softer, stronger), jalapeño or harissa for heat. With beans or lentils instead of chickpeas. Coriander, mint, lemon zest - for freshness. One rule: keep good-quality tahini. That's the difference between a homemade hummus and the one you eat in some Skopje restaurant.