Tahini is a sauce made from sesame seeds. We drizzle tahini over our fried falafel and fried eggplant.
Tahini is nutty and creamy. I’ve been learning how important it is in the Middle East. It’s an ingredient in hummus and baba ghanoush, but it’s also used as a sauce for meat, fish, and vegetables. You can add parsley, garlic, yogurt. You can make it thinner or richer depending on what you’re serving it with. Claudia Roden has a recipe for a chunkier tahini dip made with walnuts. My Lebanese cookbook has a different tahini depending on whether it’s destined for eggplant, butternut squash, fish, or meatballs.
If you want to make it at home, you need to get your hands on some Tahina (a really thick sesame paste, we love the tahina from Sunshine Bakery in Methuen).
CLOVER TAHINI
2 cups tahina
3/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 cups water
salt, to taste
Stir tahina really well. Pour/glop tahina into a food processor or blender. Spin it on high with lemon juice. Then add water and salt to taste, and spin it for another minute. Add salt to taste.
Copyright 2013, Clover Fast Food
