Tahini
A sesame seed butter used across many cuisines.
Tahini is a seed butter from the Middle East, made by grinding sesame seeds. The most common type uses hulled seeds, though unhulled seeds can be used, giving a more nutritious but slightly bitter paste. It can be eaten alone as a dip, turned into a salad dressing, or serve as a key component in dishes like hummus, baba ghanoush, and halva.
The word "tahini" comes from Arabic, specifically a Levantine pronunciation of *ṭaḥīna* or *ṭaḥīniyya*, which traces back to a root meaning "to grind." It entered English by the late 1930s; earlier English sources called it "sesame butter" or "sesame seed butter."
Sesame itself appears in a 4,000-year-old cuneiform document describing sesame wine offered to gods. Herodotus noted its cultivation 3,500 years ago in Mesopotamia, mainly for oil. A 10th-century Arabic cookbook includes a recipe for ground sesame used as a condiment or eaten with bread. Tahini appears as an ingredient in hummus kasa in a 13th-century Arabic cookbook. In the 14th century, Ishtori Haparchi wrote that Middle Easterners consumed tahini made by grinding sesame seeds with date honey. Sesame paste also appears in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian cuisines. In North America, tahini was available in health food stores by 1940.
To make tahini, sesame seeds are soaked in water and crushed to separate bran from kernels. The crushed seeds are soaked again in salty water, causing the bran to sink; the floating kernels are skimmed, toasted, and ground into an oily paste. "Raw tahini" uses untoasted seeds. Due to its high oil content, some recommend refrigeration to prevent spoilage, though others avoid it because refrigeration thickens the paste. The color varies: untoasted seeds yield a bright paste, toasted or unshelled seeds give a darker color, and black sesame produces a deep black "black tahini."
Nutritionally, tahini is about 53% fat, 22% carbohydrates, 17% protein, and 3% water. Per 100 grams, it provides 592 calories and is rich in thiamine, several minerals, niacin, and folate, with moderate amounts of calcium and potassium.
In Middle Eastern restaurants, tahini-based sauces—often with lemon juice, salt, garlic, and water—are common as a side or garnish. Hummus combines cooked chickpeas with tahini, lemon juice, and salt. Tahini sauce also tops meat and vegetables.
Quick Facts
- Region
- West Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, South Caucasus, parts of North Africa
- Main Ingredient
- Sesame seeds
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The oldest mention of sesame is in a cuneiform document written 4,000 years ago describing the custom of serving the gods sesame wine. Historian Herodotus wrote about the cultivation of sesame 3,500 years ago in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), where 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, with instructions for use as a condiment or to be eaten with bread. Tahini is mentioned as an ingredient of hummus kasa in an anonymous 13th-century Arabic cookbook, Kitab Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada. In his 14th-century work Kaftor va-Perach, 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.
Reader's Guide
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. In Egypt, tehina is a fundamental component of the country's cuisine, serving as an ingredient, a condiment, and a dipping sauce. It is often blended with lemon juice, garlic, and water, seasoned with salt and cumin, and accompanies dishes such as ta'miya, ful medames, and grilled meats like kofta. In Israel, tahini is a staple foodstuff served as a dip with flat bread or pita, a topping for falafel, sabich, Jerusalem mixed grill, and shawarma, and used in sweet desserts like halva. In the Levant, it is the main ingredient of Ṭaraṭor sauce used with falafel and shawarma. In Turkey, tahini is mixed with pekmez and served as a breakfast item or after meals. In Cyprus, it is used as a dip for bread and in pitta souvlaki. In Greece, it is spread on bread alone or topped with honey or jam. In Iran, it is called ardeh and used to make halvardeh, and eaten during breakfast with grape syrup, date syrup, honey, or jam. In Iraq, it is known as rashi and mixed with date syrup for a sweet dessert. In the Gaza Strip, a rust-colored 'red tahina' is served, achieved by a different roasting process. In Nablus, tahina is mixed with qizḥa paste to make 'black tahina' used in baking.
Did You Know?
- The word tahini appeared in English by the late 1930s.
- Tahini is 53% fat and provides 592 calories per 100 grams.
- In the Gaza Strip, a rust-colored 'red tahina' is made by a different, lengthier roasting process.
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