Tahini used as a cooking sauce for meat and always served as a side with fish. It is also a main ingredient in a seafood dish called Siyadiyeh. Tahini is in sweet desserts like halva and halva with pistachios. In East Asia, sesame paste () is a major condiment used in dry noodles (hot or cold). Sesame paste can also be eaten as a dessert, known as black sesame soup. Tahini is a source of calcium, manganese, the amino acid methionine, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Tahini made from raw sesame seeds is lower in fat than tahini made from
Hatay Province Defne, Arsuz and Payas. Hatay is warm enough to grow tropical crops such as sweet potato and sugar cane, and these are used in the local cuisine, along with other local specialities including a type of cucumber/squash called kitte. Well-known dishes of Hatay include the syrupy-pastry künefe, squash cooked in onions and tomato paste (sıhılmahsi), the aubergine and tahini paste (Baba ghanoush), and the chickpea and tahini paste hummus as well as dishes such as kebab which are found throughout Turkey. In general the people of Hatay produce many spicy dishes including the walnut and spice paste muhammara), the spicy