Sesame seeds are the small, oil-rich seeds of a tropical annual, eaten raw, toasted, pressed for oil or ground into tahini across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Sesame is a major allergen.
What it is¶
Sesame is a tropical and subtropical annual whose upright stems carry tubular flowers, then oblong pods packed with small flat seeds. When ripe, the pods of traditional varieties split open and scatter the seed, which makes harvest labour-intensive; modern non-shattering varieties help, but much of the world's crop is still cut and dried by hand.
The seeds are about half oil by weight and come in several forms:
- Hulled (white) seeds have had the thin outer skin removed. They are the ones on burger buns and in most tahini.
- Unhulled (natural) seeds are golden-brown, slightly crunchier and a little bitter; used for Chinese sesame paste and some tahini.
- Black sesame is a different variety, earthier and more bitter, much used in Japan, China and Korea.
Sesame oil comes in two very different styles: pale, light oil pressed from raw seed, used for general cooking in India and elsewhere, and dark toasted sesame oil from roasted seed, used by the teaspoon as a seasoning in East Asian cooking.
Origins and history¶
Sesame is one of the oldest oilseed crops. Archaeological remains from Harappan sites in the Indus Valley, dating to the third millennium BC, show it was being grown in South Asia very early, and its wild ancestor is thought to be an Indian species. From there it spread to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Africa and China, and oil from it was a staple of the ancient Near East long before olive oil reached many of those regions.
Enslaved West Africans brought sesame to the American South, where it was known by the West African-derived name benne; Charleston's benne wafers survive from that history. The phrase "Open sesame!" comes from the tale of Ali Baba, which entered the Arabian Nights through Antoine Galland's French translation in the early 18th century. It is often suggested the phrase alludes to the way ripe pods burst open, but that is a guess, not a documented origin.
Flavour and aroma¶
Raw hulled sesame is mild, sweet and faintly nutty. Toasting is transformative: the sugars and proteins brown and the oil releases a rich, roasted, almost coffee-and-popcorn aroma, much of it from pyrazines and sulphur compounds formed during roasting. Black sesame is deeper, earthier and slightly bitter. Tahini tastes of the seed at its creamiest, with a pleasant bitterness that is balanced by lemon, garlic and salt.
In the kitchen¶
- Tahini: the backbone of hummus, baba ghanoush, tarator sauce for falafel and fish, and tahini-dressed salads. It also goes into halva, cookies and brownies.
- Toppings: bagels, simit, burger buns, breadsticks, sushi rolls. For bread, brush with water or egg wash so the seeds stick.
- Blends: zaatar, dukkah, shichimi-togarashi and Japanese gomashio (toasted sesame ground with salt, roughly 8:1).
- Japanese goma-ae: blanched spinach or green beans dressed with ground toasted sesame, soy sauce and a little sugar.
- Chinese cooking: sesame paste in dan dan noodles and cold noodle sauces; black sesame paste in tangyuan dumplings and sweet soups; toasted oil in dressings and dipping sauces.
- Korean cooking: toasted seeds and oil in namul vegetable dishes and bibimbap.
- Sweets: halva, sesame brittle, pasteli (Greek honey-sesame bars), benne wafers.
- Indian cooking: til (sesame) sweets such as til laddoo for Makar Sankranti; sesame (gingelly) oil for cooking in the south.
💡 Toast in a dry pan
Toast seeds over a medium heat for 2–4 minutes, shaking constantly, until golden and just starting to pop. Tip them out immediately — they keep cooking in the hot pan. See toasting-spices.
Toasted sesame oil burns easily and its flavour fades with heat; add it at the end of cooking or in dressings, not as a frying fat.
Buying and storing¶
Sesame's oil makes it prone to rancidity. Keep seeds airtight and cool, ideally in the fridge, and use within six months (a year in the freezer). Tahini separates on standing; stir it back together and store in the fridge once opened if you use it slowly. Toasted sesame oil keeps several months in a dark bottle; smell it before use.
Substitutes¶
For crunch, hemp seeds or chopped sunflower or pumpkin seeds. For toppings, poppy seed or nigella. Sunflower-seed butter is the best allergy-friendly swap for tahini in hummus and dressings. There is no real substitute for toasted sesame oil; a few drops of toasted walnut or peanut oil are the closest.
Pairs well with¶
Soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, lemon, garlic, ginger, chickpeas, aubergine, spinach, noodles, chicken, tuna, sumac, thyme, cumin, chilli-flakes, Sichuan pepper and nigella.
Health and safety¶
⚠️ A major allergen
Sesame is one of the 14 major allergens that must be declared on food labels in the UK and EU, and in the United States it became the ninth major food allergen under the FASTER Act, with labelling required from 1 January 2023. Sesame allergy can cause severe reactions, including anaphylaxis, and does not always improve with age.
Sesame hides in many foods — breads and buns, hummus, spice blends such as zaatar and dukkah, dressings, crackers and vegetarian burgers — and "may contain" warnings are common because it is hard to keep out of bakeries. In the UK, the rules requiring full ingredient labelling on food prepared and packed on the premises ("Natasha's Law", in force from October 2021) followed the death in 2016 of a teenager who reacted to sesame in a sandwich. See spice-allergies.