MADE HERE Yalla Hummus

Imagine a tart, earthy flavor, a little bit sweet and mildly nutty. Add a creamy texture and combination of all-natural healthy ingredients made and mixed on-site, and it describes Yalla Hummus. &emsp;&emsp;Hummus, a staple of many Middle Eastern countries, is well-liked in the United States, including in nearby Brattleboro, Vermont, where Zohar Arama makes his product with a blend of his own signature spices and flavors. &emsp;&emsp;Arama can distinguish Israeli hummus by its creaminess, and he focuses on making his in that traditional style. &emsp;&emsp;An Israeli-born child of a Greek-Yemeni household, he was influenced by his mother, who brought the family to the table to enjoy delicious meals she prepared, a source of her joy and way of showing love. &emsp;&emsp;"It's a calling when you make food, like my mother. You don't make it for yourself, you make it for others, and they show appreciation," he explains. &emsp;&emsp;Arama, the owner of Yalla Restaurant on Main Street in Brattleboro, is also the creator of Yalla Hummus, which is packaged at the Main Street facility and available to buy at about 25 area markets, including the Brattleboro, Monadnock, Putney, and Lebanon Food Co-ops. He says his team produces thousands of 12-ounce containers per week to distribute to stores. &emsp;&emsp;"Yalla means 'Come on, let's go! Vamos!'" Arama says, relating this to their goal of bridging communities and cultures with the love and connection remembered from childhood family meals. &emsp;&emsp;Jean Chaine, a team member at Yalla, says one restaurant customer told him he had not tasted hummus that good since he was in Tel Aviv. &emsp;&emsp;"Customers tell us it's the best ever; it's addictive," Arama says. &emsp;&emsp;The quality of the hummus seems to sell itself; its popularity keeps growing and spreading. &emsp;&emsp;The hummus comes in four flavor varieties: plain, eggplant, skhug, and olive, with plain being the biggest seller. Arama says the eggplant and skhug are vying for second place in popularity. He describes their homemade skhug as a blend of ingredients like spicy cilantro, hot peppers, cumin, cardamom, and garlic, based on a recipe passed on by his grandfather from Yemen. &emsp;&emsp;"It's become quite popular, another flavor catching up in the United States," Arama says of skhug. &emsp;&emsp;He says hummus is the word for chickpeas in Hebrew. While he lived in Israel, he sampled varieties made by different restaurants and people and found one that he especially liked. Then he began to experiment with making one of his own, changing amounts and certain ingredients until he was satisfied. &emsp;&emsp;"We don't use garlic; it's too overpowering," he notes. Chickpeas are the main ingredient, while navy beans or white beans bring another layer or depth. Yet Tahini is the most important and most expensive ingredient, as the amount used affects the hummus the most, he explains, and they don't skimp on it. Citric acid adds a lemony flavor and is a natural preservative used in place of artificial ones. &emsp;&emsp;Large-scale hummus-making and processing happen at the restaurant on the three days Yalla is closed. The chickpeas are pressure-cooked, reducing the cooking time, thus producing a better nutritional value than slow cooking would, Arama says, adding that it also helps eliminate bacteria. &emsp;&emsp;"The problem with protein is that it can spoil very fast, so we take processing seriously," says Arama, describing the removal of oxygen in the sealing process. It is part of the way they can offer a product that is naturally made fresh, with citric acid adding a little to its shelf life, which he estimates is a week and a half. &emsp;&emsp;Arama's Brattleboro area beginnings date back to 2015 when he was a home caterer, cooking from his kitchen in West Townshend, Vermont. Soon, he sold his hummus and pita at a community market, later adding foods like falafel to menus at farmers' markets. &emsp;&emsp;He approached the Brattleboro Food Co-op about selling there — despite hearing that he might have difficulty convincing them to carry a new product. So, he left them a sample, and they liked it so much that they responded, asking him to supply it for them. &emsp;&emsp;"I've eaten hummus in Israel and Turkey. Yalla hummus is some of the best in the world," notes Leah F. of Jamaica plains, Massachusetts, in a Yelp review. &emsp;&emsp;In another Yelp review, Adam L. of Greenfield, Massachusetts agrees, calling it "the best pita and hummus I've ever had." &emsp;&emsp;For more information visit yallavermont.com or their Facebook page.