Everyone has a preferred tahini. It’s a matter of taste, but it’s also an opportunity to new variations and endless originality. In the beginning, we recommend starting with the classic, original tahini before attempting to improvise. Do not make bold attempts before you know that you can make a good, classic and professional tahini.
Prepare the ingredients in the right order
Although it can be less convenient and perhaps a bit more difficult, we suggest making tahini using the ingredients in the correct order and in the recommended way.
First and foremost, do not use a food processor. If you do not want to do it manually, get a Tahini Maker. Add the tahini to the liquid instead of the opposite and the lemon and garlic after the salt rather than before.
These are just a fewtips that allow for faster preparation. On the other hand, the quickest way is to buy tahini salad from your local grocery store or on Amazon (but that not why we are here right?). The goal here is not to improve performance but to achieve the best result.Preparing Tahini is an acquired skill, and it is best to learn it patiently. The endresultis worth the effort.
Why manual preparation?
The traditional method of preparing tahini creates a very clear texture, which is difficult to reach if you use blender or mixer. Prolonged manual mixing (or even vigorous and therefore less prolonged), creates a delicate foam effect – just as in the preparation of mayonnaise.
A food processor, however, is out of the question.
Why order is important?
First we add the water and lemon – and only after salt, garlic, and parsley. This is the correct order to prepare your tahini. And yes, it’svery important. Why? After you have accumulated enough experience in preparing tahini, you will find that the transition from lemon to salt is a critical point where you can feel that you have reached the proper dosage of the lemon.
The garlic and parsley, although part of the basic recipe, are additives.Which are basically a simple seasoning of very good raw tahini. This is the heart of the idea. Try and see for yourself.
Lemon or Lemon Salt?
Good lemon juice is one of the critical ingredients for good tahini. Good lemon juice from a fresh lemon – no canned juice, not frozen. Nevertheless, in many places, especially mediterranean restaurants, it is customary to prepare tahini with lemon salt instead of lemon juice.
Lemon. Fresh lemon
Tahini based on lemon salt is less healthy and not as tasty, but it has a unique and interesting taste itself and some prefer it. The obvious advantage of lemon salt on lemon juice is that it does not create any bitterness in the tahini – which can be very important when using raw tahini with a bit of bitterness, or when the only lemon you have is slightly bitter.
Usually you will not feel it until you start preparing the tahini. It is perfectly legitimate to have lemon salt in the house and add a bit of it to the tahini together with the fresh lemon.
Garlic and parsley
You may not believe it, but it’s a matter of taste. Personally, we love our tahini with lots of garlic and a bit of chopped parsley. On this matter there are a variety of opinions, from the ones who prefer tahini without parsley to the “green tahini” approach,and from a completely garlic-free tahini to a tahini with a sharp, strong taste of garlic.
The the garlic however, should be crushed well.