Crossword Genius

Money required around a hotel on island for Middle East dish (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tahini

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'middle east dish' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'money required around a hotel on island' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
'hotel' could be 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.) and 'h' is found in the answer.
'money' could be 'tin' (old-fashioned slang term for money) and 'tin' is located in the leftover letters.
'island' could be 'i' (geographical abbreviation) and 'i' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'for' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tahini that I've seen before include "Sesame paste; in a hit (anag.)" , "Sesame seed paste" , "Paste of sesame seeds" , "Sesame-seed based foodstuff" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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