I’d Give Up All Other Breakfasts for This Amazing Tahini Bread

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This is not a story about Sahadi’s, the beloved Middle Eastern shop on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. But I’m going to start by talking about Sahadi’s, where I used to shop weekly, back when I lived a few blocks from the store. Most Saturdays, I’d stop in for bulk bin nuts and dried fruits, spices, and tubs of hummus and labneh. This habit continued for years before I realized that one of the best breakfasts in Brooklyn was sold literally next door. Week after week, I unwittingly walked right past Damascus Bread & Pastry Shop, my hummus blinders on and completely unaware of the tahini bread sold at this beloved Middle Eastern shop on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.

Eventually my then-coworker Belle tipped me off to the 89-year-old Syrian bakery’s tahini bread, a dense, dimpled round with just three ingredients: flour, sugar, and tahini. It has become one of my favorite breakfasts, ideal with a cup of black tea or coffee. It’s lightly sweetened but not super sweet—the nutty sesame flavor still stands out—and rich from the tahini but not a butter bomb. It’s a lot more fun than having oatmeal for breakfast, but it doesn’t feel like eating a full-on dessert at 8 a.m. It has a beautiful dark brown bottom, a product of the pizza oven it gets baked in, and every so often you’ll get a bite where it seems like the tahini wasn’t fully incorporated, like a ribbon of halvah running through it.

This still isn’t a story about Sahadi’s, but I do want to encourage you to go there—not (just) for the nuts and fruits and hummus, but also because right next door is Damascus, a wonderful bakery selling the most wonderful tahini bread.

Go there: Damascus Bread & Pastry Shop

Originally Appeared on Bon Appétit