Tahini

Tahini (; Arabic: طحينة, romanized: ṭaḥīna, or, in Iraq, راشي, rāshī) is a Middle Eastern condiment (a seed butter) made from ground sesame seeds. The most common variety comes from hulled seeds, but unhulled ones can also be used; the latter variety is slightly bitter, but more nutritious. The seeds are more commonly roasted than raw. Tahini can be served by itself (as a dip), made into a salad dressing, or used as a major ingredient in hummus, baba ghanoush, or halva. Tahini is used in the cuisines of the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean, the South Caucasus, the Balkans, South Asia, Central Asia, and amongst Cypriots, Ashkenazi Jews, as well as parts of Russia and North Africa. Sesame paste, used in some East Asian cuisines, may differ only slightly from tahini.

Etymology Tahini is of Arabic origin and comes from a colloquial Levantine Arabic pronunciation of ṭaḥīna (طحينة), or more accurately ṭaḥīniyya (طحينية), whence also English "tahina" and Hebrew ṭḥina טחינה. It is derived from the Classical Arabic root ط ح ن Ṭ-Ḥ-N, which as a verb طحن ṭaḥana means "to grind", and also produces the word طحين ṭaḥīn, "flour" in some dialects. The word tahini had appeared in English by the late 1930s. In earlier English-language sources, it is referred to as "sesame butter" or "sesame seed butter".

History The oldest mention of sesame is in a cuneiform document written 4,000 years ago that describes the custom of serving the gods sesame wine. Historian Herodotus writes about the cultivation of sesame 3,500 years ago in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). It was mainly used as a source of oil. In the 10th-century Arabic cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh, a recipe for ground sesame is mentioned; recipes call for its use as a condiment or to be eaten with bread. Tahini is mentioned as an ingredient of hummus kasa, a recipe transcribed in an anonymous 13th-century Arabic cookbook, Kitab Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada. In his 14th-century work Kaftor va-Perach (Hebrew: כפתור ופרח), Ishtori Haparchi wrote that the inhabitants of the Middle East in his time consumed tahini, made by grinding sesame seeds and mixing them with date honey. Sesame paste is an ingredient in some Chinese and Japanese dishes; Sichuan cuisine uses it in some recipes for dandan noodles. Sesame paste is also used in Indian cuisine. In North America, sesame tahini, along with other raw nut butters, was available by 1940 in health food stores.

Preparation and storage

Tahini is made from sesame seeds that are soaked in water and then crushed to separate the bran from the kernels. The crushed seeds are then soaked again in salt water with a high salt content that causes the bran to sink. The floating kernels are skimmed off the surface, toasted, and ground to produce an oily paste. It can also be prepared with untoasted seeds and called "raw tahini". Because of tahini's high oil content, some manufacturers recommend refrigeration to prevent spoilage. Others do not recommend refrigeration, as it makes the product more viscous and more difficult to serve. The color of the produced tahini is affected by the kind of sesame used, untoasted sesame produces a bright-colored tahini; toasted or unshelled sesame produces tahini with a darker color, black sesame produces a tahini with a deep black color (dubbed "black tahini").

Nutrition Tahini is 53% fat, 22% carbohydrates, 17% protein, and 3% water (table). In a reference amount of 100 g (3.5 oz), it supplies 592 calories, and is a rich source of thiamine (133% of the Daily Value, DV), several dietary minerals (25-63% DV), niacin, and folate (25-35% DV, table). Tahini is a moderate source (10-19% DV) of calcium and potassium (table).

Culinary uses Tahini-based sauces are common in Middle Eastern restaurants as a side dish or as a garnish, usually including lemon juice, salt, and garlic, and thinned with water. Hummus is made of cooked, mashed chickpeas typically blended with tahini, lemon juice and salt. Tahini sauce is also a popular topping for meat and vegetables in Middle Eastern cuisine. A sweet spread, ḥalawa ṭaḥīniyya ("sweet tahini"), is a type of halva sweet. It sometimes has mashed or sliced pistachio pieces sprinkled inside or on top. In many parts of the Middle East, it is spread on bread and eaten as a quick snack or breakfast. Alternatively, bread can be dipped into tahini sweetened by a syrup such as grape syrup, carob syrup, or date syrup; the sweetener may vary by region.

For sweets Tahini is also used in sweet dishes such as cakes, cookies, halva, and ice cream.

By region

Armenia In Armenia, tahini can be used as a sauce to put on lahmajoun.

China

In Chinese cuisine, sesame paste (zhīmájiàng) is used as a condiment in many dishes. Chinese sesame paste differs from the Middle Eastern tahini in that the sesame is roasted; the paste is much darker, and has far less astringency. Often, white sesame paste is used in salty dishes, while black sesame paste is used in desserts (not to be confused with black sesame soup, which is made in a different manner from sesame paste). Sesame paste is a primary condiment in the hot dry noodles of Hubei cuisine and ma jiang mian (sesame paste noodles) of Northeastern Chinese cuisine and Taiwanese cuisine. Sesame paste is also used as a bread or mantou spread, and may be paired with or baked into bing (Chinese flatbread). Sesame paste is used as a seasoning, condiment and dip in cold dishes (such as liangfen) and hot pot.

Cyprus In Cyprus, tahini, locally pronounced as tashi, is used as a dip for bread and sometimes in pitta souvlaki rather than tzatziki, which is customary in Greece; it is also used to make "tahinopitta" (tahini pie).

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