Palestinian-American stand-up comedian Mo Amer told Australian television viewers the hummus he ate in Auckland was one of the smoothest he'd eaten.
Palestinian-American stand-up comedian Mo Amer told Australian television viewers the hummus he ate in Auckland was one of the smoothest he'd eaten.
Mo Amer praised Gemmayze St’s hummus as “one of the smoothest” he’s ever had.
Amer’s attempt to take the hummus to Melbourne failed due to airport security restrictions.
Chef Samir Allen’s hummus, praised for its smooth texture, has become a commercial success in Auckland.
Chickpeas or a spreadable paste?
Either way, a jar of hummus from an Auckland restaurant has won the highest possible praise from an international comedic connoisseur – even if he couldn’t get it on to the next leg of his tour.
Mo Amer, Palestinian-American stand-up comedian and Netflix televisionstar, claims he “failed miserably” to take a gifted jar of Gemmayze St hummus on tour to Melbourne.
“I was actually very upset,” Amer told Australia’s The Project. “It’s literally one of the smoothest hummuses that I’ve ever had in my life and they confiscated it at security.”
Palestinian-American stand-up comedian Mo Amer told Australian television viewers the hummus he ate in Auckland was one of the smoothest he'd eaten.
It’s unclear exactly where the incident occurred, but, according to New Zealand’s Aviation Security Service website, travellers cannot carry more than 100ml of any liquids, aerosols and gels. Spreadable foods are among the products that can be affected by the restrictions.
“I spent 15 minutes debating that this is chickpeas and not a spreadable paste. That there is a big yet subtle difference ... I failed miserably,” Amer told The Project. “But not before I opened it and grabbed a little pinkie jab and put it in my mouth!”
In his two-season Netflix comedy-drama series, Mo, (based loosely on his life as the descendant of Palestinian refugees living in Texas) the taste, texture and etiquette of the chickpea-based dish is frequently referenced.
“There’s obviously hummus etiquette that people are unaware of,” Amer said on Australian television. “First of all most hummus that you see on the streets now is not actually hummus, it’s very lumpy and it’s not proper. Everybody’s dipping carrots and celery, which is absurd. Don’t do this ... It’s really just about giving due to where the food has actually come from and tipping the hat to the culture.”
Gemmayze Street chef and owner Samir Allen adds roasted garlic to his highly praised hummus. Photo / Babiche Martens
Chef Samir Allen began making the product commercially in late 2023, sending Auckland bakery Daily Bread 40 jars to sell, before heading on a week’s holiday with his wife, Saru.
“We got to the airport and we’d already had an email saying ‘We’ve sold out’. The guys at work got some more jars ready and sent them out, and that happened two or three times that week.”
Gemmayze Street's famous hummus.
Orders from gourmet supermarket Farro followed. This week, Allen says Gemmayze Street will process around 500 jars – or roughly 130kg – of the hummus.
“When we first opened the restaurant, all my family were like ‘You’ve got to sell your hummus, get it in the supermarkets’. And I was ‘No, I’m a chef, I cook for people on a plate and they come into the restaurant’. I was young and arrogant, I guess.”
Samir says while many of the restaurant dishes draw on family recipes from his own Lebanese heritage, the hummus comes from more of an innate understanding.
“That’s just the way hummus is in Lebanon. Very smooth, very creamy. It’s not the hummus that I guess anyone from here grew up with, which is more chunky and has more of a loose texture.”
Allen says his entire family had input into the final product.
“All my aunties and uncles and my nanna and my jiddi, everybody was tasting it and trialling it – more lemon, more tahini, less this, less that. And it’s still quite different because we put in roasted garlic and normally you just have raw garlic.”
Allen binge-watched Mo – credited by US media as the first American television series to fully focus on a family of Palestinian protagonists – with his cousins. When they found out the comedian was coming to Auckland, a family outing was booked.
“It’s quite a big deal for that show to have been on Netflix,” says Allen. “We sort of understood the relationships ... the culture ...
“And we kind of had a joke – should we take him some hummus? I said ‘You can’t draw attention to it or me’. I guess, you know, we’re very proud of our culture and because he’s so cool.”
Allen says it was his “much braver” cousin who yelled “We’ve got a present for you” – ultimately resulting in a meet-and-greet with Amer.
“We’re stoked he enjoyed it,” says Allen. “Shout-out to having family that is down to hustle for you when you’re too shy.”
