# Can you identify this Turkish treat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [September 21, 2021, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046 "2021-09-21T10:50:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/1 "2021-09-21T10:50:41Z")
On a Turkish Air flight yesterday, I was served a portion of what I first thought was salmon mousse. Then I sniffed it and decided it was hummus. But when I tasted it, it was more like halvah. I wanted to ask what the hell it was called but never got the chance. Does anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/2 "2021-09-21T12:51:28Z")
On an airplane? Could have been any of those three, or possibly some advanced form of plastic. Are you saying it was sweet and made of sesame? Halvah comes in various forms - [was it something like this](https://www.alfez.com/recipe-items/traditional-tahini-halva/)? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/3 "2021-09-21T13:04:15Z")
That link just goes to the site home page. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/4 "2021-09-21T13:05:45Z")
It tasted like a cross between hummus and halvah, not sweet but definitely with sesame overtones. It was a thick paste. I’m guessing it was indeed hummus, just with more sesame seed (as opposed to chick peas) than I’ve ever tasted before. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/5 "2021-09-21T15:53:12Z")
I’ve had a [carrot halvah](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=carrot+halvah&atb=v191-1&ia=images&iax=images) in Palestine. Sweet but soft and not like tahini-based halvah. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/7 "2021-09-21T16:39:44Z")
You could email the airline, I’m sure they keep extensive menu records for potential food poisoning/allergy concerns. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/8 "2021-09-21T17:25:23Z")
Don’t know if it was especially Turkish, but I have absolutely had hummus that was 1/3 to 1/2 sesame paste mixed in with the chick peas, along with other ingredients (lemon juice, salt, etc.) Maybe you got some hummus that was 50% tahina? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/9 "2021-09-21T18:09:58Z")
Sounds yummy! 👍 Tahini completely slipped my mind. It may have been that. We were given complete menus on the trans-Atlantic flight, but none on the second leg of the trip (Istanbul to Minsk). ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/10 "2021-09-22T04:58:39Z")
Doesn’t the airline have that information on its website, or at least in the in-flight magazine? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/11 "2021-09-22T06:50:55Z")
It may have been “raw tahini” - pure, whole-grain ground sesame seeds. It looks like this: [![](https://touchfood.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/5-11.jpg) ](https://touchfood.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/5-11.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-turkish-treat/951046/12 "2021-09-22T08:39:19Z")
Yeah, I think that was it. It came with a nice black olive. Very tasty!