Food, Food Artisans

Ari’s Holiday Gift Suggestions pt. 8

NL-Nov-Dec-2013-WEB1

Stay tuned as we post selections from Ari’s list in the coming weeks!
ari-list

Sesame Halvah from the Candy Manufactory

I’m particularly excited about this new arrival on our sweet scene. We’ve improved the quality of so many traditional Deli dishes over the decades—better raw meat for our corned beef, much better rye bread (made at Zingeman’s Bakehouse since 1992), hand-made cream cheese from Zingerman’s Creamery, really nice, chewy, baked-on-the-stone-hearth bagels from the Bakehouse. But halvah has been sort of staying silent in the background, available pretty much in the same sort of commercial version we’d been buying since we opened in the early ‘80s.

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Happily, we can finally turn the 
page on our halvah and enter the
 same quality era we’ve come 
to for so many other products. This old-style Israeli halvah is
made with a LOT of fresh, whole
 sesame seeds, lightly toasted and then ground right at the Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory. The ground sesame is mixed with some old-style Muscovado brown sugar and some Michigan wild-flower honey. A small sliver goes a long ways. I love it with an espresso. Or drop a small bit of the halvah right into your hot coffee—let it melt into the hot brew and you get a delicious, slightly sweet, slightly nutty, exotic cup of coffee. Put a block of it out after dinner and let your guests nibble at their leisure. It’s also turned out to be a great accompaniment to cheese—its sweet nuttiness is an excellent compliment to the creamy flavors of the cheese. Either way, pick up a bit and give it a try!