The Hamsa Brand

Downtown Las Vegas’s Hamsa brand turns up the heat with a squeezable harissa sauce | Eater Vegas

"Founded by Joanna Bensimon and chef Michael Vakneen after a home experiment of mixing a family-made harissa with ketchup, this Las Vegas–born condiment company turned a cherished Moroccan family recipe into a line of versatile, chef-quality Middle Eastern and North African sauces. Their first product, a Smoky Heat hot sauce and marinade, was developed to be squeezable, shelf-stable, and preservative-free while preserving a balanced smoky sweetness, earthiness, and moderate heat; the couple refined the recipe over nine months and collaborated with a university food venture center to solve safety and shelf-stability challenges. Early demand was strong (their initial ~350-bottle batch sold out), local chefs praised the restrained heat that complements rather than overpowers food, and the founders have since expanded the range with a heat-forward Spicy Hot, plans for a dry harissa blend and a chermoula, and matching dry mixes for each condiment. The brand emphasizes heritage, everyday versatility (eggs, dressings, hummus, soups, stews, and marinades for vegetables, seafood, meat, and poultry), and positioning as higher-end, chef-quality products while the founders balance rapid growth with family life and other jobs." - Emmy Kasten