Oden Oren’s secret ingredient – tahini - The Guardian

I eat tahini every day. There’s something about this paste of hulled sesame seeds that is addictive. A good tahini is sweet, not bitter, and silky.

I come from Israel, where we eat a lot of tahini, in all kinds of salad, in hummus. I’d say in Israel and Palestine hummus is heavily tahini-based compared with other places – about 50% tahini, hence the silky smoothness of our hummus.

It goes in sweet dishes, you can drizzle it over desserts, or use it in baking for cookies and cakes. You can make halva with it, perhaps with some chocolate. My favourite way to eat it is simple: I mix tahini with a little water, garlic and lemon to taste, so it’s quite clean and smooth. That goes very well with fish or salad. Gorgeous.

People think that in a poor quality tahini the fat separates: not true. That’s quite natural and you just mix it in and it emulsifies quite easily back into a paste. When you travel to Israel, you can get loads of types, which are really good. In the UK, I like the ones from Belazu, Al Arz and Al Nakhil.

Oded Oren is chef-owner of Oren and Oren Deli, London E8

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Oden Oren’s secret ingredient – tahini - The Guardian
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