Chips on a Sandwich | no. 12.1| OPEN SESAME
Sunny day | Sweeping the clouds away | On my way to where the air is sweet | Can you tell me how to get | How to get to Sesame Street...
"Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun."
Open Sesame!: A phrase with magical powers in the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
Those little white seeds on your hamburger bun seem so common but sesame is anything but pedestrian-- it's an intrepid world traveler.
BENNE WAFERS: Sesame's route to America was by way of slaves-- like so many of our most beloved crops (corn, anyone?). The plant, which has pods strikingly like okra, was a reminder of home in a new and inhospitable world. All over Charleston, SC there are delicately brittle crackers packed with sesame: Benne (sesame) wafers, or beaten biscuits, were created by slaves and served at cocktail parties for white aristocrats to eat. Culinary historian and writer Michael Twitty has a recipe and detailed description of how they were made in his book The Cooking Gene. And here's award-winning food and nutrition journalist Toni Tipton-Martin's recipe.
GAJAK: Nidhi Jalan-- the Masala Mama, maker of dynamite Indian simmer sauces-- adores gajak which is a sweet made from sesame seeds and jaggery (unrefined sugar). Think peanut brittle. She tells me it's often only available in winter and a shop in Jaipur makes the BEST. India is one of the largest sesame producers in the world and they've been growing it for a long time-- sesame was domesticated there in 5000 BC.
A sesame illustration-- for serious sesame super fans.
TAHINI and HALVA: I wasn't a fan of tahini until Seed + Mill changed my mind. Made from Ethiopian-grown sesame seeds their tahini is creamy and earthy and delicious. They also turned me onto halva (which is a ubiquitous term used for sweets made from sesame/tahini.) Their halva are giant cakes sold by the slice. It's buttery, flakey and melts in your mouth quicker than chocolate. Check out the website for all their flavors like raspberry, coconut and walnut-date.
TOASTED SESAME OIL: Used frequently in Asian cooking as a finishing oil-- meaning its drizzled on at the very end. I like the toasty, earthiness of Ottogi sesame oil. And back to India quickly, refined sesame oil is often used in Ayurvedic medicine as a massage oil.
SALSA MACHA: We're in North America again: sesame has found its way into Mexican dishes too. Watch the lovely Esperanza Garcia make mole where sesame is just one of the many ingredients. And here's Pati Jinich's recipe for salsa macha-- featuring sesame. It's spicy and tangy and good on almost anything.
POLL: Your favorite blue Sesame Street monster Grover or Cookie Monster? (And cabin camping was the clear winner from last week-- sorry tent.)