Instant Fresh Hummus Is Now Only A Push Of A Button Away

Ever had a strong craving for hummus but not inclined to go through the trouble of making it yourself? Or maybe you just can’t find a brand you like in the supermarket.

With the rising popularity of plant-based foods comes new technology that could make fresh hummus available at office kitchens near you… that is, if you work in Israel.

Humix, an instant hummus-making machine, is to be marketed across Israel in coming months by food giant Strauss Group, which also serves up very popular ready-made hummus brands.

Humix is designed to create a restaurant-level spread by combining cooked, ground and seasoned chickpea mash with raw tahini paste at the push of a button, eliminating the need for preservatives or heavy machinery. It even lets particular hummus aficionados select their golden chickpea-to-tahini ratio for each serving.

The machine is aimed at cafés, restaurants, hotels and office canteens that wish to serve hummus without the messy process of actually making it, according to the company.

Humix is also unique in that apparently it can blend the two required ingredients in a perfect manner using a biodegradable mixing element that requires replacing every day or two. This eliminates the need to clean the machine — no mean feat, as those of you who ever tried cleaning an old crusty pot of hummus may recall.

“As experts on hummus with a passion for innovation, we decided to invest in answering the need for fresh, preservative-free hummus while solving significant challenges in terms of quality and safety in manufacturing outside of a food plant,” said Dagan Eshel, vice president, innovation, at Strauss Group.

“Plant-based food in general, and hummus in particular, are a good nutritional alternative in replacing animal protein, which is a growing trend. At the same time, we’re also seeing a growing demand for ready-made food with minimal processing, minimal ingredients and with an emphasis on familiar ingredients,” Eshel said. “The hummus that we’re offering is made only of cooked, seasoned chickpea paste and tahini.

“This enables us to produce a product that is as similar as possible in terms of flavor and texture to fresh, homemade hummus, without all the work involved in making it at home,” Eshel said.

The origins of hummus date back to the 13th century, according to the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, with the earliest known written recipes for a dish resembling “hummus bi tahina” recorded in cookbooks written in Cairo.

Hummus is widely eaten in the Middle East as a dip for bread and vegetables. Chickpeas, the main ingredient, are also mashed, cooked and formed into small flat cakes or balls and fried for falafel.

Produced in association with Israel21C.