Middle Eastern Cuisine

I'm currently between jobs, which means I'm on a budget. Almost every time I've gone to the grocery store, I've looked longingly at a jar or can of tahini... but I haven't been able to justify buying one.

It hasn't really been an obsession or anything. If it was really that crazy, I'd just buy it. It isn't like tahini is ridiculously expensive. Still, I really like both hummus and baba ganoush. Both of these things require tahini, are easy to make, and are, other than the tahini, inexpensive.

Image by House of SimsToday, I was briefly in Snider's Super Foods and I saw a smallish jar of tahini for over $7. As I contemplated it, it occurred to me that I had an enormous container of roasted sesame seeds at home.

Sometimes, I am an idiot.

I tossed some of the sesame seeds into the microwave for about 15 seconds and then ground them up in my coffee grinder. Mixing that with a bit of toasted sesame oil gave me some great tahini. In about five minutes, there was some lovely hummus for lunch.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the beef short ribs braised in pomegranate molasses that I'd made. A couple of people (including crimfan) expressed curiosity about pomegranate molasses.

Pomegranate molasses is essentially concentrated pomegranate juice that has a thick, molasses-like consistency. Most recipes I've found for it add sugar and lemon juice, but the bottle I bought at the Middle Eastern grocery near me (it was next to the rosewater) contained only pomegranate juice as an ingredient.

In terms of taste, pomegranate molasses is sweet and tart (like the fruit it comes from). It is surprisingly dark in color - more brown than magenta. Apparently it keeps nearly forever in the refrigerator. Its classical use is in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly fesenjan, a thick Persian stew made from pomegranate molasses, ground walnuts, and (usually) chicken.

There are, however, a great many uses for it. I've only had a bottle for a few weeks, and I have already used it in a variety of marinades, braises, and vinaigrettes. I've found that despite its thick consistency it dilutes very readily. Last night, I made a salad of cubed cucumbers, tomatoes, vidalia onions, radishes, and cilantro dressed with a mix of rice vinegar, pomegranate molasses, and kosher salt. It made me very happy.

Rumor has it that you can also dilute the stuff to make a lovely pomegranate drink. It would almost certainly make for a good cocktail additive: a less-sweet grenadine?