Amy Zitelman is the CEO of Philadelphia-based (and woman-owned) Soom Foods, the leading purveyor of tahini and tahini products in the American market, which she cofounded in 2013. Soom was named the best tahini according to industry experts by New York Magazine in 2019, and has been featured in the New York Times, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and other publications. She was named to Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” class of 2018.
“In the Zitelman family, working in food and restaurants was never meant for the next generation. Harry Zitelman, who owned the iconic mid-century D.C. restaurant Bassin’s told his son Rick: ‘I did not have a restaurant for 30 years so you could go to college and open a restaurant — absolutely not.’ But two generations later, all three of Rick’s daughters — Amy, Shelby, and Jackie — work in the industry as the team behind Soom Foods, a tahini company that supplies restaurants like the acclaimed Zahav Restaurant and home cooks across the country. Food is ‘kind of in our blood,’ explains Amy.”
Most people who know about tahini understand the sesame paste as simply one of the building blocks of hummus. But for Amy, the culinary potential of tahini goes far beyond hummus. She insists that you should use whatever high-quality tahini you like best in her recipes, adding, “My hope is that The Tahini Table will increase sales for all companies contributing to the growing appreciation of tahini. A rising tide lifts all boats.”
“Since antiquity, sesame has been an essential foodstuff in the Levant — the region that today includes Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories, and beyond. Originally prized for its oil, sesame was first referenced in cuneiform tablets found in the Fertile Crescent. Herodotus wrote about sesame crops on the shores of the Tigris and Euphrates 3,500 years ago. And a thirteenth-century Iraqi cookbook, Kitab al-Tabikh, is the first place where tahini itself is referenced as a culinary ingredient,” says author, food writer and recipe developer Adeena Sussman.
“In 2016, tahini was named a ‘cult condiment’ by The Kitchn. Stateside, Soom has played a central role in more spreading knowledge about tahini. At Soom, only high-quality Humera sesame seeds from Ethiopia are used, as is also true for other artisanal tahini companies such as Seed and Mill, who grind their sesame seeds onsite and sell tahini ice cream and Israeli-style halva candy in New York’s Chelsea Market.”
Tahini Carrot Cake
