Chickpea heaven at The Hummus Guys

Photo by Berfin Karaman. The Hummus Guys offer 13 kinds of natural, non-artificially flavoured hummus. Get it in their Hohenstaufenstraße store or at various farmers’ markets across the city.

Berlin is awash with hummus, but for the keener connaisseur looking to steer clear of industrially produced varieties, the search for a tasty all-natural alternative is surprisingly difficult. That was the inspiration for Frank Büchin, one half of The Hummus Guys, to start producing it himself. “We love hummus but were sick of the industrially produced crap,” Büchin sums up standing in the 15 seats small, rustically styled Schöneberg shop he and his wife Martina opened two months ago. The pair, both in their 50s, cultivated their love of chickpeas while on a four-month sabbatical from their careers in advertising. It soon turned into a food adventure taking them across the US, Australia and New Zealand learning what can be achieved with the humble legume. Back home, the result (after six months trial and error in Büchin’s private kitchen) is 13 kinds of natural, non-artificially flavoured hummus, which they offer in their Hohenstaufenstraße store and at various farmers’ markets across the city. Their delightful combinations like fragrant black Kalamata olive hummus infused with lightly acidic balsamic vinegar and sweet, caramelized onion, or a creamy artichoke and fresh spinach hummus (both 200g, €4), are served with hot, crispy pita bread which is delivered to The Hummus Guys daily. Martina also turns the bread into house-made pita chips in flavours like whole wheat, rosemary and sea salt (150g, €3)! The Büchins locally source their ingredients as far as possible, but admittedly the chickpeas themselves are canned: “we are simply not able to soak and rinse all 25kg of chickpeas that we use daily, my back won’t allow that anymore.” Aside from hummus, The Hummus Guys offer a daily soup option, like hearty parsnip and potato soup (with grilled pita €5.50), as well as rye bread hummus Stullen (€3.80) and pita sandwiches (€4) that come with a hummus of choice, salad and, as an optional extra on the otherwise vegan menu, crumbled feta (€0.50). With their creative, additive-free selection, we’re willing to overlook the canned chickpeas. This hummus is hard to beat!