An Underground Hummus Business Grows in Berlin
Image by Robyn Lee
This week we bring you two stories about hummus around the globe. Tell us about your favorite hummus in the comments.
In just over a year, Ze’ev Avrahami, an Israeli reporter living in Berlin, turned a passionate quest for the perfect hummus into a thriving underground food business. This month, he’ll open Sababa, an Israeli bistro in the ‘It’ German capital — Berlin. “My mother taught me to love our Jewish Oriental food. She’s quite happy about my new career,” Avrahami told us.
Growing up in Tel Aviv where hummus is a 24/7 nosh and a must-have in every fridge, Avrahami felt deprived when he moved to Berlin in 2007 with Kirsten, his journalist wife. “I had trouble finding good food here in town, well let’s say the kind of food I like.”
Avrahami remembers what triggered his personal quest. “The urge for good hummus became so unbearable that a couple of friends would take off for Berlin’s little Lebanon. It was an okay hummus, but it wasn’t not worth the ninety minutes of travel time, nor the looks we got [as we chatted in Hebrew] when one of the owners and his patrons realized where we are from.”
Unnerved after one such trip, Avrahami decided to try his hand working with the basic ingredients of hummus — dried chick peas (to be soaked, cooked and mashed) and tahini (sesame paste), all of which can be found locally. Between assignments, and being a stay-at-home dad to his toddler Maya, he’d play with proportions, taste and texture.
A simple dish indeed but what makes it so special? “I don’t know what I like about my hummus. It’s not about the ingredients, “writes Avrahami in an email, “everyone can get it from the Internet. It just makes me feel comfortable, at home.” Nevertheless, it took some sixty trials-and-errors before that ‘eureka’ moment when the last batch tasted just right. Even little Maya asked for a second helping.
Later, an informal tasting took place around Kirsten and Ze’ev’s table in the tony neighborhood of Mitte (formerly in East Berlin). Among the friends that evening was a Berlin restaurateur. “I’ll put your hummus on the menu,” he announced as he rose to leave.
That first order turned almost viral with the help of last summer’s World Cup, as that restaurateur became caterer to home-bound and partying Berliners watching the games on TV. To keep up with demand, Avrahami would churn out some twenty pounds of hummus daily in the kitchen of the couple’s apartment.
Shortly thereafter, a local supermarket chain got on the hummus bandwagon, as did Liebermanns’ Restaurant Café at the Jewish Museum. When a group of Israelis in Berlin mentioned the new entrepreneur on Facebook, some four dozen orders landed in Avrahami’s email.
At last, two months ago, the rookie chef was able to move to a professional kitchen where he obtained kosher certification from an Orthodox heksher.
Riding the momentum of innovation, Avrahami, 42, sought out a locale close to his Mitte home suitable for a casual Israeli bistro to be named Sababa — pronounced: sah ‘bah ‘buh — Hebrew slang for cool or awesome. Here, in addition to his vaunted hummus, he’ll feature a line of salads based on his mother’s recipes. They include bademjon, a Persian eggplant and tomato salad, a carrot salad of Moroccan origin, and babaganoush. One of the few hot dishes, served at dinner only will be shukshuka, a traditional blend of eggs, Middle Eastern spices and fresh tomatoes.
Avrahami’s mother lives in Israel but she’ll fly to Berlin for Sababa’s opening, an occasion to demonstrate in-house some of her favorite Persian recipes. “I’ll pick a different one for the daily special,” her son vows.
With its Mediterranean culinary traditions, Sababa should appeal to Berliners, who increasingly seek out lighter food options, away from meat and potatoes. “Germans have long known about Jewish food,” says Avrahami, “as part of the Eastern European tradition. Israeli cuisine is different — we’re part of an Oriental culture with its own customs, rituals and, of course, its own food preparations transmitted from one generation to another.” As for the growing number of Israeli Berliners (some 10,000 according to an unofficial figure), this new hummus haven might help relieve a spell of homesickness.
“It’s very special for me to bring the message of hummus, it’s a food of peace and love,” muses Avrahami. “It is particularly important for me [as a Jew] to bring it to Berlin of all places.”
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