A 26-year-old trainee chef tasted victory in the second annual HummusFest staged by the Jewish Community Centre at Hampstead Town Hall on Sunday.

Tal Kedmy was one of 20 individuals and teams given 45 minutes to showcase their hummus-making skills using identical ingredients including chickpeas, tahina, parsley and olive oil.

Working solo, Mr Kedmy, who is studying at a central London catering college, rustled up an Iraqi hummus — “my Iraqi grandparents were always serving me hummus as a boy”. It particularly impressed the judging panel of Ronen Givon, joint owner of the Hummus Bros restaurants in Holborn and Soho, his brother Noam and mother Hannah.
“Outstanding in its simplicity,” gushed Ronen Givon. “It was light, with a hint of spice just to give it some sharpness.”

Indeed, the overall standard had been “excellent, an improvement on last year”.

The winning recipe will be added to the Hummus Bros menu for a week, with £1 from each portion ordered donated to Cancer Research.
Rachel Narens of the JCC said “it was wonderful to see members of the community having fun making a dish we all celebrate.”