How do you know if Tahini is raw or not?

[rawruh]

I would be grateful if someone can shed light for me on what is probably well known to many of you.

How do you know if Tahini is raw or not. I buy it in Turkey or Dubai, and it doesn't say on the packet. i can't read Arabic mind you!

i kind of figured if it is pale it must be raw, if it darker brown it's probably cooked. but i would like this verified by someone.

thanks

[Revvell]

that makes sense to me. I just purchased some raw almond butter and looked at the difference between roasted and raw and that was one way of telling.

Would it be possible to get someone to translate? (I guess if it were, you would, eh?).

Hmmm. My husband use to live in Turkey. Just asked if he could read it. No. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Injoy ~

Revvell

[Sharon in Colorado]

Prob there aren't labeling laws like there are here so even if it were raw or roasted it may not say.

Usually you can taste it if it's been roasted. It's a deeper, richer flavor. The raw would probably taste sweeter.

[sweetgoddess]

rawruh, here is what the term "raw tahini" looks like in Arabic:
tahini قليل في التجربة
here is how the term "roasted" appears in Arabic:
شووا
a little trick I learned from my daughter is typing things into this online translator.
http://www.1-800-translate.com/machine_trans/free_result.asp

Hopefully you can solve the mystery with this!
Good luck~

[SedonaSun]

Not sure if this helps either, but I'm kinda guessing (by what I see here) that if it's in a "regular" kind of store, then it's probably roasted, but if it's in a store that has more health conscious items, they may have raw or both.

[blue_sky]

I've seen tahini from a pretty mainstream brand that's sold in the grocery stores, and it's most likely roasted. It's the same color as raw tahini so to be on the safe side, you should make sure what you are buying. Are any of the places you purchase it small stores where the owners would be able to tell you what you are getting?

[tracyinfo]

Way to go SweetGoddess! Why didn't I think of that?

[VeganVixen]

cool! website -I thought you were an arabic speaker for awhile-i know this is off-topic ,but isnt it beautiful writing -like art ,I speak some russian but they use cyrillic-its pretty but not like arabic!

[shakti]

I think that most tahini is roasted unless it says otherwise.
same with almond butter and any other nut butter.
if you look at the ingredient list, it will say it there (should)
rejuvenative foods makes awesome raw nut and seed butters.
you can be sure that they are properly raw.

[rawruh]

very creative response re the arabic!! I'll check it out. thanks

though i kind of doubt it will be clear. Most people don't give a hoot what's in things. And there aren't strict laws about listing ingredients. And the staff will definately be none the wiser.

I can read turkish and the label just says ingredients sesame seeds, thats it. it's pale so maybe it is raw. because the dark stuff is really dark. maybe they bleach it!!

as for health shops, well we don't have those kind of things here yet! Tahini is a general household item here. they mix it with grape syrup on toast. the equivilent of the american peanut and jelly i guess

i guess the best thing would be to contact the company's which produce the main brands and ask them.

Thanks for all your suggestion everyone.

[VeganVixen]

could you buy the unhulled/untoasted seeds and make it your self?

[DotfromOz]

Terrific idea! That's what I'm planning to do as I can get unhulled, raw sesame seeds very inexpensively and have a nut grinder that should do the job fine. Beats the hey outta paying something like $14 for a 16-oz. jar of the stuff.

[neta]

rawruh hello.so here it goas:i usually grind sesame seeds with a coffee grinder but then the texture is very different from the pressure-grinding.it's a powder rather than a butter.to your question,all kinds of tahini,especially if it's not a health-store,are roasted unless it's written specifically that it's COLD-PRESSED and un-roasted. i'm 99% sure that it's roasted because by roasting the seeds,the amount of tahini is larger,taste is more delicate,and producing is much easier.the only reason for making it raw is a strong enzyme-raw-nutrision awareness,so,hope i helped you...