Sesame is one of the oldest plants in the Tigris and Euphrates valley according to Nina Jamil-Garbutt in her book The Baghdad Kitchen. Its seeds are a staple ingredient of many dishes in Eastern Mediterranean and Asian cuisine. Sesame seed is also the main ingredient of tahini (sesame seed paste) where it is blended to make a thick, nutritious and nutty tasting paste.
The most well known recipe for tahini involves mixing it with chickpeas, oil, lemon juice, garlic and seasonings to make hummus (houmous). But, if making yet another bowl of chick pea dip for supper doesn’t appeal as a way of using up that half jar in the store cupboard, why not try one of these alternative and equally tasty dishes which use sesame seed paste as an ingredient.
Onion and Tahini Crusted Mackerel Recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 fillets of mackerel (trout is a suitable alternative)
- 4 onions
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 ½ tbsp tahini
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Peel and slice the onions into rings
- Peel and finely chop the garlic or crush it through a garlic press
- Gently sauté the onion and garlic until softened but not brown
- Remove from heat
- When it’s cooled a little, mix in the tahini and lemon juice and season well with the salt and pepper and blend together well
- Put the fish fillets on a greased baking tray and then spread the tahini mix over the top of them
- Bake in the oven on gas mark 4, 180 C, 350 F for half an hour or so until the fish is cooked
- This fish dish can be served as either a starter, with a little bit of green salad on the side, a lunch dish with olive oil roasted cherry tomatoes and a hunk of granary bread, or as a main course with rice and peas
- As an alternative to fish, the onion and tahini sauce could also be used to top chicken drumsticks or filleted chicken breasts.
Grilled Aubergine and Sesame Dip
Ingredients:
- 1 aubergine (eggplant)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- Salt and black pepper
Method:
- Toast the sesame seeds lightly for a few minutes either in the oven or under the grill but try not to let them brown because they will become bitter
- Make slits in the skin of the aubergine to stop it exploding under the heat of the grill and gently grill until it’s cooked through
- Allow it to cool then remove the skin and put the vegetable flesh in a liquidiser along with the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and a couple of twists of salt and pepper
- Whiz up into a smooth paste, stir in the toasted sesame seed and serve as a first course dip with thin strips of carrot, cucumber and pitta bread or even on top of blini, garnished with a sprig of parsley or a tiny twist of fresh lemon
- This would also be nice served in the middle of a hot, cooked globe artichoke for lunch
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