We don't take lunch very seriously any more, do we? A friend, currently living on the Continent, did some business in Lyon recently, and as soon as the morning's work was concluded, found himself being barraged by questions: "Do you like good beef? Do you like game? Would you like to try some regional cooking?"All the while phone calls were being made to restaurants, to see what they were offering. My friend was then taken off to a restaurant, and brought straight to the kitchen, where a huge succession of dishes was steadily prepared for him to sample by the chefs, who seemed to work for the love of it all, rather than for mere money. "What a change from my normal snack lunch!" he wrote.But, in this part of the world, the snack lunch is the norm for us all, and as such we should take care with it, for if we don't have the time for a feast, we should still try to make our repast a little special.One of the nicest special treats is well-made hummus, served with warmed pitta bread, and perhaps a little salad, and maybe a glass of wine. The Ivy Restaurant's recipe for hummus is one of the nicest I have ever come across. They serve it as a first course, accompanied by the chickpea relish featured on these pages two weeks ago, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, some freshly picked coriander and Lebanese flat bread, or pitta.Hummus240g best-quality chick-peas, soaked for 24 hours and cooked until soft, or 700g canned chickpeas, washed well8 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly choppedJuice of 2-3 medium lemons100 ml extra-virgin olive oil100 ml vegetable oil10 ml light sesame oilSalt and freshly ground black pepper Put the chick-peas in a pan with the garlic cloves and about 100 ml water, cover and reheat the peas slowly for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove them from the heat and cool them a little.A good-quality jug liquidiser produces the best hummus - otherwise, use a food processor. Spoon half the chick-peas into the blender or processor with half the cooking liquid and process at a high speed, stopping the machine occasionally to stir the mix and scrape the sides of the container. When the chick-peas are fairly well blended, leave the machine running and pour in half the lemon juice. Mix the three oils, then slowly add half to the chick-pea mixture. Stop the machine every so often to scrape the sides of the jug. The hummus should be of a thick pouring consistency when it's still warm from the machine. Transfer into a bowl, season to taste and add a little more lemon juice if necessary. Repeat with the other half of the chick-peas. Leave in a covered bowl at room temperature until required.