Instructions
As a young child my favourite book by far was the ‘1001 Tales of the Arabian Nights’, featuring the legendary recountings of Sheherazade. Time and time again I delved into the magical world of Sinbad, Ali Baba and Aladdin with glee, discovering land of mystical beauty, impossible riches and practical vengeance. Disney, for all their other achievements, have never done these tales justice.
I was left wanting more, and soon realised that I must have gotten the abridged version, as my book had only 80 tales – talk about short-changed!
My favourite moment in all the legends is when the impoverished young outcast Ali Baba utters the magic words, parting the rock door at The Cave of the Thieves’ Treasure – “Open Sesame”!
This was pure fantasy, thousands of years old. But even as a boy I wondered why one earth it was that these particular words would have been chosen. Why sesame? It seemed rather senseless. I can only imagine that this was, in part, the point. As if for a Byzantine teller machine, the thieves had chosen an obscure PIN.
But the reference to sesame was not lost on contemporary Arabian readers. Sesame may have become an almost valueless commodity in our era, but in 15th century Persia it was highly-prized.
The oil pressed from sesame was the principal cooking oil for the entire region, and it was also burned for lighting. As the sesame bushes grew prolifically and oil extraction was relatively simple, these seeds were considered to have a position of prestige amongst foods.
The Ali Baba reference was a citation of how the seeds were gathered. The sesame pod splits open when ripe, exposing a wealth of seeds within, seeds that were almost worth their weight in gold. The pod is the cave, and the seeds are the treasure.
Sesame oil is powerfully scented, and this aroma came to dominate much Middle Eastern cookery. It was also an important nutritional ingredient, with a dense aggregation of protein, iron and a variety of minerals.
Over the course of the last millennium, sesame seed have become ubiquitous the world over. From Vietnamese seed snacks, to tahini pastes and hummous. From McDonalds buns and Jewish bagels, to decorative sushi and delicate Cuban caramel brittle. In every cuisine, sesame seeds have made their mark.
It really is like opening the door to a magical treasure cave of delicious foods, and all you have to do is open the sesame.
Sesame-crusted kingfish with pea puree and spicy mayonnaise