Who’s up for some amazing dips this Super Bowl? And not just any kind of dips, but ones that are exciting, vibrant, and ripe with cultural discoveries. I am talking about toom/toum, the Lebanese garlic dip which is currently taking America by storm – a foodie storm, that is 🙂
On Super Bowl Sunday we usually eat salads, dips and charcuterie boards, in various combinations for balance and aesthetic appeal. Recipes I posted in previous years have included vegan beetroot salad, eggplant and pepper dip, oyster mushroom pasta salad, and quinoa, sweetcorn and spinach patties. This year, in addition to these delightful family favorites, I will be serving Toom‘s Lebanese garlic dips. The company has recently sent me three of its dips to test and to review. Being the cultural explorer that I am, I said yes, of course 😉
I loved doing the research for my post, and I am grateful to Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen for the wealth of authoritative information I found on their blog. According to Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen, toom/toum “was traditionally made using a pestle and mortar. Our mothers, bless their hearts, would first add the freshly peeled garlic cloves and salt to the pestle and hammer it away until it’s completely crushed. Then, they would add a tiny bit of olive oil (1/2 teaspoon) and hammer away for a minute or so, and then repeat this step for perhaps 30-40 minutes until the oil has been used, while adding a few drops of lemon juice throughout. Another way to do it is to wait on adding the lemon juice until the end. Both ways work.”
These days, food processors have largely taken the place of pestle and mortar, and toom/toum is made like you would usually make mayo. You achieve a creamy consistency by pouring the oil into the food processor very slowly – so a lot of patience is required, otherwise the dip will split. A good quality toum “has a white, creamy texture similar to that of mayo, sour cream or labneh” (Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen), and achieving this texture takes time. But, what if you don’t have time? This is when Toom enters the arena 🙂
Toom Original, Pesto and Buffalo
Toom is a Lebanese American small family businesses whose founder and CEO Matt Joyce has been working for years to perfect “his family’s much-loved garlic dip recipe. A recipe that’s been uncompromised and not-settled-for since its early days of being enjoyed around the Joyce family kitchen table right up to the tub you hold in your hand.”
The company makes 4 varieties of toom (Original, Pesto, Buffalo and Chipotle Honey) using garlic from California. Toom is certified gluten and dairy-free and has no artificial preservatives.
Toom Pesto, my favorite
Toom’s “Fantastic Four” of simple ingredients – garlic, oil, lemon juice, salt – is used to create a dip that’s robust, clean tasting, and utterly delicious. I was only fitting for me to pair these dips with an abundance of organic veggies and wholesome award-winning nongmo chips (sweet potatoes, quinoa and lentil – yum yum!)
Toom garlic dips are available on Amazon Prime Now in the Midwest (MN, IL, WI, MI, IA, IN, NE, MO), and I encourage you to give them a try. Sporting flavorful convenience and no artificial “nasties,” these dips are sure to satisfy your guests, be they purveyors of Italian taste (for whom the pesto variety is perfect) or spice aficionados (I’m looking at you, buffalo toom!) While I have a soft spot for the ever-so floral and aromatic pesto toom, I think they all are perfect additions to your Super Bowl spread.
Which variety would you try first? Let me know in the comments 🙂
*Disclaimer: While I received complimentary products to facilitate this review, all opinions expressed here are my own.
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