From the Castle Kitchen: To-Die-For Tahini Sauce

I have been in love with the flavour of tahini since I first tried my mom’s hummus as a teenager, but I’d never heard of tahini sauce or dressing back then.

That changed when Matty and I packed our bags and moved from Canada to Germany some years later. We began our life in Europe living in a WG (shared flat) and working for trivago. As luck would have it, our flatmate was a fellow foodie named Kareem. An engineer by day and ideal host by night, we all spent much of our time in his kitchen together. As a Canadian with a Greek mom, I’d often make the family meals that I was raised on - souvlaki, moussaka, pastitsio - to name a few. Funny thing was, Kareem was also familiar with similar dishes - sometimes even with the same name. Turns out that Egypt and Greece have a lot in common when it comes to cuisine.

But there was one thing that Kareem made that was entirely new to me. It was so simple and absolutely to-die-for, and it was Tahini sauce. After a long day at work, we all just wanted comfort food and this sauce made by the Tahini-Genie himself (as I would come to call him) always hit the spot. Though I never got the recipe, I watched him make it every time.

Year’s later, I pieced it together. The recipe below, inspired by Kareem, is now a favourite at the castle. We use it to jazz up salads of fresh spinach and garden lettuce. We drizzle it all over cauliflower steaks, garnished with dried rose petals. Oh, and come the warmer months, we serve it next to cucumbers from our garden which we slice on the diagonal and sprinkle with Maldon Sea Salt flakes.

Enjoy!

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Tahini Sauce

Serves 4

• 4 tablespoons (80 ml) tahini, stirred beforehand in its jar to reincorporate the oils

• 3 tablespoons (45 ml), bio lemon, freshly-squeezed

• 1 1/2 tablespoon (23 ml) bio, single source olive oil

• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cold water

• 3 garlic cloves, pressed or smashed into a paste (you can use less, but we love it garlicky)

• pinch of sea salt, we used Maldon flakes

• fresh cracked pepper

In a small bowl combine the ingredients and whisk together to emulsify. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt, pepper, and lemon juice to your preference. If you are not sure if you like raw garlic, start with just one clove of garlic, and increase to your liking.

Tried this? Let me know about it in the comments below.