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SESAME SEEDS

Sesame seeds come from a tall herb plant native to the East Indies. A single stalk can grow as tall as 7 feet and will produce lovely pink flowers, which contain capsules filled with many tiny black and white seeds.

When the seed-bearing capsules inside the flowers become ripe, they burst open suddenly with a loud "pop," and the seeds scatter. This unusual style of auto-harvesting is most likely the inspiration for the phrase "Open Sesame" in the famous story, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. (Remember this, just in case you're ever a contestant on Jeopardy, and there's a category called "Culinary Inspiration for Phrases in Literature." You never know.)

Sesame is an ancient plant (documented as far back as 1800 b.c.), and one of the earliest to be used both for the seeds and for the oil within the seeds. Today, the oil remains the primary source of fat in many Middle Eastern and Far Eastern cuisines.

Nutritionally Speaking:
Sesame seeds are high in protein, vitamin E, calcium, and other minerals. They also contain a good-for-you type of monounsaturated fat. The oil is stable and highly resistant to oxidation (rancidity), due to the presence of sesamin, a lignan, which is a natural preservative, stabilizer, and antioxidant. Although sesame seeds are very nutritious, it is difficult to eat enough of them to get the benefits. And even if you could eat a sufficient quantity, they are not easily digested. It is much more efficient to consume sesame seeds in the form of sesame butter or tahini. I've defined these below.

Culinarily Speaking:

  • Fresh sesame seeds should be white or light yellow. Old and rancid seeds acquire a muddy, grayish look.

  • Store sesame seeds in sealed plastic bags in the freezer. Store sesame oil, sesame butter, and tahini in refrigerator.

    Tahini is a light, creamy paste made from raw, hulled (hence the light color) seedsăground and unsalted.

    Sesame butter is made from whole (unhulled), roasted seeds, (hence the darker color)ăground and occasionally salted.

    Tahini and sesame butter can be used interchangeably, but the flavor will be different. I like to cook with tahini and to use sesame butter as a ready-to-eat spread.

    About Sesame Oil: Sesame seeds are capable of yielding a very high quality cooking oil without being exposed to high heat or being put through a high-pressure expeller process. Unrefined sesame oil is dark yellow to amber in color, and has a pleasant, nutty flavor. Because it is so stable, it is a very good oil to use in daily cooking. Be sure not to confuse plain, unrefined sesame oil with the Chinese type, which is made from roasting the seeds before the oil is extracted, making it so flavorful it is more often used as a condiment than for cooking.

    About Gomasio: A nice way of incorporating sesame seeds into your daily diet is to keep a shaker jar of gomasio on the table. This is sesame salt, made by finely grinding roasted sesame seeds and adding sea salt (about 8 parts sesame to 1 part salt). This delicious, nutty condiment goes beautifully on many foods (vegetables, salads, soups, etc.)

    For detailed information about the various kinds of high-quality, organic, expeller-pressed cooking oils, where to find them, how to use them, how to understand more about their place in a healthy diet, etc. visit www.spectrumnaturals.com