What the Helva Is This?
Posted on June 10, 2008 - Filed Under Adventures in Shopping, Food, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Teeni's Trivia, Vegan, Vegetarian, Wheat Free
Well, I’m glad you asked. Because I really wanted to know too. So in my latest grocery mystery adventure, I purchased something called Helva, sometimes called Halva (or vice-versa).
From what I now understand, Helva is a sweet treat that is popular in Turkey. It is most often made with ground sesame seeds and a sweetener but may include many other ingredients. The one I purchased to try was a Helva that was marbled and had chocolate in it. I figured it couldn’t be too bad if it had chocolate in it.
The texture of the helva was oddly like that of circus peanuts. I wasn’t really sure how it is normally served, but I was easily able to invert the block onto a dish and cut a cube out of it. It wasn’t as colorful as displayed on the label but you could clearly distinguish the marbling.
The taste was actually quite nutty - it reminded me of peanut butter or sunflower seed butter, both very tasty in my opinion. The chocolate flavor was there but only very lightly, certainly not overpowering. Maybe it could have used more chocolate. I did think it would have made a great spread on bread but the texture wouldn’t allow it. It would have torn up the bread. Again, since I don’t like circus peanuts, I really didn’t like the texture of Helva, but the taste was actually quite good. I can see why it would be considered a treat. The short and simple ingredient list makes it seem not too bad healthwise either. Now I’ve got to go get together another meme!
Side note: I just realized that circus peanuts were the precursor to the marshmallow bits in General Mills’ Lucky Charms cereal (see the circus peanut link above). Now I know why I never could take too many of those marshmallow bits. Blech!
Oh, and you can still vote for me for Head Cheerleader - see my shaded sidebar for the link!
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33 Responses to “What the Helva Is This?”
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It’s been a long time since I ate Halvah. It only used to be available in health food stores.
I don’t really miss it though.
Yeah, I hear you. I’m glad I tried it, but I don’t think I will miss not buying it again.
It looks kinda good, but the texture would play a big part for me. Like my Thai Squash soup - smelled good all day but the texture was all wrong! Could you maybe slice it and put it on bread like a cheese slice?
Yeah, texture counts a lot when you are talking about food, I think. You can definitely slice this stuff but it wouldn’t go well with bread and if you tried to spread it, it would just tear up the bread.
I love nutty-tasting desserts :0)
My favorite nutty tasting dessert is Sunflower Seed butter. It’s not even a nut but tastes so much like peanut butter. I tried it in peanut butter cups that I made after seeing them over at Hannah’s Bittersweet blog. They were awesome.
I tend to stay away from desserts.
Especially freaky, Turkish ones.
Wow - really? No desserts for you? I am a dessert hound. I think dessert should always be ordered first so you are not too full to get it after the meal.
Blech! Chocolate and Turkey? That combination sounds terrible! Who would ever think that Turkey and Chocolate would make a good combination?
PS: I’m kidding… I know you meant Turkey as in the country.
LOL. I’m slow but I’m actually starting to realize when you are kidding.
Funny, I was just having a conversation this morning with someone about circus peanuts. I cannot stomach them. Blehck! But…Lucky Charms marshmallow bits…YUM! I love my pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, green clovers. They’re magically delicious!
I have tried Helva and I actually like it. I don’t mind the texture…probably because I know it’s made with sesame seeds and not pure sugar fluff like circus peanuts.
LOL. I loved Lucky Charms! I just loved it more when they had less of the marshmallow bits - I like a couple in there but now they are almost as many marshmallow bits as they do the actual cereal and that makes it too sugary sweet for me, I think.
I do like the taste of Helva, it is good. I just can’t get over the texture though. I like how you described circus peanuts as pure sugar fluff. That is good.
Good for you for trying it!! I would never have the courage to do that. It looks good on the package, but once on the plate I kinda lost interest. lol To me it kinda looks like fudge.
It DID look like fudge. Didn’t taste like it though.
That certainly looks very interesting!! I have never seen anything like it here, did you just buy it in a normal grocery store??
