Paul Harvey Robb, age 11, of Tucson, Arizona, for his question:
What plant produces sesame seed?
Mrs. Ali Baba learned that "Sesame" was the magic word to open the treasure cave of the Forty Thieves. Being a housewife of the Orient, she also knew the merits of sesame seeds and how they grew. Perhaps she helped to hoe the knee high sesame plants in the sunny fields. Certainly she knew that their pearly little seeds are stuffed with rich golden oil. If she was a sensible woman she knew that, in the long run, this precious oil is richer by far than barrels of stolen treasure.
Like all cultivated plants, sesame descended from wild, weedy ancestors. Perhaps they were wayside weeds of India or China, though nobody is certain. They have been forgotten because superior sesame plants have been cultivated in the Orient since before the dawn of history. In the 1950s, they were coaxed to grow in Texas. Nowadays, fields of sesame thrive in warm, southwestern regions of North America, in Mexico and parts of South America.
The sesame plant is an annual herb that grows each year from a sesame seed. It reaches two to four feet high and its stem is crowded with rather coarse, hairy leaves. Those at the top are shaped like minnow fishes, those nearer the base are larger and usually have jagged edges. The flowers are tucked in the axils between leaves and stem. They may be whitish, pale yellow or pink. Each blossom is about 3/4 of an inch long and somewhat like the tube shaped floweret on a foxglove spire.
The sesame flower has five unequal stamens and a two celled ovary. In time, the fertilized ovary develops a two part seed pod. The sides of the twin pods are ,joined to form a slender tube. Their two pointed tips turn gracefully backward when the seeds inside are ripe. Then the pearly little seeds can be shaken from their crisp package. As a rule, the silky smooth seeds are pale primrose yellow. But some sesame seeds are brown and some are almost black.
The seeds have a delicate nut like flavor all their own. They add something special to buns, biscuits and baked breads. But the real treasure is stuffed inside their smooth little shells.. When sesame seeds are crushed, they yield a light, pale golden oil with a delicate fragrance and a tempting, nut like flavor. It is fine for all types of cookery and extra good in salad dressings. Sesame oil is rich in food value and low in polysaturated fats. What's more, unlike most vegetable oils, it keeps indefinitely without going rancid.
In India and warm parts of China, yearly crops of sesame take the place of the ancient olive groves of the Mediterranean. Sesame oil is used instead of olive oil and the harvested herbs are mulched back into the soil. The oil also is used to make soothing lotions. Sometimes it is boiled with wood ashes to make soap. The Chinese burned sesame oil to make their midnight black ink. No wonder Mrs. Ali Baba was not surprised that the magic word to secret treasure was Sesame.