Growing and Using Herbs and Spices by Milo Miloradovich

Author:Milo Miloradovich [Miloradovich, Milo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780486144450
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2012-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

SESAME SEED, Sesamum orientale, is the seed or dried fruit of a strong, tall, beautiful annual which, when growing in a large field, bends and sways in the wind like wheat.

China, India, and Turkey cultivate this sturdy, straight plant with its long, tapering dark green leaves which are soft and fuzzy. The square stems of the Sesamum orientale grow from 1 to 2 feet high, and the blossoms grow close to the stem. The lovely tubular flowers about an inch long resemble the foxglove, and they vary in color from a creamy white to a deep lavender. The seed pod forms within the blossom.

The sesame seed were known to the ancient Greeks and Hebrews, and for centuries the Egyptian and Persian tribes used the ground seed as a food grain as we use rye for rye bread. The Romans used both the cumin and the sesame seed, when crushed into a paste, as a spread over bread as we use butter.

Practically every child is familiar with the magic phrase from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves as Ali Baba hears the robbers’ chieftain command the cave to “Open sesame” or “Close sesame.” But history has mentioned the sesame plant centuries before the tale in the Arabian Nights was even thought of. The plant was growing in the rich, verdant valley of the river Nile long before the time of Moses.

However, the exact origin of the Sesamum orientale is lost in history, but present-day botanists tell us that the sesame seed may just as easily have originated in Africa rather than in Asia. Whether from Asia or from Africa, this most valuable and delectable nutty-flavored seed is being cultivated for greater commercial purposes in many countries of the world. Mr. J. A. Martin, associate horticulturist of the South Carolina Experiment Station in Clemson, is carrying on extensive plant-breeding experiments with this herb, which he identifies as the Sesamum indicum. He hopes to develop a new non-shattering type of sesame which will combine all the desirable qualities of the plant, including high yield and resistance to disease. He reports that sesame seed from Australia, Burma, China, Colombia, Guatemala, Hawaii, India, Korea, Mexico, Nicaragua, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey are being used in the work of the various experimental stations in the plan to develop a type of sesame in which the mature seed will not drop prior to the harvesting of it. Other experimental stations in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and throughout the cotton belt are being supplied with seed through the research work being carried on under Mr. Martin’s supervision.

Characteristics: The sesame plant is most decorative in gardens situated in regions where there is a long, warm summer. The variety grown in America has much the same physical characteristics as the oriental variety described in a previous paragraph. Grown for its seed, which when hulled is oval and pointed at one end. Creamy white in color, it is rarely more than inch in length.

Uses: Sesame seed, whole or crushed, is a staple food in India and the Orient.

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