By Amber Love Bond Contributor James Beard Award
Zahav Hummus is now available at Target
Michael Persico
You haven鈥檛 had hummus until you鈥檝e had it from Zahav, or one of the many restaurants founded by James Beard Award-winning Philadelphia-based restaurateur duo: Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook.
Their tehina-forward hummus made with just six simple ingredients and is known for being ultra creamy and flavorful. It鈥檚 a staple across their CookNSolo restaurant group which includes Zahav, Dizengoff, Laser Wolf, K鈥橣ar, Aviv, Goldie, and Jaffa Bar.
Nearly 18 months ago, they founded Zahav Foods with one very important SKU 鈥 Zahav restaurant recipe hummus. In January 2024, it debuted exclusively in Whole Foods, and now it鈥檚 expanded to the refrigerated section of almost 500 Target stores across twenty states along the east coast, including those in the Pennsylvania/Mid-Atlantic, New York and New Jersey, New England, DC, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida regions.
Steve Cook and Michael Solomonov
Liz Wissmann
Zahav Hummus is the first grocery aisle hummus with tehina as the #1 ingredient. Most brands feature chickpeas as the primary ingredient, but keeping true to the original recipe, tehina remains the star of Zahav Hummus. In fact, this hummus contains more than four times the amount of tehina as other brands.
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鈥淐ompromising was never an option,鈥 says Cook. 鈥淵ou know it was either, we could do it or we couldn鈥檛 do it.鈥 The duo was committed to keeping their store-bought version as close to the restaurant recipe as possible.
Made using the Zahav restaurant recipe
Michael Persico
It took a full year to create the ideal, supermarket-ready version of their flagship dish that matched the viscosity and other-worldly creaminess that has brought diners from all over the world to Philadelphia.
鈥淎t first we got some push back, because it wasn鈥檛 something anyone had done before and it was going to be more expensive to make,鈥 explains Cook. 鈥淏ut once our manufacturing partners tested and tasted it, they completely understood what we were trying to accomplish.鈥
It was all about finding the right team to understand their vision and commitment to producing a premium shelf-stable hummus with zero additives. Wanting to make sure the texture was just right, they were fortunate enough to work with the same Philadelphia-founded tehina company, Soom Foods, they鈥檝e worked with for the last 16 years. The fact that they were successful in using Soom was a huge comfort in this moment of unique risk.
鈥淎 lot of it was trying to figure out how to speak the same language as the manufacturer,鈥 says Cook. 鈥淲e were persistent and we have great partners that helped us get it as close to the restaurant recipe as possible.鈥 The only difference 鈥 a bit more lemon juice. 鈥淚t helps stabilize the pH needed to make it safe to have on the shelves,鈥 explains Solomonov.
Made with just tehina, chickpeas, lemon juice, salt, cumin and garlic, it鈥檚 truly the mother sauce found across the kitchens created from Solomonov and Cook鈥檚 now two decades of business partnership.
Currently available at Whole Foods and Target locations around the country, the team hopes to expand to other retailers in the future. 鈥淲e want to be very thoughtful and deliberate in any moves we make,鈥 says Cook. 鈥淵ou hear all about people expanding too quickly in this field and that鈥檚 something we want to avoid. Right now, Target and Whole Foods are awesome places to be and we鈥檙e really happy about that.鈥
Expanding isn鈥檛 the only thing Zahav Foods is working on. They have a labneh in the works, plus a variety of toppings for the OG hummus. 鈥淚n some ways it鈥檚 been harder to create the toppings than it was the original product,鈥 says Solomonov, who shares that it鈥檚 very much a labor of love.
While you鈥檒l find the Zahav Foods hummus in the refrigerator section of the store, Cook says it鈥檚 actually more authentic to let it come to room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes. 鈥淚n America, everyone is so used to refrigerated, cold products, but in Israel and other places where hummus is a big part of the culture, it鈥檚 never really refrigerated, so letting it warm up a bit is encouraged,鈥 shares Cook.
The extra-creamy restaurant recipe Zahav Hummus retails in a 10 ounce package for $7.99. Ready to get your hummus on? Find it in a location near you.
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