My introduction to halva came in the seventies while I was living in San Francisco. One great thing about living in a big city is access to wonderful international treats. San Francisco provided the opportunity to find and enjoy excellent halva.

Halva is a middle eastern treat that can be made with many different flavors, depending on what you put in it. Cardamom, coffee, saffron, and vanilla are popular additives as well as nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruit. The halva that I’ve tried most often was dry and crumbly – this type is called ‘sesame halva’. There’s another type that is gelatinous, called ‘semolina halva’.

Here’s a simple recipe for semolina halva:

Combine two cups of sugar, eight cups of water, and a teaspoon full of saffron. Leave this sitting, uncooked, for half an hour. Put 12 ounces of unsalted butter in a large pot and melt on very low heat. Slowly add 2 cups of wheat flour, stirring constantly. Continue until the color of the flour is caramel colored.

Then slowly pour the water/sugar/saffron mixture into the pot, stirring constantly until the entire mixture is like a sauce, then add a tablespoon of rose water and stir again. (If you have no rose water, try vanilla.)

Pour the mixture into a flat serving dish and let it cool. When cool, you can sprinkle cinnamon on top.

And now for a recipe for sesame halva:

Boil one and one-half cups of sugar with one-half cup of water, and the juice of half a lemon. Add flavoring which could be saffron, chocolate, vanilla, or whatever you like. When the mixture gets to the ‘soft ball’ stage, let the syrup cool for a few minutes. Do not stir; instead, warm the tahini to about 120 degrees fahrenheit, stir it well, then add it to the sugar syrup, stirring vigorously. Next knead the concoction until it begins to set to help form sugar crystals. Then place it in an oiled rectangular baking pan, and cool. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.