Tahini roll

A tahini roll or tahini bread roll is a sweet pastry found commonly in the cuisines of the Levant, Armenia, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.^[1][2][3][4]

Tahinopita is a type of tahini roll that is popular as a street food in Cyprus, it is likened to cinnamon rolls.^[5][6][7] In the Cypriot capital of Nicosia, street vendors with carts or bikes, as well as bakeries sell tahini rolls.^[8] They are popular during Lent as they can be considered vegan.^[9][10]

In Turkey, they are most popular during the month of Ramadan, during which they are consumed on suhur.^[11]

Tahini rolls are popular in Armenia, where they are called tahinov hatz, Armenians migrating into Levant popularized the bread there.^{[3][1][2][12]}

The dough includes sugar and oil and has a texture between a bread and a cookie. It is leavened with yeast and can be baked after the first rise.^[13] Sometimes the pastry may be soaked in syrup of sugar or honey and flavored with cinnamon.^[7]

Tahini rolls are made by rolling the dough flat, spreading it with the tahini mixture, sprinkling with sugar and rolling into a log shape. The dough is then sliced into smaller pieces and flattened to form a circle.

In Arab countries it is known as khubz tahini (Arabic: خبز الطحينة).^[14][13] The Armenian name is Թահինով Հաց.^[15] In the Greek language it is known as ταχινόπιττα (tahinopitta) or τασιηνόπιττα (tasinopitta); in Cypriot Greek the pronunciation is "tashinopita" with a "sh" sound as opposed to "h" in mainland Greek.^[16][17]

In the Turkish language, the general term is tahinli çörek, although in Cypriot Turkish it is known simply as tahınlı or tahınnı.^[18][19] The name ekmek tahinli is sometimes used as well.^[20][21] The word çörek in Turkish refers to a variety of buns and breads, often sweet.^[22][23]

• List of bread rolls
• Sweet roll
• Fig roll