Hummus is very tasty with tahini made straight from sesame seeds rather than pre-made. I suspect the reason most recipes say 'tahini' rather than 'sesame seeds' is that when you toast the little sods in a little oil they develop a passionate desire to stick to everything, rivalled only by polystyrene beanbag beans. Which is fine if you don't mind licking sesame seeds off your pans (and I don't) but would probably really annoy some people.
*what a treasure trove that place is, the kind of small shop where you can buy road salt, lemons, dog toys, chickpeas, beer, bacon AND deeny boppers.

Comments
I don't like salt (except in bacon and salt and vinegar crisps) and LOVE garlic, so should I ever make hummus, I will UTTERLY SPURN your sage advice. :-D
(Somehow managed to press "post comment" while aiming for the q. Not quite sure how that happened.)
Edited at 2013-04-17 21:27 (UTC)
I like garlic a lot, but as a flavoring rather than raw by the clove. I'll cheerfully eat garlic bread with lots of garlic, but thinking about it, that would have a saltiness from the butter and the bread. I don't think I'd like it as much with unsalted butter.
I managed to spill some all over the place just last night.
My partner makes bread and puts a solid layer of sesame seeds on top of his regular wholemeal loaves. Needless to say, I find sesame seeds everywhere: all over the house, the car, and at work. (I just eat them now, unless they're somewhere really grungy. Even one little seed has amazing flavour!)