Tahini

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Tahini is a paste of ground sesame seeds, and sesame shows up in one of the oldest records of food culture. A cuneiform document written 4,000 years ago describes a custom of serving the gods sesame wine. The paste itself is a later story, but it grew from that same seed. Today tahini is a Middle Eastern condiment, a seed butter that people dip, drizzle, spread and sweeten. How did a seed once served to the gods become the base of sauces and sweets? What separates a pale, mild jar from a dark, bitter one? And why has a jar of ground seeds ended up in arguments over national identity?

  9111521

• 2. Names and Roots

  ›

  By the late 1930s, the word tahini had appeared in English. Earlier English-language sources call the food sesame butter or sesame seed butter. The word comes from a colloquial Levantine Arabic pronunciation of ṭaḥīna, or more accurately ṭaḥīniyya. English tahina and Hebrew ṭḥina come from the same form. Beneath it lies the Classical Arabic root Ṭ-Ḥ-N. As a verb, ṭaḥana means to grind, and the same root gives ṭaḥīn, which means flour in some dialects.

  About 3,500 years ago, according to the historian Herodotus, people cultivated sesame in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq. There it served mainly as a source of oil.

  The 10th-century Arabic cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh mentions a recipe for ground sesame. Its recipes call for the paste as a condiment or as something to eat with bread.

  A recipe called hummus kasa appears in an anonymous 13th-century Arabic cookbook, Kitab Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada. It lists tahini as an ingredient.

  In his 14th-century work Kaftor va-Perach, Ishtori Haparchi described what people in the Middle East of his time ate. He wrote that they enjoyed tahini, made by grinding sesame seeds and mixing them with date honey.

  In North America, sesame tahini and other raw nut butters were on sale in health food stores by 1940.

  14678

• 3. Making the Paste

  ›

  Salt water does the sorting when tahini is made. First the sesame seeds are soaked in water and crushed, which separates the bran from the kernels. Then the crushed seeds go into salt water, and the bran sinks. The kernels float, so they can be skimmed off, toasted and ground into an oily paste.

  A batch made from untoasted seeds is sold as raw tahini. Roasted seeds are far more common than raw ones.

  Black tahini is a deep black paste made from black sesame seeds. Untoasted sesame gives a bright-colored tahini, while toasted or unshelled sesame gives a darker one.

  Research comparing white and brown sesame seeds found that seed type shapes texture, aroma, appearance and taste. Tahini from white seeds had a lighter color, a smoother texture and a milder flavor. Tasters rated it more acceptable overall than tahini from brown seeds.

  Hulled seeds make the most common kind of tahini. Unhulled seeds also work, and they give a paste that is slightly bitter but more nutritious.

  Tahini has a high oil content, so some manufacturers recommend refrigeration to prevent spoilage. Others advise against it, because cold makes the paste more viscous and harder to serve.

  39171819

• 4. Nutrition and Safety

  ›

  A 100 g portion of tahini supplies 592 calories. By composition it is 53% fat, 22% carbohydrates, 17% protein and 3% water. It is a rich source of thiamine, at 133% of the Daily Value. Several dietary minerals fall between 25% and 63% of the Daily Value, while niacin and folate supply 25-35%. Calcium and potassium are moderate sources, at 10-19%.

  Salmonella outbreaks in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom have been linked to tahini and other sesame-based products. The cases led to product recalls and international food safety alerts. They showed how problems in production and distribution can reach a product with a long shelf life.

  163

• 5. At the Table

  ›

  Lemon juice, salt and garlic are the usual companions of tahini sauce in Middle Eastern restaurants. Cooks thin the mixture with water and serve it as a side dish or a garnish. The same sauce is a popular topping for meat and vegetables.

  Hummus is cooked, mashed chickpeas typically blended with tahini, lemon juice and salt. Tahini is also a major ingredient in baba ghanoush and halva. One sweet spread, ḥalawa ṭaḥīniyya, meaning sweet tahini, is a type of halva. It sometimes has mashed or sliced pistachio pieces inside or on top.

  Grape syrup, carob syrup and date syrup each sweeten tahini somewhere in the Middle East, depending on the region. In many parts of the region, tahini spread on bread makes a quick snack or breakfast. Bread can also be dipped in the sweetened version. Tahini goes into cakes, cookies, halva and ice cream as well.

