Isn't it funny?
I love Chi Chi Beans (Chick Peas)...all ways, etc., but I do not like Humus! I don't know what it is, but DD Maria buys it and gets different flavored ones from the store, but I just can't dip it and eat it like that. Maybe if it were home made, and then chopped so that it has a little pieces of the pea bean, I may like it better?
What I do like, and it is the Easter Season that they are served...is the Lupini Beans.
They are a bean that is very bitter, and they are a flat bean with like a hole on the side.
They must be prepared and brined before eating; because they are a poison if not.
Italians eat them a lot, and there is a religious story that accompany's that particular bean.
So has it, that they were cursed because when trying to hide in the fields where they are grown, they make noise like a rattle, and they were a dead give away if you tried to hide and scurry through the fields. That is why they are so bitter.
We used to soak them in clear water for several days so that they were more palatable.
They have a tough skin on them, and we would just squeeze them holding the flat part, and aim the hole (We called it the belly button hole ) toward the mouth.
hahahahaha... Many times we would choke because it shot right into the wind pipe; or it got stuck in the throat.
They have a nutty taste (a little salty ) and they reminded me of a chestnut.