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A glass bowl of pale tan tahini beside lemon and garlic — The bowl gives ardeh its visual context: a pale, pourable sesame paste, shown here before it is mixed with lemon and garlic.

A dense source of fat and plant protein — useful when appetite is small.

Unhulled sesame paste is high in calcium. Hulled tahini has much less.

Contains sesamin and sesamolin, sesame compounds studied for effects on blood fats.

What Else to Know

Tahini is one ingredient: sesame seeds, roasted and then ground until the oil comes out and the seeds turn into a loose, pourable paste. Nothing else has to go in. In Iran it's called ardeh, and it's a breakfast food more than a sauce — spooned over bread and mixed with shireh, the thick syrup made from boiled grape or date juice. The pairing has a name of its own: ardeh-o-shireh.

Tahini separates in the jar, with a layer of oil sitting on top. That's normal, not spoilage. Stir it back in before you use it.