Most supermarket brands of tahini are overroasted and separate into a dense, spackle-like paste with an unpleasant aftertaste, which can ruin hummus or a simple sauce. This Soom tahini, on the other hand, offers the nutty, bittersweet flavor and creamy texture that is the hallmark of a premium tahini. It is by far the best brand we have ever tasted. Its freshly roasted flavor and unctuous texture, which doesn’t separate like lesser brands, makes it an essential pantry staple.

Soom tahini is terrific in our ultrasmooth hummus and in baba ghanoush or tehina, the do-it-all garlicky tahini sauce used throughout Lebanon. Try mixing it into yogurt with a handful of herbs and a pinch of salt for a quick dip or sandwich spread. Add a spoonful to enrich any basic olive oil vinaigrette or drizzle over roasted chicken with a squirt of lime and crunchy salt as a dead-simple sauce alternative. Slather it on vegetables, like cauliflower, before roasting and tossing with a crunchy accent. Or brush over mixed grilled vegetables—peppers, onions, eggplant.

Try tahini on toast or a bagel—instead of butter or cream cheese—and top with a generous sprinkle of za'atar and olive oil. Or spread beneath sliced avocado and spritz with lemon juice, salt and lots of coarse pepper.

On the sweet side, try it drizzled over vanilla ice cream with honey, or swapped out for peanut butter with your favorite jam on whole-grain bread. (We like tahini best with apricot or raspberry jam, where the acidity sharpens the sesame flavor.) Stir it into oatmeal or cream of wheat and sprinkle with brown sugar and cardamom or cinnamon.

Tahini’s bittersweet flavor perfectly balances chocolate; try our Tahini Swirl Brownies or ultra-quick Chocolate-Tahini Pudding. Or, really go for it and try Soom’s Chocolate-Tahini blend. Think of it as a sophisticated spin on Nutella to slather on toast or pound cake and drizzle over oatmeal or fruit. Or, if you’re like us, eat it right off the spoon.