Is the Zahav supermarket hummus as good as the original? We tried it.

Zahav means “gold” in Hebrew. There’s also treasure to be won for the victors of the North American hummus market, which is currently estimated at $1.33 billion. So when Philadelphia’s Zahav spilled the chickpeas that it was launching a supermarket version of its hummus, a signature at the James Beard-winning restaurant in Society Hill, hummus lovers worldwide snapped to attention.

Could chef Michael Solomonov and partner Steve Cook translate the seductive silkiness of the chickpea dip that has launched many a memorable meal at Zahav (not to mention their Laser Wolf, Dizengoff, and Goldie) into a refrigerated plastic tub at Whole Foods? I’ve seen too many famous restaurant specialties ruined en route to mass-market through a co-packer’s plant not to be skeptical.

The answer here is yes: they’ve created perhaps the best hummus I’ve ever tasted from supermarket shelves, with the kind of must-dip (again and again) magnetic powers that the restaurant version delivers.Although the hummus isn’t cheap. At $7.99 for a 10 oz. tub, it’s at least $3 more per container than competitors like Sabra, Esti, and Wakim’s.

That’s because Zahav uses a significant amount more tahini, the roasted sesame paste sourced from Philly-based Soom Foods that lends an extra-luxurious mouthfeel and nutty savor that other producers compensate for with bland added oils. I could taste the textural difference, as well as a more natural and balanced seasoning in side-by-side comparisons with those other producers (though I also enjoyed the homier, coarse texture of the hummus from Bristol-based Wakims.)

But how does Zahav’s market version compare to the original? At the restaurant, finished batches are never refrigerated before they’re served, which captures the seductiveness of the dip at its peak moment of creation. At room temperature, however, the market version comes close, with lovely cumin notes hovering in the forefront. The primary difference is the more prominent presence of lemon, necessary to stabilize the product for market shelves, which also creates a slightly thinner texture. But the overall product was still in perfect balance. And compared to its competitors, the hummus market clearly now has a new gold standard.

— Craig LaBan

Zahav hummus, $7.99 per 10 oz. tub, carried exclusively at select Whole Foods Markets from Virginia to Maine.