Sesame Dessert

Asian supermarkets are a marvelous source of inspiration. If you feel confined in your culinary options, stuck in a cooking rut or simply in the mood for something different, just go to an Asian or Indian supermarket. They always have a different set of ingredients compared to your local grocer. Maybe you will find some frozen calamari that you can stuff. Or you could use some new and strange vegetable to give your everyday meals an air of mystery. Or, like me, you could see a package that piques your interest.


This is "sesame dessert." What struck me the most about this package is not only that the dessert is instant (like Jell-o pudding), but also the amazing black color. How many foods are naturally black? Char marks on the grill are black. Dark chocolates get very close to black. There are, I suppose, black beans too. To make pasta black, we have to turn to squid ink for some help. But colors are far more prevalent than pure black. Even a colorless white would appear to be more common: sugar (granulated and powdered), milks and creams, egg whites, and salt. But what does pure sable taste like? And how does one make it?


The dessert comes in a packet of a bluish-gray powder. You simply add boiling water to the powder and mix it well until it is homogeneous. Et voila! You're staring at pure darkness in your bowl. But don't be afraid of the dark. It tastes of toasted sesame. I expected a thicker consistency, but this soupy dessert turned out to be a little more watery. It is sweet, but not overly so, with a great taste of ground sesame seeds. I did grow tired of eating it after a few minutes, though, so I came up with an idea.


I probably should have let the sesame dessert cool first, but I thought it would be a great way to make some plain vanilla a little more interesting. The sweet sesame and vanilla worked well together. The ice cream gave the topping more consistency. This could have made a great milkshake too. I have a couple packets left still, so who knows where this sesame dessert will show up again?