Halawa Tahiniyya

The marbled sweet of every Levantine market: tahini whipped into a hot sugar syrup boiled to the hard-ball stage with the foaming infusion of soapwort root, worked until it crystallises into the dense, flaky, melting block that pulls apart in fine threads, plain or run through with pistachios

Origin: Levant (Syria and Lebanon)

From the journey of Sesame.

Halawa (halva) tahiniyya is the sesame sweet of the Levant and the wider Arab and Ottoman world, sold in great marbled slabs and cut to order in every souk from Damascus to Beirut. Its history runs through the medieval Arabic cookbooks that first recorded the art of halva, the Ottoman palace kitchens (Süleyman the Magnificent kept a dedicated Helvahane, a 'house of halva', beside his own), and on into the Jewish communities of the eastern Mediterranean who carried it across Europe and the Atlantic. The dish is tahini, the smooth paste of hulled, toasted sesame, beaten into a sugar syrup boiled to exactly the hard-ball stage. The defining trick is the addition of a foaming extract of soapwort root (the saponin-rich erq al halaweh), which gives halva its characteristic light, flaky, threaded crystalline structure rather than a solid toffee. It is the most refined destination of a 5,000-year journey that began when the first Mesopotamians pressed sesame into keeping cakes.

Ingredients

  • 400 g good-quality tahini (light, runny, well-stirred), at room temperature
  • 400 g caster sugar
  • 120 ml water
  • 1 tbsp soapwort extract (erq al halaweh), or 1 tbsp light honey as a simpler substitute
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 60 g shelled unsalted pistachios (optional)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or a little rose water (optional)

Method

  1. Warm the tahini gently to a little above room temperature (set the jar in warm water), so it pours and beats smoothly. Line a small loaf tin or tray with baking paper.
  2. If using soapwort extract, whisk it vigorously until it becomes white and foamy, like a loose meringue, and set aside. If using honey instead, simply have it ready.
  3. Put the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a heavy saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Cook without stirring until it reaches the hard-ball stage, about 121°C on a sugar thermometer: a little dropped into cold water forms a firm, hard ball.
  4. If using soapwort, beat the foam into the hot syrup off the heat until the mixture turns pale and thick, like a glossy nougat. (If using honey, beat it in now.)
  5. Working quickly, pour in the warmed tahini and the vanilla or rose water and stir with a spatula in long strokes, folding rather than over-mixing, just until the tahini is incorporated and the mass begins to thicken and pull together. Fold in the pistachios with the last few strokes.
  6. Press into the lined tin, smooth the top, and leave to cool completely, then cover and rest at room temperature overnight before cutting. Slice into squares or bars to serve.

Notes

The single most important factor is the quality of the tahini: buy a Middle Eastern brand whose only ingredient is sesame, light in colour and pourable. Soapwort extract (erq al halaweh), sold by Levantine grocers, gives the authentic flaky, threaded halva and is worth seeking out; the honey version is an honest home approximation. Marble it by folding through a spoonful of cocoa or a swirl of pistachio paste at the end. Halva keeps for several weeks in an airtight tin and is eaten in thin slices, often with bread for breakfast across the Levant.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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