STAR INGREDIENT Diana Henry cooks with versatile tahini
Not just for hummus, tahini paste is great in sweet and savoury dishes
Until 1982, I didn’t know about tahini’s existence. I’d just moved to London from Northern Ireland, and a Turkish shop near me – it sold everything from pails of black olives to washing-up liquid – had jars of it. I looked at it quizzically, bought it and, later when I tried it, couldn’t understand how this sludge-coloured liquid could ever taste good. It had a bitter undertow, but I loved its silkiness and weight; it has the thickness and texture of double cream. Now, I often have two jars on the go (because one always gets lost in the depths of my larder). I started to use tahini more after I bought Claudia Roden’s A Book of Middle Eastern Food (£25, Penguin) and learnt that when it’s mixed with water, lemon juice and garlic, it makes an instant sauce for fish, lamb kebabs, roast summer veg or poached winter produce. And this simple sauce serves as a base for many others – you can whizz parsley or coriander into it, add yogurt, extra virgin olive oil, chillies or torn mint, sweeten it with honey or purée it with aubergine flesh. I love to spoon it over a warm salad of roast aubergines and chopped dates (its slight bitterness is delicious with dates). Of course, it’s an essential ingredient in hummus too, which is probably how we eat it most. Tahini has been a staple in the Middle East and north Africa for centuries, and is made from
sesame seeds. They’re crushed until they produce a creamy liquid, which separates into oil and solids as it sits. But, there’s more than one type – whole tahini is made with toasted unhulled kernels (or from a mixture of hulled and unhulled ones) and has more texture than the regular stuff, though some find it gritty and a bit more bitter. It’s relatively easy to find, and will be labelled ‘whole’ or ‘dark’. The more familiar tahini that we see in most shops is called ‘white tahini’.
I have learnt over time how to use tahini properly and how it behaves in various dishes. The first thing to know is that each brand will taste slightly different and vary in thickness. That’s why it can be hard to give exact instructions on how to season anything made with tahini, or how much water to add. Tahini can also seize up and become very thick when you add lemon juice to it, but if you just keep beating it and adding a bit of water, you’ll eventually have a smooth mixture again. The success of any tahini sauce lies in the seasoning – taste and taste again throughout cooking for balance – and how much lemon juice you add. Real tahini enthusiasts love to use it in sweet dishes too – there’s no end of recipes for tahini brownies or tahini millionaire’s shortbread – and I personally think its nuttiness works better in banana cake than anything else (see recipe, p92).