Windsor’s First Hummus Festival

By Joyce St. Antoine

A crowd of all ages enjoyed their taste of Windsor’s first Hummus Festival at Catholic Central High School.

On Sept. 23, the school’s lobby was filled with restaurant vendors, cooks and visitors. A variety of different people and restaurants took part in the event, coming together as one community. Music playing in the cafeteria was provided by the Light of East Ensemble.

“The hummus fest is a chance for everyone to get together and taste what is a lot of people’s favourite food: hummus. And the vendors get to compete for the best hummus at the festival,” said Jay Katz, executive director at Windsor Jewish Community Centre. “It’s also an opportunity for three communities that don’t often get a chance to celebrate together to have a celebration.”

The event is hosted by the Windsor Jewish Community Centre, the Windsor Islamic Association and the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board through Catholic Central.

Danielle Desjardins- Koloff is the principal at Catholic Central and said she is trying to bring in new windows of opportunities for events for the school community.

“It’s a celebration of a community of multiculturalism and Windsor’s unique diversity and food. It’s definitely a goal for us to bring the community into our school as much as possible,” said Desjardins- Koloff.

“We just had a parent barbeque where our school community ambassador reached out to our newcomer families to increase their involvement in the school, a school-wide Terry Fox walk on Thursday and an open house for community agencies on Oct. 11.”

In total, four restaurant vendors took part: Cedar Valley Selections, Eddy’s Mediterranean Bistro, Mazal Tov and Saint Basil’s Grill. All hummus recipes were original and creatively plated.

“We are located right across the street from the school, and we are like a family community with Catholic Central. I actually went to Catholic Central and graduated in 2010,” said Eddy Hammoud, owner of Eddy’s Mediterranean Bistro. “At the end of the day… It’s more about getting your name out into the community, supporting the community, especially Catholic Central, and bringing them more attention.”

Radio personality Dan MacDonald, Adriano Ciotloi of Windsor Eats and Salwa Najm from the Hummazing restaurant were all judges for the contest.

Cedar Valley Selections won for best traditional hummus recipe.

The money raised went towards the WECDSB, Windsor Jewish Community Centre and the Windsor Islamic Association.