Tahini Halva

Three things: tahini, boiled sugar syrup and an extract of soapwort root — in Syria it is called irq al-halawa or silis al-halawa. All three are pulled together while hot. As the soapwort foams the mass goes pale and fibres form inside it; once cool a sliceable block is left. Pistachio, cocoa or mastic can go into it.

It is not the same thing as tahini

This is where readers slip. Tahini is sesame paste and it is an ingredient: it goes into hummus, into tarator, into kafta bi-tahini. Halva is a finished product made from that paste — a sweet, sold by weight, cut into slices. Not the same jar.

Soapwort: one root holding up two sweets

The extract of the same wild root is what whips the natef served beside karabij in Aleppo. Natef is a plant foam: no egg, no dairy, and the whiteness comes from the soapwort. The fibres in halva come from the same plant. One root, two separate sweets, and both can sit on a vegan table for that reason — though the fat blended with the tahini is not always vegetable, so ask.

How it is sold

It stands as a block at the grocer and the spice merchant, and the weight you want is cut off with a wire or a knife. Boxed versions exist, but a cut slice is fresher. Pistachio, cocoa and plain are priced separately.

How it is eaten

At breakfast, in bread or beside it, with tea and plain coffee. On a Damascus morning table labneh, olives and halva share the same spread. It is dry and dense, so a little goes a long way.