A Middle Eastern and North African sweet confection made from sesame paste, tahini, or other ingredients, often mixed with nuts and honey.
From Hebrew and Arabic 'halawah' (חלווה/حلاوة), related to the root word meaning 'sweet.' The word traveled through Ottoman trade routes into many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern languages with slight spelling variations.
Halavah shows up in Jewish, Arab, Turkish, and Indian cuisines all with slightly different recipes—it's one of those foods that existed before modern borders and belongs to everyone in its region. The word itself is so old that linguists use it to trace medieval trade routes through the Mediterranean!
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