Across Middle Eastern cultures, the hamsa—a stylized hand amulet—represents protection, blessings and good luck. So when Las Vegas married couple Michael Vakneen and Joanna Bensimon decided to start a food company representing their North African heritage, the happy symbol was a natural choice for the name.
Thus the Hamsa Brand was born with dual citizenship: a Downtown Las Vegas home base and a global soul. Its stated mission: to “share an exotic pantry of kitchen staples embodying centuries of culture sweeping North Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean regions.”
No small task. Their first step on such a grand culinary journey is the debut of a squeezable harissa hot sauce and marinade ($12). The small-batch sauce is made by fermenting a blend of dried chili peppers, red jalapeño, garlic and spices to create a “smoky heat.” The fermentation process also means it contains healthy probiotics.
Vakneen, who also created Pop Up Pizza at the Plaza, says preparing harissa sauce is generally a labor-intensive process that involves mixing a paste from a metal tube with cold water, olive oil and spices. The innovation of selling it ready-to-eat was Bensimon’s idea.
“We wanted to take really all of that labor out of it,” Vakneen says, “and [provide] a product that is much more versatile.” He says the sauce can be used for braising meat, in soup, when grilling fish or even as a condiment.
Next up, the two plan to make a spicier version of the harissa, followed by a green sauce called a chermoula. They also look forward to curating handcrafted spice blends. For their olive oils, they plan to source from a fourth-generation olive grower near Marrakech. “[It] will give us the opportunity to show [Americans] that the North African olive oils are actually as good as any European olive oil,” Vakneen says.
The company is now looking for a building Downtown, where it will manufacture its products. Vakneen says he loves the Downtown culinary community and would product-test his sauces with all of his local chef friends. Thehamsabrand.com.The feeling’s mutual, with Chef Sheridan Su of Every Grain callingthe harissa “complex with a great flavor profile—balanced with smoke and spice.”