  In Egypt, tehina is a fundamental part of the cuisine, serving as an ingredient, a condiment and a dipping sauce. It is made from toasted, hulled sesame seeds and has a rich, nutty flavor with a slightly bitter undertone. Egyptian cooks blend it with lemon juice, garlic and water into a smooth, ivory-colored sauce, then season it with salt and cumin. More or less water changes the consistency, so the sauce can serve as a dip or a dressing. It commonly accompanies ta'miya, ful medames and grilled meats like kofta.

  512262725

• 6. Sesame Paste in China

  ›

  Sesame paste appears in some Chinese and Japanese dishes, and in Indian cuisine too. In China it is called zhīmájiàng, and it differs from Middle Eastern tahini. The sesame is roasted, so the paste is much darker and has far less astringency.

  White sesame paste usually goes into salty dishes, while black sesame paste goes into desserts. Black sesame soup is a different food, made in a different manner.

  Cooks spread sesame paste on bread or mantou. It may be paired with bing, a Chinese flatbread, or baked into it. It also works as a seasoning, condiment and dip in cold dishes such as liangfen, and in hot pot.

  91521

• 7. Across Many Kitchens

  ›

  Armenia, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey each have their own way with the paste. Beyond the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean, tahini is used in the South Caucasus, the Balkans, South Asia and Central Asia. Cypriots, Ashkenazi Jews, and people in parts of Russia and North Africa use it too.

  In Armenia, tahini can be a sauce for lahmajoun.

  In Cyprus, tahini is pronounced tashi. It is a dip for bread and sometimes goes into pitta souvlaki in place of tzatziki, which is customary in Greece. Cypriots also make tahinopitta, a tahini pie.

  Greek supermarkets stock jars of ταχίνι ready-mixed with honey or cocoa in the breakfast aisle. Greeks also spread it on bread, either alone or topped with honey or jam.

  In Turkey, tahin is mixed with pekmez to make tahin-pekmez. It is often served at breakfast, or after meals as a sweet dip for bread.

  In Iraq, the paste is called rashi. Cooks mix it with date syrup, known as rub, for a sweet dessert usually eaten with bread.

  In Iran, tahini is called ardeh in Persian. It is the base of halvardeh, a halva made of tahini, sugar, egg whites and other ingredients. It is also eaten at breakfast with grape syrup, date syrup, honey or jam. Ardeh and halvardeh are among the souvenirs of the Iranian cities of Yazd and Ardakan.

  1825520

• 8. Identity and the Levant

  ›

  In the Gaza Strip, a rust-colored variety known as red tahina is served in addition to ordinary tahina. Its seeds go through a different and lengthier roast, which gives a more intense taste. Cooks use it in sumagiyya, a dish of lamb with chard and sumac. They also use it in salads native to the falaḥeen from the surrounding villages as well as southern Gaza.

  In the West Bank city of Nablus, tahina is mixed with qizḥa paste to make black tahina, which is used in baking. It is distinct from the black tahini made from black sesame seeds. In Palestine, tahini is also commonly sweetened with grape syrup and eaten with pita bread.

  Across the Levant, tahini, pronounced ṭḥine, is a staple food. It is the main ingredient of Ṭaraṭor, the sauce served with falafel and shawarma. It also sauces meat and fish, and it goes into a seafood dish called ṣiyadiyeh. Its use shows food traditions moving across Arab communities and reflects shared culinary histories that run across present-day borders.

  In Israel, tahini, written טחינה, is a staple foodstuff. It is served as a dip with flat bread or pita. It tops falafel, sabich, Jerusalem mixed grill and shawarma, and it appears in various spreads. It is also a sauce for meat and fish, and an ingredient in halva, halva ice cream and tahini cookies. Cooks bake it in the oven with kufta of lamb or beef, or with a whole fish in the coastal areas and on the Sea of Galilee. Falafel and tahini entered Israeli cuisine through long-standing interactions with Arab-Palestinian culinary practices.

  In the politics surrounding hummus, tahini is a core ingredient and a key element in the so-called hummus wars. That role makes it a symbol of national identity.

  For diasporic Palestinian communities, tahini goes beyond its culinary uses. It is associated with family meals, regional identity and hospitality, and it helps create a sense of home, memory and belonging.

  3031323320