Tahini Trivia | 30 facts about the food paste

One of the most significant dips (or food pastes), that originates from Middle East is undoubtedly tahini.

Let’s find out more about it!

1. Tahini is a Middle Eastern condiment
2. Tahini is also referred to as tahina.
3. It is from made from toasted ground hulled sesame.
4. It is served by itself (as a dip) or as a major ingredient in hummus, baba ghanoush, and halva.
5. Tahini is used in the cuisines of the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean, the South Caucasus, as well as parts of North Africa.
6. Sesame paste (though not called tahini) is also used in some East Asian cuisines.
7. Tahini is of Arabic origin.
8. More specifically it comes from the colloquial Levantine Arabic pronunciation of ṭaḥīna or more accurately ṭaḥīniyya, hence also English tahina.
9. It is derived from the root of an Arabic verb (ṭaḥana) means “to grind”.
10. It also produces the word ṭaḥīn, which means”flour” in some dialects.
11. The word Tahini is a loanword from modern Greek tachíni.
12. The word tahini appeared in English by the late 1930s.
13. The oldest mention of sesame is in a cuneiform document written 4000 years ago that describes the custom of serving the gods sesame wine by the historian Herodotus who wrote about the cultivation of sesame 3500 years ago in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia.
14. It was mainly used as a source of oil.
15. 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.
16. Sesame paste is an ingredient in some Chinese and Japanese dishes. Sichuan cuisine uses it in some recipes for dandan noodles.
17. Sesame paste is also used in Indian cuisine.
18. In North America, sesame tahini, along with other raw nut butters, was available by 1940 in health food stores
19. Just 1 tablespoon (15 grams) provides more than 10% of the Daily Value (DV) for some nutrients.
20. Tahini contains antioxidants called lignans, which help prevent free radical damage in your body and may reduce your risk of disease
21. Tahini is made from ground up hulled sesame seeds.
22. At 89 calories and 8 grams of fat per tablespoon, it’s a calorically-dense food.
23. Tahini drives up the fat and calorie content of hummus, but most of its fat content (roughly 7 of the 8 grams) is of the unsaturated variety.
24. Because of tahini’s high oil content, some manufacturers recommend refrigeration to prevent spoilage.
25. Others do not recommend refrigeration, as it makes the product more viscous and more difficult to serve.
26. Tahini contains powerful antioxidants, but in much smaller amounts. In addition, more research is needed to fully understand how sesame seeds affect inflammation in humans, but it certainly affects in some way.
27. Tahini contains compounds that may improve brain health.
28. The same compounds can decrease your risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases like dementia.
29. Sesame seeds are also being researched for their potential anticancer effects, so tahini may be helpful.
30. Tahini helps protect liver and kidney function