Sean and Cathy Cummings
Listeners to the “Fired Up Kitchen” radio production which is aired on Sundays and is said to include much of the members of the emerging foodie scene in the Oklahoma City area, have often heard the hosts of that show, Sean and Cathy Cummings, who own and operate the adjoining Sean Cummings Irish Pub and Vito’s Ristorante on May Avenue respectively, reference the fact that they are natives of Kansas City, Missouri, and that both of their families were in the restaurant business there. More recently, Sean Cummings has told of how his sister and brother in law operate a successful business making hummus in a variety of flavors that is sold there, and in response to a request from a listener who has also been a guest on their show, he brought back from Kansas City several containers filled with them. His sister, Jean Cummings, and her husband, Mohamed Hamid, who is a native of Egypt, had operated a successful Kansas City restaurant that was destroyed in a fire, and that after that misfortune they started a new business packaging and selling the hummus that had formerly been offered at their eatery. That proved to be a wise decision, and their business, which is modestly known as “Mo’s World’s Greatest Hummus,” has prospered, and their hummus is in great demand in the Kansas City area and comes in seven flavors that include Original, Indian Curry, Black Olive, Cucumber, Roasted Red Pepper, Spicy Pepper, and Sun-Dried Tomato, and it is dispensed in containers that indicate that it is handmade by Mo, and is gluten-free and that it “Is the world’s greatest hummus.” And in a recent edition of their show, the Cummings and several of their guests sampled that hummus by dipping pita bread and chips into it and then devoured them, and their enthusiasm for its flavorful and tangy taste was shared with their radio audience. Both Cummings told of how they traditionally add ingredients to hummus and other concoctions that they receive from others, which is perhaps not surprising since they both are chefs as well as restaurateurs, and told of how feta cheese is a product that they often place in hummus and salsa that others have prepared for them, and suggest that others should do so as well. The website and Facebook Page maintained by the company indicate that it is available throughout the greater Kansas City area in Missouri and that expansions into other areas is contemplated as well. Unlike the hummus that is produced in the Oklahoma City area, the Kansas City samples that Sean Cummings brought with him do not have a relatively soft texture and its overall flavor does not indicate the presence of much olive oil, which seems to be a key component of the local variety. Histories of African American music in the Oklahoma City area document the influence that Kansas City musicians had on that local art form, and it may be possible that in time the version of hummus prepared there will influence how that concoction is prepared here.
Against the Grain 