TAHINA
LEBANON | EGYPT | SYRIA | JORDAN | PALESTINE
If you walk around the old part of Cairo during Ramadan, you will find restaurants having already laid their tables for iftar, and if you are there close to sunset, you will also find diners sitting down, waiting for the muezzin—the chosen person at the mosque charged with leading the prayer five times a day, every day, and at special events—to announce the break of the fast as soon as the sun sets. On the table, there will be a plate of tahina, bread, juices, and water, as well as a salad and dates. People wait patiently until the cry of the muezzin announces the sun has finally set and even though they will not have eaten or drunk anything since sunrise, none of the seated people will rush to drink or eat anything. It all seems to happen very serenely, almost as if it were in slow motion. I never tire of watching how dignified the break of the fast is, even among the poor who gather around what in Egypt is called ma’edat al-rahman, which means “the table of the one who takes pity.” These meals are subsidized by local businesses, rich patrons, and mosques, and anyone can sit at the meal provided, which, in Egypt, will always include tahina, a thick tahini sauce. In Egypt, it is served as a dip with aysh (Egyptian pita, which is thicker than the Lebanese/Syrian) for breaking the fast. You can also serve it with pita chips or a selection of crudités.
SERVES 4
½ cup (125 ml) tahini
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
1 small clove garlic, minced into a fine paste
Sea salt
Put the tahini in a medium mixing bowl and gradually, and alternately, add the lemon juice and ¼ cup (60 ml) water. Disconcertingly, the tahini will first thicken, despite the fact that you are adding liquid, but do not worry, it will soon start to thin out again. Keep stirring until the sauce has a consistency that is slightly thicker than double cream. Add the garlic and salt to taste and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.