Selby Davis, a female entrepreneur, chef on and off for 40 years, mother of two grown sons, and owner of a Havanese named Desi Arnaz, moved to Ithaca 2 years ago and loved it! Ithaca has always been a haven for “health food”, and she knew it was the perfect spot to be!
In September of 2017, she was on vacation with her family, and some friends brought dinner one night, including an appetizer. As they gathered for drinks and snacks, she started dunking veggies and bread cubes into olive oil and then into the chunky, nutty mixture they had made. WOWOWWOWOWOW!!! She could barely finish her bite before spurting out, “WHAT IS THIS?????” Her friend told us that when he was working in northern Africa, he had discovered it. She could not get enough of it! Nutty, crunchy, toasty, salty, peppery, Middle-Eastern/Moroccan-ish, with a very slight something sweet…
Needless to say, that was IT! As she knew it was already available on the market, she asked whether they’d mind if she started producing her own version and selling it. They said they might start making it someday, but of course she could do her thing…And that’s how it started!