While shopping at Whole Foods, we
came across a young gentleman handing out samplings of hummus. So, being the
good citizens that we are, we partook in the sampling as well. Truly delicious
hummus, in fact, some of the best we have ever tasted! Matt Parris' business, Roots food, is out
of Asheville, NC. We had the good fortune of being able to spend a few minutes
with him and discover more about the man producing this heavenly hummus
(he even agreed to an interview). Later that week we emailed him some
questions to answer. Here they are!
Tell us a bit about your background
on the “food scene”.
Growing up, my family always had a
garden and home cooked meals. Just being around real food and parents that
could cook set the standard for what I consider to be quality.
What inspired you to start your own
business?
I was tricked into it.
Your “flavors” of hummus really make
it stand out, how did you come up with such an interesting array of “flavors”?
Several of them are done by other
companies as well, so a few are pretty common. But the other ones are the result
of playing. That’s the part of cooking that I like the best; playing around
with an idea and seeing how it works. Your intuition usually has a pretty good
starting point, then you can tweak the results until it’s just
right. There are a few really interesting, unexpected flavors that will
come out soon.
Being from the Asheville area, I know
there are so many amazing things happening locally. What inspires you most?
ASAP (Appalachian
Sustainable Agriculture Project) is an amazing organization. The slow food
group here is really active.
But the biggest thing is the huge
number of people that love real food. Growing it. Cooking it. Coming together
around it just naturally builds community and fills that disconnect that is so
insidious in our culture.
I think you mentioned that you grow
some of the herbs and spices used in the hummus. Tell us about your ingredients
and their origin.
Hummus is a difficult thing to source
locally when you live in the Appalachians, but we still try. Lemons? No. We’ve
had some experiments with a couple farms trying to grow garbanzo beans, which
haven’t yielded great results. But what we can do is source a few things
locally when they’re in season. Garlic, spinach, red bells, jalapenos… There
are other products that Roots makes that utilize more local ingredients, but
for the hummus, we have to take baby steps.
What is your favorite flavor and how
do you like to serve it?
Chipotle is usually my favorite. I
say usually because I do like them all in different applications, but Chipotle
is my go-to. It’s an awesome sandwich spread. Or dipped with tortilla chips.
Or…make a soup, take it off the heat and stir in hummus (like you would with
cream) for a vegan way to make a creamy soup.
Thanks Matt!
Thanks Matt!
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| Our favorite too! |
