Sesame seed candy is a confection of sesame seeds and sugar or honey pressed into a bar or ball. It is popular from the Middle East through South Asia to East Asia. The texture may vary from chewy to crisp. It may also be called sesame (seed) candy/bar/crunch; sesame seed cake may refer to the confection or to a leavened cake or cookie incorporating sesame.
Three varieties of sesame seed candy
Puerto Rican sesame seed candy
A Greek pasteli
A Greek melekouni
Sesame is a plant in the genus Sesamum, also called benne or gingelly. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods. World production in 2018 was 6 million tonnes, with Sudan, Myanmar, and India as the largest producers.
Image: Sesamum indicum Köhler–s Medizinal Pflanzen 129
Image: Sesamum indicum 2
Flower of S. indicum
Sesame seed capsule