Tahini has gotten a lot of press in the last few years, and the delicious sesame paste has become a staple in many of our pantries. Many cultures have embraced the borderless sesame seed in some form or another, including Japanese gomashio and furikake, hummus from the Middle East, Italian Reginelle cookies, and even in burgers. In her new book, Rachel Simons explores all the possibilities and guises of this versatile ingredient: Sesame: Global Recipes & Stories of an Ancient Seed

Rachel is the co-founder of Seed+Mill, which offers top-quality tahini and halvah, a rich sesame paste that’s one of the best things you’ll put in your mouth. There are many brands of tahini and halvah (that vary in quality) but the ones offered by Seed+Mill are uniformly excellent, and I always make room in my suitcase to bring some back to Paris with me.

And if you find yourself in New York City, the tahini soft-serve ice cream they serve in their shop at the Chelsea Market, served with crumbles of halvah, is truly a scoop—or swirl—of heaven.

Rachel is one of the nicest people I know, although she did yell at me once…

I was packing jelly rings at the Joyva halvah factory in Brooklyn with Jake Cohen, and that’s Rachel, yelling at me. 😂

We’ve since made up and I’ve been enjoying her new book, Sesame, so much that I invited her on my podcast when I was in New York, to talk about tahini, halvah, and the wonderful world of sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

-David

Links

* Follow Rachel Simons on Instagram, and Seed+Mill on Instagram

* Get Sesame: Global Recipes and Stories from an Ancient Seed

* Visit the Seed + Mill website, where you can order tahini and halvah

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