Tahini is a natural food product obtained by hulling, roasting, and grinding sesame seeds. Tahini is used in traditional dishes of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines, as well as in Asian and African cuisines. Tahini, a word of Arabic origin, entered English around the late 1930s as "tahini." In Turkey, this word has been called tahin since the Ottoman Empire period, and it is also used as tahin in Italian.

How to Consume Tahini?

Tahini is preferred for spreading on bread at breakfast, flavoring sauces in salads, and adding consistency and taste to recipes such as soups and mezzes. Tahini, which has a slightly bitter and nutty taste on its own, adds an unforgettable flavor to dishes when combined with the right products. Tahini can be added to dishes during preparation and cooking, as well as after cooking. In meze recipes, tahini is usually mixed with strained yogurt. In salads, it is preferred to add an aromatic flavor to lemon and olive oil dressings.

Sesame, the main ingredient of tahini, is a very ancient cultivated plant species. Although its origin is not precisely known, two-thirds of sesame varieties are known to grow in Africa. The flavorful journey of sesame is said to have started in Africa and continued through West Asia to India, China, and Japan. Turkey is considered one of the secondary gene centers for sesame plants.

Sesame, an annual shrub-like plant, has a growth period of 3 to 4 months. Sesame can be grown in tropical and subtropical climate zones and microclimate regions with favorable temperature sums, with the average temperature needing to be above 20 degrees Celsius. In Turkey, sesame cultivation is most common in the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Southeastern Anatolia regions.

What is a Plant Gene Center?

Plants that undergo genetic erosion due to environmental factors and other pressures can face extinction. These plants are protected in gene centers. Turkey is among the richest countries in the world in terms of plant diversity. The Near East and Mediterranean gene centers, which are among the eight gene centers in the world, intersect in Turkey.

It is known that the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute, Turkey's first gene center, began its work in 1964. Collection programs are planned each year for different regions and plants. Collected seed samples are specially preserved in the seed gene bank of the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute. Plant seeds preserved in the gene bank maintain their viability for approximately 30 to 100 years.

Although tahini is a versatile food for the kitchen, it is not frequently used outside of the kitchen. In kitchens, this food demonstrates its unique taste in both traditional and creative recipes.

Using Tahini in Breakfast Spreads

Tahini, usually consumed spread on bread during breakfast, has an inseparable companion known by everyone: molasses! You can prepare a sweet and creamy breakfast sauce by mixing tahini and molasses. You can also consume tahini halva especially during breakfast.

Tahini, preferred in recipes for centuries, has several scientifically confirmed positive effects:

● According to studies, tahini is considered a food rich in antioxidants, which are known to reduce the negative effects of free radicals.

● Tahini and sesame seeds are thought to have antibacterial properties due to the powerful antioxidants they contain. Research on the antibacterial capacity of sesame seed extract recorded an effective result against 77% of drug-resistant bacterial samples.