SESAME SEEDS

The plant is native to East India, where sesame seeds are used in religious ceremonies and are a symbol of immortality.

Sesame is one of the oldest plants in the world and is used for the production of oil with evidence testifying to the use of sesame seeds dating back as far as 4,000 years. Sesame had already been mentioned in historic records found in Egypt, Babylon and Assyria.

The seeds are added to give a crunchy twist and a nutty flavour to various dishes, from savoury to sweet: to enrich the flavour of pastries, spreads, bread, soups and salads.

An oriental confectionery dessert “halva”, which is served across Asia and is popular all around the world, is prepared using sesame paste (“tahini”), sugar and honey. According to the women of Ancient Babylon, eating “halva” helps you to achieve a more beautiful and youthful appearance.

“Tahini” is a sesame paste or butter, which is a popular ingredient in various savoury and sweet dishes, particularly in the countries of the Middle East, Turkey, Greece and North Africa. Tahini is most famous as a hummus ingredient, which is a type of chickpea spread.

Tahini also gives its distinctive taste to the Japanese sushi and gomasio and in Sicily sesame is used to prepare “giurgiulena”, a dessert, which apart from sesame, also includes other ingredients, such as honey, almonds and oranges.

The cultivation of sesame is most wide spread in India, China and Nigeria.

Sesame is a drought-tolerant, tropical annual plant, which attains the height between 50 and 100 centimetres and develops yellow or purple flowers. The seeds may also vary in colour – from black to light brown. The colour of the seed is key to establishing the price and the quality of the seed.

Sesame oil is used for dietary and cosmetic purposes, as well as in traditional medicine.

In an Arabic fairytale, the phrase “Open Sesame!” magically opens a sealed cave leading to a hidden treasure. The reason behind this is that sesame fruit naturally splits opens when ripe, releasing a vast number of seeds.