I can't think of a sweeter childhood memory than halva: blocks of this set sesame paste, all studded with nuts and flavoured with vanilla or chocolate, adorned market stalls and sweet shops in Jerusalem. This halva, the Arabic version, is made from crushed sesame: tahini sweetened with honey or sugar which, once cooked and set, is then cut into blocks. The texture is fantastically grainy and crumbly, with sugary shards that melt on the tongue and anutty, super-sweet, almost caramelly flavour.
In Turkey and Greece, as well asacross the Balkans, the Indian subcontinent, eastern Europe and North Africa, the term halva covers awide range of sweets (the word itself comes from the Arabic root hulw, which simply means sweet).
Walk into a halva store in Istanbul, for example, and you'll find a stack of goodies ranging from floss halva – thin strands of wheat flour and sugar wrapped into a ball and compressed – right through to Turkish delight. Rather than being made of sesame or any other nut base, this non-grainy, slightly gelatinous take on halva is often flour- or semolina-based, though it can also be made from a mixture ofchopped and compressed dried fruit and nuts, or from a puree of fruit orroot vegetables such as carrots or beetroot.
Even so, I always opt for the Arabic halva with which I grew up. I often have it plain, with bitter black coffee, or put chunks on buttered toast for breakfast. Yes, that may sound slightly odd, but any Palestinian will tell you about abrekky snack consisting of bread dipped in tahini and grape molasses.
I also use tahini and halva in cookies, cakes and other desserts, such as today's ice-cream. It can even be sprinkled, sparingly, over acitrus salad with pomegranate seeds, a few drops of pomegranate molasses and a smattering of chopped pistachios.
Halva ice-cream with chocolate sauce and salted peanuts
Halva works brilliantly in ice-cream. With the addition of these two condiments, the result is a bit like aluxurious Snickers ice-cream: sweet, nutty and comforting. Thechocolate can mask the halva flavour a little, so drizzle sparingly.
If you're using an ice-cream machine, churn a few hours ahead of time, preferably a day before. Ifyou don't have a machine, make itthe old-fashioned way: freeze the custard, beating occasionally, for four to five hours, and add the halva halfway through. This approach works well if you're going to serve up immediately; the next day, it tends to go too hard. Serves four to six.
250ml double cream
350ml whole milk
1 vanilla pod, cut in half lengthways and the seeds scraped out
2 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
30g tahini paste
100g halva, cut into 0.5cm dice
60g roasted and salted peanuts, roughly chopped
For the chocolate sauce
120ml double cream
80g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), finely chopped
½ tsp brandy
Heat the cream, milk, vanilla pod and seeds in a saucepan until just coming to a boil, then remove from the heat.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar. Ladle a little of the hot cream mix into the egg mix, whisking all the time, and repeat until all the cream is incorporated. Tip the lot back into the pan, put on a medium heat and, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, cook for 10 minutes, until it thickens to a light custard consistency. Remove from the heat and whisk in the tahini. Leave to cool for 20 minutes, then remove the vanilla pod.
Put the custard in an ice-cream machine and churn for about 35 minutes, until semi-frozen but creamy. Remove from the machine, stir through the halva pieces, spoon into a pre-frozen container and freeze. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving, to soften.
Make the sauce just before serving. Put the cream in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Pour this over the chocolate and stir until soft and uniform, then stir in the brandy. Spoon the ice-cream into bowls and pour over some of the warm sauce. Sprinkle with the peanuts and serve immediately.
Sweet spiced fishcakes with bread salad
If you're short on time, serve with just a lemon wedge, but the salad's well worth a go, too. Serves four.
600g skinless and boneless white fish fillet, roughly chopped
1 small red onion, peeled and finelydiced
30g pine nuts, toasted and chopped
10g dill, chopped
Grated zest from ½ lemon, plus2tsp lemon juice
¾ tsp ground cumin
2 tsp medium curry powder
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 egg, beaten
Salt and white pepper
For the bread salad
1 large aubergine, cut into 3cm pieces
120ml sunflower oil, plus 3 tbsp extra
50g focaccia, broken into 2cm chunks
3 tbsp olive oil
35g coriander, roughly chopped
2 green chillies, finely diced
2 medium tomatoes, cut into 2cm dice
2 Lebanese cucumbers, cut into 2cmdice
10g picked parsley leaves, torn
150g Greek yoghurt
Put the fish and half the onion in afood processor and pulse a couple of times until the fish is chopped into half-centimetre pieces; don't work it any longer than this. Transfer to abowl and stir in the pine nuts, dill, zest, spices, egg, half a teaspoon of salt and a quarter-teaspoon of white pepper. Mix well, then form into 16 patties weighing 40-50g each. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Put the aubergine in a strainer and sprinkle over a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Stir and leave to drain for 30 minutes, then rinse and dry well with a clean towel. Heat half the sunflower oil in a medium sauté pan and, once hot, cook half the aubergine until golden brown and soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining oil and aubergine. Set aside to cool.
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Mix the focaccia and atablespoon of olive oil on an oventray and bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and crunchy. Remove and leave to cool.
Just before serving, use a mortar and pestle to grind the coriander, chilli and a quarter-teaspoon of salt to apaste (or pulse inafood processor). Stir in the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the aubergine, bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, lemon juice and remaining onion, and divide between plates. Top with a spoonful of yoghurt and the coriander paste.
Put a large frying pan on amedium high heat and add two tablespoons of sunflower oil. Cook half the fishcakes for three minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove and keep warm while you cook the rest, adding another tablespoon of oil ifnecessary. Plate the fishcakes nextto the salad and serve at once.
