On our first trip to Portugal, my father and I were meandering the streets of Lisbon when we stumbled upon Pois, Café, a bustling, slightly hipsterish restaurant that looked like the perfect place to refuel for our sightseeing. I ordered a Middle Eastern-inspired platter with carrot and cucumber salads, meatballs, fresh greens, roasted tomatoes, and an intriguing hummus which had a particular flavor I had never picked up on in hummus before. It took me a moment to figure out that the secret ingredient must be sesame oil, which made so much sense to me when I thought about how tahini-- ground sesame seeds-- is a standard ingredient in most hummus recipes.
Of all the wonderful pastries and luscious sheep cheeses and lovely pork dishes I ate on that trip, the hummus was the one thing I couldn't stop thinking about, so naturally I tried to replicate it as soon as I got home. There isn't a lot of sesame oil in the recipe, but it is one of those ingredients that can easily get out of hand, becoming bitter and unpleasant, so I aimed to use just enough to be interesting but not overpowering.
The cilantro salsa was born from a surplus of cilantro and is one of my favorite ways to use dried aleppo peppers, which are more flavorful than hot. I find that cayenne powder varies so much in intensity that I recommend starting with just a pinch and adding more to taste. —vvvanessa
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