DESCRIPTION

Sesame is an annual indigenous to northern Africa and, some authorities believe,
also native to India. It has been grown in Asia for centuries (although it is still
considered a “foreign” plant in China), as well as in Indonesia. It is generally
considered to be the oldest crop grown for its oil; the oil content of the seeds is
very high. Today, sesame is cultivated primarily in India, China, Indonesia,
Africa, Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States. The seeds were brought to the
United States by African slaves in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and
they are still called benne, an African word for “sesame,” throughout the
American South.