I don’t even know what circus peanuts taste like … are they different to “normal” peanuts?
Ewwww. Hannah - that is what circus peanuts taste like. Just ewwwww. Or even blecccchh! LOL. They taste nothing like normal peanuts. They are just shaped like a giant peanut. I’ll try and describe the texture for you - it would be like if you let a regular marshmallow get stale and dried out. The outside of the stale, dried out marshmallow would be the hardest part of it but you could still bite through it. Circus peanuts are like the outside of that stale, dried marshmallow but have the same consistency all the way through and awful artificial flavorings. You can get them in a normal grocery store here - in the candy section. I would love to send you some but, no I wouldn’t. You are my friend and I like you so I would not want to send something I think is gross to you.
Oh, so that’s a circus peanut. Those are gross.
Yes they are!
LOL
Ewwww. It LOOKS awful. You are so couragous Teeni!
LOL. Well, Hay - it wasn’t terrible but I doubt I’ll buy it again. The taste was good but the texture just was not my thing.
I’m a total wuss in the new foods department, but this one doesn’t look too scary. I’m pretty sure I would be willing to give it the sniff test (most foods don’t even make it that far), but from there, no promises. I have to be one of the pickiest eaters on the planet.
This one would probably pass the sniff test with no problems. It’s the texture that bothered me.
Never tried that but, you make me want to it looks so good.Damn I am always so late in commenting on your posts. i wonder if they sell that stuff here?
I don’t know Kaylee - I had never seen it before but now I try to keep my eyes open for new and interesting things.
I have to admit I love halvah (this is how we always spelled it). I have only had the plain one without chocolate. I like tahini too which is ground up sesame seeds without the sweetener. It looks a little like watered down peanut butter. I also put it in hummus when I make it.
I thought you might have had it with your health food store experience Joan and I was interested in hearing what you had to say. I love tahini too and hummus with roasted red peppers is my favorite hummus ever - homemade is always the best. Yum.
LOL to the title of this post.
i don’t think i’d be buying one like that though, i don’t experiment much with food. i’m such a total sissy.
I like to try and get one new thing to try each time I go shopping. I used to hate everything when I was a kid and only ate french fries, hamburgers from fast food places, and junk food. I didn’t even like pizza! But now I like lots of things, including pizza! LOL. I just like to keep learning things and trying new things. I don’t like all of them, but it makes life interesting!
looks like nasty beef fat to me. Ewwwww….
I make Hummus with Tahini that looks like a liquefied version of this stuff.
The end result is quite different though.
How many glasses of water did you drink to shovel this stuff down?
~m
LOL. It does kinda look like nasty beef fat. I really didn’t eat the whole thing. Just tried enough to get a fair taste sample. It didn’t taste bad at all. I just didn’t like the texture against my teeth. So you make your own hummus with tahini too? Joan Harvest does as well. Now I want some chick peas.
It sounds like it would go well with the sweet, spicy curry I made in the slow cooker today. I’d like to try it. We used to get those circus peanuts as kids because my Dad loves them.
It’s funny - I think lots of dads used to like those things. Maybe it was a “dad” kind of candy. LOL. Your curry sounds very intriguing. I know you can find helva in the health food stores. I actually found this one at a job lot store.
I’ve seen it when I was in Sweden, but I never had a desire to try it. It has an interesting name, though.
LOL. Yes, it’s a Helva name isn’t it? I kill me.
I just love Halva! And do have it as a treat sometime!
I have to say it would definitely be a better (healthier) treat than regular candy. Is there a particular type you buy?
Never heard of it but I think it’s great that you are all about trying new things…. I’m not sure if I would try it? You are so cute Teeni!
hehe. I’d love to set up a sampler table and have all my bloggy buddies come over and try some of the things I’ve tried and see what you all think.
I have never had a circus peanut but I am positive I wouldn’t like it! This helva looks interesting but I think I’ll stick with chocolate brownies
Mmm … chocolate brownies. Yum!
Teeni, you are one brave lady! That stuff looks so strange and you even tasted it. I am not a fan of nutty so it’s probably not my cup of tea… I feel educated after reading your review though!
Well, I’m glad I could fill you in on that stuff. See, in addition to keeping things interesting, by trying all these new things, I can warn you guys about the bad stuff and alert you to the good stuff, depending on what your individual tastes are. So although it’s terribly hard work, I don’t mind because you all are worth it!
Ewww .. for circus peanuts and helva!
LOL. Well, now we know a couple of things not to serve you if we ever meet in person, Red. Welcome back, by the way!
I’m really glad you explained what the texture of that was. When I saw the pic of the stuff in the package, it really looked to me like ground up meat fat!
I wanna try it now though. It sounds interesting. What is the nutrition information?
Wow - you guys think of things I never even considered that it looked like - but now that you’ve said it, it’s all I see. LOL. Yuck.
The nutrition info is this - One tablespoon serving size has 6.03 grams of fat (none of that is saturated fat), 1.7 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, 2.64 grams of protein. The ingredients (for this package anyway) were sugar, milled sesame seed, cacao, citric acid and vanilla.
It looks like multi-colored lard. Ummm crazee tastee.
LOL. Yeah, it really doesn’t look too appetizing, I have to admit. But at least it didn’t TASTE like multi-colored lard. At least I don’t THINK it did.
That looks like it should be a cake but it isn’t…hmm…that’s all I have to say about that.
I am guessing it is more like a candy - maybe like a big hunk of weird candy that you need to cut up and share with your friends.
I’ve never tried (or even heard of) Helva, but after reading your post, I just might give it a try - if I can find it!
You could check a health food store, a job lot store, or a grocery store that has a decent ethnic foods section. If you do try it, I’d like to know what you think of it.
It looks disgusting! I don’t really have a sweet tooth - more of a cheese and wine girl, me!
LOL. I totally understand, RB. I do like my sweets but I also like cheese and wine too. And cheese and whine and wine. And to dine eating cheese and wine while I whine. heehee.
That looks nasty! LOL I dont think I would be able to get past the look! LOL
well, hmmm, what to think about helva. i like the swirlies on it, i like that it’s sweet, but you eat it like that? not on anything? maybe kind of like a little truffle bite or something? perhaps i should try it.
i voted for you,,, but then, how could i not?
wink wink
Thanks so much for the vote, Heather! I am not sure how it is traditionally eaten - someone can feel free to let me know if they know - but it can’t be spread on bread so I think it’s more like a fudge or something where you would cut it into squares and eat it that way.
That’s an unusual looking snack, I’m not so sure I would like it. About circus peanuts (you are talking about those orange ones I hope): They kinda smell like rubber kitchen gloves when you first open a pack…haha. I’ve always loved Three musketeers candy bars, particularly the nougat. One time, I bought some stuff called “nougat” that had no chocolate coating from India. It was so gross!
Hi Bobby - yes, I mean the orange circus peanuts. Three Musketeers is okay but Snickers bars are the best - everyone knows that! LOL. Snickers had it all - nougat, caramel, peanuts, and chocolate. Oh my. **wipes drool from corner of her mouth** I don’t think I would like no-name nougat from India. Especially without chocolate or peanuts. But hey, at least you tried it. I have to give credit where credit is due.
Wow Teens, that looks like baklava to me. I got hooked on middle eastern food when a friend of mine grooved me in on it. Haveyou ever tried that thing they do with the pita, with olive oil and spices. I call it middle eastern pizza but that obviously isn’t the proper name.
Annie
Hmmm. I’m not sure but I have tried green olive tapenade that they sell at Trader Joe’s and it is FANtastic on pizza - probably great on pitas too.
It reminds me of Tahini (which is a sesame paste). Probably has a similar smell or taste, just a different consistency.
You know it did kind of smell like tahini - it had that nutty smell. It tasted good.
That looks scary!
Hi Ghetto Girl and welcome to the Vaguetarian Tea Room! I admit, I had to work up my courage to try it, but it tasted fine! I just couldn’t get over the texture. And it should have had more chocolate flavor! Of course, EVERYTHING should have more chocolate flavor, right?